tif^'4}' 

'?-;-*;' 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 


COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


i-agrsa^d'oy  J.3.  uoagacxc. 


^  l^fc  W  &  ^ 


i):i- 


.:J9 


Kn.irnv/d  rrr  thf  t'ri/.t  r,^plt.i  ,•/'  i/i,-  l.il'r,iry  l-:.liii<' 


mK< F.n.iliiad,  r.<!.Jn a.,,:Xin. 


THE 


HISTORY 


or  THE 


REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III. 


TO    WHICH    IS    PREFIXED, 

A  VIEW  OF  THE  PROGRESSIVE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  ENGLAND, 

IN  PROSPEKITY  AND  STRP^NGTH,  TO  THE 

ACCESSION  OF  HIS  MAJESTY. 


IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 


BY  ROBERT  BISSETT,  LL.  D. 

AVTHOR    OF    THE    "  LIFE    OF    BUHKE,"    &C. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 

BHOUGHT  DOWN  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  THE  KING, 


VOL.  I. 


THE  LIBRARY  EDITION. 

E.    LITTELL CHESTNUT    STREET,    PHILADELPHIA. 

William  Browrif  Printer. 
1828. 


3A 


INTRODUCTION. 


Progressive  Improvement  of  Enplaml — in  Internal  Prosperity  and  Strength — in 
Estimation  ami  Importance  among  Foreign  Powers. 

ANCIENT  writers  agree,  in  supposing  th?.t  the  first  inhabitants  of 
Britain  migrated  from  the  continent.  This  opinion  is  founded  on 
their  language,  manners,  institutions,  religion,  and  complexion;  in 
which  they  closely  resemble  the  neighbouring  Celts.  Their  govern- 
ments, though  monarchical,  were  free  ;  they  were  under  the  guidance 
of  druidical  superstition ;  their  only  records  were  the  songs  of  their 
bards.  They  were  divided  into  a  number  of  petty  states,  inspired 
with  mutual  jealousy,  and  respectively  agitated  by  internal  dissen- 
sions :  but  though  similar  to  the  continental  Gauls  in  civil  and  reli- 
gious establishments,  and  in  general  character,  yet  being  farther  re- 
moved from  the  centre  of  civilization,  they  were  still  more  barbarous 
in  their  manners.  Their  possessions  and  their  wants  were  equally 
limited;  they  were  ignorant  of  the  refinements  of  life.  Subsisting 
by  the  chase,  by  pasturage,  and  imperfect  agriculture  ;  clothed  witii 
the  skins  of  beasts,  which  their  fields  and  forests  supplied,  and  dwelling 
in  huts  raised  in  their  woods  and  marshes,  they  neither  sought  nor 
knew  the  pleasures  of  foreign  luxury.  In  this  uncultivated  state, 
they  discovered  that  masculine  boldness  and  strength  of  character, 
by  which  their  successors  have  been  distinguished  in  all  the  stages  of 
progressive  improvement.  Ready  and  willing  to  contribute  whatever 
efforts  their  country  might  require,  they  spurned  at  compulsion.  The 
commons  retained  a  greater  degree  of  power  than  among  their  Gallic 
kinsmen.  Like  all  European  barbarians,  warlike  and  ferocious,  they 
exercised  their  prowess  in  insular  contentions,  without  attempting  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  continent.  Their  military  force  con- 
sisted in  their  infantry,  which  wanted  only  discipline  and  skill  to  have 
opposed  with  effect  even  the  Roman  legions.  Intestine  divisions  facili- 
tated the  progress  of  the  enemy's  armies  under  the  conduct  and  wisdom 
of  Agricola.  Chased  from  the  verdant  and  fertile  fields  of  southern 
Britain,  liberty  souglit,  found, and  preserved  an  asylum  in  the  bleak  uud 
barren  fastnesses  of  Caledonia.  The  victor,  in  conformity  to  the  Roman 
system,  having  subjugated  the  defenders  of  their  country,  from  mild- 
ness of  disposition  and  soundness  of  policy,  endeavoured  to  render 
the  cliains  which  he  had  imposed,  easy  and  agreeable.  He  taught 
them  the  Roman  laneruaee  and  manners,  instructed  them  in  letters 
and  science,  and  inspired  them  with  a  relish  {"or  the  accommodations 
and  luxuries  of  polished  life.  That  both  the  new  acquisition,  and  the 
Vol.  I.— I 

^  c^.fT--  '"  sr  '^  § 

S   4      ,-*- .   r  .'  ■<■■>»    I 


*l  Vll'.AV   OF  THK 

[Romans  evacuate  Britain.    Picts,  Scots,  and  Sasoni.] 

legions  which  defended  it,  might  be  secure  from  the  northern  incur- 
sions of  tlie  unconquered  mountaineers,  he  formed  a  line  of  posts 
along  the  Scottish  isthmus.  Defended  by  these  and  subsequent  for- 
tifications, protected  by  the  conqueror's  forces,  acquiescing  willingly 
in  the  dominion  of  their  masters,  more  effectually  and  durably  sub- 
dued by  their  arts  than  their  arms,  the  once  bold,  hardy,  and  indepen- 
dent Britons  became  the  timid,  effeminate,  and  servile  subjects  of 
the  Roman  empire.  Detached  from  the  continent,  this  province  en- 
joyed profound  tranquillity,  long  after  the  irruptions  of  northern 
barbarians  had  pervaded  the  other  parts  of  the  empire.  The  skilful 
avarice  of  its  conquerors  discovered  many  of  the  advantages  of 
Britain  ;  the  general  fcitility  of  its  soil  ;  the  richness  of  its  pastures  ; 
the  abundance  of  its  flocks,  secure  from  wild  beasts  and  venomous 
serpents;  the  value  of  its  minerals;  the  number  and  conveniences  of 
its  harbours,  equally  adapted  to  commerce  and  defence.  From  her 
civilized  svibducrs,  Britain  first  learned  the  powers  which  she  pos- 
sessed, and  which,  inspired  by  liberty,  and  enlightened  by  knowledge, 
she  has  since  carried  to  so  unparalleled  an  extent. 

The  progress  of  northern  invaders  at  length  compelled  the  empe- 
rors of  now  enervated  Rome  to  recall  their  legions  from  distant 
frontiers,  that  they  might  defend  the  metropolis.  Valuable  as  Britain 
was,  they  were  necessitated  to  evacuate  that  island  for  ever.  Debili- 
tated by  long  peace,  and  dejected  by  long  slavery,  the  southern  Britons 
had  now  to  encounter  ferocious  foes,  against  whom  the  strength  of 
Roman  fortifications,  and  the  dread  of  Roman  discipline,  had  hitherto 
afforded  them  sufficient  protection.  The  Picts  and  Scots,  who  dwelt 
in  the  northern  parts  beyond  the  wall  of  Antoninus,  made  incursions 
upon  their  peaceable  and  effeminate  neighbours  ;  and  beside  the 
temporary  depredations  which  they  committed,  these  combined  na- 
tions threatened  the  whole  province  with  subjection,  or  what  the  in- 
habitants more  dreaded,  with  universal  plunder  and  devastation.* 
Unable  to  defend  themselves,  the  Britons  applied  for  assistance  to 
their  late  masters.  A  single  legion  sent  to  their  succour  freed  their 
country  from  its  desultory  invaders;  and,  having  effected  its  deliver- 
ance, again  returned  to  the  continent.  The  Britons  were  once  more 
exposed  to  the  inroads  of  their  impetuous  neighbours.  Still  too 
little  inured  to  war,  to  recover  the  valour  of  their  ancestors,  they 
again  sought  security  from  foreign  protectors. 

Stretched  along  the  coasts  of  northern  Germany,  and  opposite  to 
Britain,  were  the  Saxons,  one  of  the  fiercest  and  most  warlike  tiibes 
of  their  nation.  Hardy  and  intrepid  in  every  kind  of  warfare,  from 
their  maritime  situation,  they  were  peculiarly  addicted  to  nautical 
expeditions.  Originally  fishermen,  they  had  become  pirates;  they 
possessed  arms  an"d  ships,  the  art  of  navigation,  and  the  habit  of  naval 
Avar.  Invading  and  despoiling  the  neighbouring  coasts,  they  had 
gradually  extended  their  depredations  fiom  the  German  ocean  to  the 
British  channel  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The  Romans  had  been  frequent- 
ly successful  in  repelling  these  piratical  efforts,!  but  they  could  not 
prevent  them  from  being  renewed  with  increased  force.  The  disso- 
lution of  the  Roman  power  encouraged  the  Saxons  to  repeat  their 
incursions  into  southern  Europe ;  they  were  a  terror  to  other  nations. 

•  See  Hume,  vol.  i.  p.  7.  t  Gibbon,  vol.  iv.  p.  21'. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  3 

[Character  of  the  Saxons.] 

Such  was  the  people  to  whom  the  Britons  applied  for  aid.  Henj^ist 
and  Horsa,  the  most  celebrated  warriors  of  the  time,  easily  persuaded 
their  countrymen  to  engage  in  an  enterprise  which  appeared  to  them 
to  promise  a  favourable  opportunity  of  displaying  valour,  and  acquir- 
ing plunder.  Preparing  a  consideral)Ie  force,  they  landed  in  the  isle 
of  Thanet,  and  immediately  marched  to  defend  the  Britons  from  the 
Picts  and  Scots.  They  were  speedily  successful  aerainst  the  ravagers 
of  southern  Britain.  Rescued  from  their  enemies,  the  Britons  now 
expected  to  enjoy  tranquillity,  under  the  protecti(5ii  of  their  warlike 
allies.  They  soon  found,  however,  that  a  state  cannot  long  enjoy  in- 
dependence and  security,  that  trusts  to  any  efforts  but  its  own.  The 
Saxons  seeing,  in  the  facility  with  which  they  overthrew  the  Picts 
and  Scots,  how  easily  a  people  could  be  conquered  that  were  unable 
to  resist  such  feeble  invaders,  soon  formed  the  project  of  subjugating 
the  Britons  themselves.  They  were  allured  by  the  fertility,  verdure, 
and  riches  of  the  country  ;  and  inflamed  with  the  desire  of  exchang' 
ing  for  it,  the  barren,  bleak,  and  indigent  regions  of  uncultivated 
Germany.  Of  these  advantages  they  informed  their  countrymen,  and 
soon  received  re-enforcements,  which  enabled  them  easily  to  subdue 
that  part  of  the  country  which  they  had  first  known  and  attempted. 
The  ready  establishment  that  the  Saxons  acquired  in  Kent  under 
Hengist  and  Horsa,  invited  other  hordes  to  invade  different  parts  of 
the  island.  The  Britons  by  degrees  recovered  that  valour*  which 
their  ancestors  had  exerted  against  the  conquerors  of  the  world  :  the 
contest  became  arduous  and  bloody  :  many  deeds  of  heroism  were  per- 
formed by  the  defenders  of  their  liberties,  as  well  as  by  ambitious  ag- 
gressors. The  fame  of  prince  Arthur,  though  the  theme  of  chivalrous 
mythologyt  and  poetic  fiction,  is  allowed  by  our  historians  to  have  its 
foundation  in  truth. :j:  In  the  darkness  of  barbarity,  as  well  as  in  the 
light  of  civilization,  Britain  wanted  not  leaders  and  soldiers  to  combat 
the  assailants  of  her  independence.  The  natives,  however,  were  yearly 
decreasing  in  numbers,  while  the  losses  of  the  Saxons  were  supplied 
by  recruits  from  the  continent.  After  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the 
Germans  fully  established  themselves,  by  exterminating  the  ancient 
possessors.  The  Saxons,  in  forming  their  heptarchy,  having  extir- 
pated the  Britons,  introduced  into  this  island  the  manners  and  insti- 
tutions of  their  native  land,  and  effected  a  revolution  more  complete 
than  that  which  conquest  has  usually  produced.§  The  elegance  and 
refinement  which  had  begun  to  spread  through  Britain  while  a  Ro- 
man province,  were  now  totally  overwhelmed  by  barbarity. 

But,  uncouth  as  their  manners  were,  the  Saxons  possessed  vigor- 
ous understandings,  undaunted  courage,  supported  by,  great  bodily 
strength,  and  inspirited  by  an  ardent  love  of  liberty.  Their  several 
systems  of  policy,  formed  upon  the  principles  of  their  ancestors,  as 
consecrated  to  immortality  by  the  pen  of  Tacitus,  uniting  kings,  chiefs, 
and  commons,  were  the  rude  but  strong  foundation  of  that  constitu- 

Gibbon  places  the  courage  and  perseverance  with  which  the  Britons  resisted 
the  Saxons,  in  a  more  strikinsr  li^ht  than  anv  other  historian.  See  History,  vol. 
vi-  p.  385  to  393.  a     &  - 

t  See  Don  Quixote. 

I  Hume,  vol.  i.  p.  16;  and-fJibbon,  vol.  vi.  p.  390;  with  their  respective  au- 
thorities. 

§  Robertson's  Charles  V,  vol,  i.  p.  19T. 


■v 


4  viiiw  or  riiK 

[Intercourse  with  the  continent.     Commerce.] 

tion,  which  their  descendants,  inheriting  the  force  of  their  character, 
now  enjoy  and  preserve.  When  they  had  settled  themselves  beyond 
all  question  and  dispute  as  masters  of  southern  Britain,  the  Saxons 
soon  discontinued  intercourse  with  their  German  countrymen,  and 
maintained  little  connexion  with  any  foreign  country.  Adhering  to 
the  superstition  of  their  forefathers,  they  had  broken  one  powerful 
tie,  by  which  many  of  the  Britons  were  attached  to  christian  Europe. 
Having,  in  the  products  of  their  new  possession,  supplies  for  their 
■wants,  they  rarely*altempted  to  cultivate  the  knowledge  of  other 
countries  for  the  sake  of  commercial  benefits.  From  their  insular 
situation,  together  with  llie  state  of  their  continental  neighbours,  who 
■were  chiefly  occupied  in  disputes  with  adjoining  principalities,  or  in- 
ternal arrangements,  they  had  no  hostile  interference  with  foreign 
countries;  neither  religion,  irafTic,  nor  jarring  pretensions^ engaged 
them  in  amity,  nor  involved  them  in  war,  with  the  nations  of  the  con- 
tinent. 

Since  the  invasion  of  Julius  C-^csar,  Britain  was  never  so  detached 
from  external  politics,  as  during  the  first  ages  of  the  Saxon  heptarchy. 
Religion  restored  the  intercourse  ■which  had  formerly  subsisted  be- 
tween Britain  and  the  continent.  The  conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
to  Christianity,  beside  the  important  effects  which  it  was  calculated  to 
produce  upon  the  morals  and  dispositions  of  its  new  votaries,  proved 
the  means  of  opening  a  political  connexion  between  this  island  and 
less  barbarous  regions.  Coincidence  of  theological  opinion  gradually 
introduced  communications  upon  other  subjects  ;  the  kingdoms  of  the 
heptarchy  began  to  interest  themselves  in  the  affairs  of  their  southern 
neighbours,  and  to  conceive  that  a  naval  force  was  the  most  eflectual 
means  of  defence  and  security  to  islanders.  Though  the  internal 
contests  between  the  several  princes  had  prevented  this  newly  dis- 
covered policy  from  being  carried  into  extensive  execution,  yet  one 
prince  (Offa  of  Mercia)  set  the  example  ;  and,  when  France  under 
Charlemagne  had  risen  to  a  great  pitch  of  power  and  opulence,  en- 
couraged commerce,  and  formed  a  navy,  as  the  certain  security  of 
this  country  against  the  conquerors  of  the  continent.*  Offa  perceived 
the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  foreign  trade  being  carried  on  by 
his  own  subjects,  and  for  that  purpose  concluded  a  commercial  treaty 
with  the  French  monarch. 

When  the  heptarchy  was  consolidated  under  Egbert  into  the  king- 
i^dom  of  England,  circumstances  became  more  auspicious  to  the  com- 
mercial and  political  aggrandizement  of  the  country.  This  revolution 
favoured  internal  trade,  by  putting  a  period  to  intestine  wars,  and 
rendering  the  communication  between  the  several  parts  of  England 
more  secure  and  free  :  it  was  friendly  to  external  commerce, by  making 
the  English  monarchy  a  greater  object  to  foreign  merchants,  and  the 
English  monarchs  of  gi  eater  consideration  in  foreign  countries.  Still 
the  Anglo-Saxons  were  defective  in  that  nautical  power  which  their 
situation  required,  and  its  resources  admitted. 

Depredations  committed  by  a  new  enemy,  who  invaded  the  coasts, 
convinced  the  English  of  the  necessity  of  equipping  a  mariiime  force. 
The    Saxons,  who  had  remained  in  Germany    when  their  brethren 

•  Henry's  History  of  Great  Britain,  vol.  iv.  p.  l'J6. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  5 

[Danes  invade  England.     Navy,  &ic.  established  by  Alfred.] 

established  themselves  in  Britain,  continued  to  maintain  the  character, 
and  follow  the  pursuits  of  their  ancestors,  beintj  distinguished  for 
naval  power,  and  becoming,  from  its  exertion  in  piracy,  formidable  lo 
all  the  southern   coasts.     As  they  still  adhered  to  the  pagan  super- 
stition,  Charlemagne    undertook   their    conversion  by  means    more 
agreeable  to  the  violent  bigotry  of  the  benighted  ages,  than  to  the 
generosity,  magnanimity  and  wisdom  of  his  own   character.      In  the 
progress  of  his  conquests  having  subdued  nortliern  Germany,  by  the 
most  rigorous  edicts  against  paganism  he  endeavoured  to  establish 
Christianity,  and  severely  punisb  the  transgressors  of  his  decrees,  in 
many  instances  decimating  the  refractory.*     Some  of  these  pagans 
complied  with  the  imperious  mandates  of  the  conqueror  ;  while  others, 
more    intrepid  and  independent,  refused  to  yield  to  injunctions  so 
cruelly  enforced,  and,  to  avoid  the  fury  of  the  persecution,  retired  into 
the  adjoining  peninsula  of  Jutland.     Meeting  there  with  inhabitants  of 
similar  manners,  institutions,  and  religious  faith,  they  easily  coalesced 
with  the  ancient  possessors,  and  having  assumed  a  common  appella- 
tion, the  Saxons  and  Jutlanders,  under  the  name  of  Danes,  about  the 
end  of  the  eighth  century,  commenced  a  very  extensive  system  of 
maritime  invasion  :  in  the  course  of  which  they  were  induced  to  visit 
England,  at  that  time  unprotected  by  an  adequate  naval  force.     In  their 
inroads  they  showed  that,  though  barbarians,  they  were  not  destitute 
of  judgment  or  prudence.     Learning  that  the  natives  were  as  valiant 
soldiers  as  themselves,  they  trusted  chiefly  to  their  skill  and  activity 
as  sailors  ;  and  having  previously  explored  the  state  of  the  coasts,  they 
landed  in  the  most  defenceless  and  fertile  parts  ;  which  having  pillaged 
before  an  English  force  could  assemble,  they  retired  to  their  ships  ; 
and  soon  after  descended,  in  a  similar  manner,  and  with  similar  suc- 
cess, on  other  parts  of  the  coast.     These  enterprises  harassed  the 
vigorous  reign  of  Egbert,  who  had  not  acquired  the  only  force  by 
which  they  could  have  been  effectually  repressed.     Elated  with  their 
success,  and  farther  encouraged  by  the  feebleness  and  inaction  of  the 
superstitious  Ethelwolf,  they  enlarged  their  schemes,  and  formed  the 
project  of  subduing  the  whole  of  that  country,  with  the  devastation  of 
whose  coasts  they  had  hitherto  been  contented.     During  the  reign  of 
this  weak  prince  and  his  elder  sons,  the  Danes  made  rapid  strides  to 
the  attainment  of  their  object;  when  the  genius  and  wisdom  of  his 
youngest  son  Alfred,  not  only  extricated  his  country  from  present 
danger,  but  established  the  most  ellectual  means  of  future  security  and 
aggrandizement  to  the  kingdom. 

Having  restored  his  country  from  a  state  of  humiliation  and  sub- 
jection, to  honour,  independence,  and  glory,  the  illustrious  Alfred 
turned  his  philosopluc  mind  to  a  comprehensive  survey  ol'its  situation 
and  circumstances,  and  its  relation  to  foreign  powers.  He  saw  that 
the  safety  and  greatness  of  England  must  chiefly  depend  upon  marilime 
etTort.  To  promote  trade,  and  to  csLablioh  a  navy,  after  tiie  expulsion 
ot  the  Danes,  was  a  principal  object  of  his  renowned  administration. 
For  the  attainment  of  these  purpuses,-  as  well  as  to  gratify  the  inquisi- 
tive spirit  incident  lo  genius,  he  cultivated  an  intercourse  wiih  foreign 
and  even  remote  countries.     His  agents  not  only  explored  the  sliorcs 

t  Hume,  vol.  i.  p.  42. 


6  VIEW  OF  THE 

[Contests  with  the  Danes  beneficial  to  England] 

of  the  Baltic  and  the  White  Sea,  but  investigated  the  state  of  Asia, 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Persian  and  Arabian  gulf.  He  intro- 
duced new  manufactures,  which  furnished  many  articles  for  exporta- 
tion, as  well  as  for  consumption  within  the  kingdom.  By  his  inven- 
tive talents,  he  made  great  improvements  in  the  art  of  ship-building. 
The  vessels  constructed  under  his  directions  were  much  superior  to 
any  that  were  known  in  the  northern  or  western  seas,  in  the  three 
important  qualities  of  celerity,  force,  and  facility  of  management.*  As 
the  founder  of  English  jurisprudence,  and  the  cstablisher  of  internal 
security  and  tranquillity,  Alfred  is  not  more  deservedly  celebrated 
than  as  the  founder  of  English  navigation  and  commerce,  and  the  es- 
lablisher  of  external  security  and  greatness.  This  extraordinary 
prince  so  clearly  demonstrated  and  vigorously  pursued  the  real  inter- 
ests of  his  country,  that  other  Anglo-Saxon  kings,  according  to  their 
adoption  or  neglect  of  the  policy  of  Alfred,  succeededin  resisting  the 
efforts  of  foreign  aggressors.  The  abilities  and  vigour  of  the  English 
sovereigns  for  several  generations  maintained  a  powerful  navy,  which 
prevented  the  northern  plunderers  from  seriously  infesting  a  co'.mtry 
so  strongly  secured,  and  impelled  them  to  seek  pillage  and  settlement 
among  our  continental  neighbours. 

The  weakness  of  Elhelred  in  the  neglect  and  mismanagement  of 
naval  affairs,  manifested  in  its  effects  the  wisdom  of  Alfred,  as  clearly 
as  it  was  shown  in  the  able  measures  of  his  immediate  successors  ; 
for  vthen  the  system  of  defence,  which  Alfred  by  his  precept  and 
example  inculcated,  waseitlier  abandoned  or  feebly  executed,  the  evils 
recurred,  which  he  had  so  vigorously  repelled  and  afterwards  prevent- 
ed. But,  though  the  invasions  of  the  Danes  impressed  the  English 
■with  a  high  idea  of  the  importance  of  commerce,  it  was  rather  -with 
the  view  of  affording  the  means  of  defence,  than  of  being  productive  of 
prosperity  and  civilization.  Export  traffic,  so  much  interrupted  by 
northern  cruisers,  did  not,  in  the  time  of  the  Saxons,  rise  to  that  mag- 
nitude which  Alfred  had  proposed  and  expected.  The  total  subjec- 
tion of  England  to  the  Danes  was  salutary  to  the  commerce  of  the 
kingdom,  by  putting  an  end  to  those  bloody  wars  between  the  two 
nations,  which  had  raged  about  forty  years  with  little  intermission. 
Canute  the  Great,  a  wise  as  well  as  a  warlike  prince,  endeavoured  to 
gain  the  affections  of  his  English  subjects,  by  affording  them  the  most 
cfi'ectual  protection,  and  every  encouragement  in  his  power.  He  em- 
ployed the  influence  which  his  high  reputation,  extensive  dominions, 
and  mighty  force  had  obtained,  among  foreign  princes,  to  procure 
favours  and  privileges  from  them  to  his  trading  subjects.  From  his 
time,  during  the  reign  of  his  sons,  and  after  the  restoration  of  the  Saxon 
line,  the  navigation  and  commerce  of  England  continued  compara- 
tively flourishing  till  the  conquest.  The  Danes,  having  betaken 
themselves  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  no  longer  disturbed  their 
neighbours  by  piracy.  By  the  contest  with  the  northern  navigators, 
the  Anglo-Saxons  were  losers  in  the  interruption  of  agriculture  and 
of  internal  improvement,  but  gainers  in  acquiring  naval  power,,  com- 
mercial ideas,  and  promoting  an  intercourse  with  the  continent.  From 
the  accession  of  Canute,  wl)cn  the  internal  clisadvantages  ceased  to  be 

'  ilenry,  vol,  iv.  p.  221. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  7 

[Change  eflecled  by  the  Normans.    War  between  England  and  France.] 

felt,  and  the  external  advantages  increased,  the  benefit  which  they 
now  derived  exceeded  the  loss  that  they  had  formerly  incurred. 
Though  England,  from  religion,  had  hitherto  some  intercourse  with 
southern  Europe,  her  chief  political  connexion  was  with  the  north. 
She  had  very  little  acquaintance  with  her  adjacent  neighbours  the 
French.  Tlie  conquest  of  the  kingdom  by  William  of  Normandy, 
made  a  most  important  change,  both  in  her  internal  state,  and  in  her 
relation  to  the  continent. 

Complicated  as  the  feudal  system  was  in  its  nature,  and  extensive 
in  its  subjects,  it  was  extremely  simple  in  its  principle,  and  con- 
fined in  its  original  objects  :  it  was  a  policy  which,  overlooking 
every  other  consideration,  narrowed  its  provision  to  national  de- 
fence ;*  and  was  merely  a  reciprocal  guarantee  of  acquisitions  pro- 
ceeding from  conquest.  The  leaders  and  officers  among  the 
northern  subduers  of  middle  and  southern  Europe,  in  their  re- 
spective tribes  and  divisions,  entered  into  agreements  to  prevent 
themselves  from  being  dispossessed  of  their  lands  by  other  invaders. 
The  insulated  state  of  the  Anglo  Saxons  rendering  them  less  exposed 
to  ambitious  depredators  than  their  continental  neighbours,  the  feudal 
system  had  not  been  established  in  England.  The  people  had  retain- 
ed more  of  the  ancient  German  liberty  than'on  the  continent,  where 
an  enslaving  aristocracy  was  generally  prevalent.  Hence  was  pre- 
served that  spirit  of  freedom,  which  the  most  aspiring  monarchs  could 
never  thoroughly  subdue,  and  which  has  rendered  this  comparatively 
small  territory,  this  "little  body  with  a  mighty  heart  !"  the* admiration 
and  terror  of  most  extensive  and  powerful  empires.  The  manners  of 
the  Saxons,  though  rude  and  unpolished,  were  frank,  manly,  and  inde- 
pendent; totally  void  of  that  servility  and  submissiveness  which  charac- 
terize the  subjects  of  either  monarchical  or  aristocratical  slavery  ; 
they  were  barbarians,  it  is  true,  but  bold  and  generous.  The  con- 
quest of  the  kingdom  by  the  Normans  effected  a  considerable  change  ; 
though  by  no  means  like  that  by  the  Saxons,  a  complete  revolution  in 
laws  and  manners.  William  attempted  to  model  his  new  dominions 
according  to  the  feudal  system,  with  partial,  but  imperfect  success. 
The  Saxon  spirit  of  liberty  continuing,  extended  to  the  Normans,  with 
whom,  in  a  few  ages,  the  former  inhabitants  became  entirely  inter- 
mixed ;  and  obtained  from  the  prudence  of  wise,t  or  extorted  from 
the  fears  of  weak,|  princes,  the  revival,  and  even  the  improvement,  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  constitution.  Still,  however,  the  Norman  laws  and 
establishments  subsisted  in  a  considerable  degree,  and  long  continued 
to  afiect  the  condition  and  manners  of  the  people. § 

The  changes  produced  by  the  Norman  conquest  were  still  greater 
at  the  beginning,  and  eventually  more  permanent  in  other  respects, 
than  in  our  laws  and  establishments.  Hence  is  to  be  dated  the  com- 
mencement of  our  intercourse  with  middle  and  southern  Europe,  and 
especially  with  France,  which  has  formed  so  important  a  branch  of 
our  political  history.     From  that  growing  intercourse  with  continen- 

•  Robertson's  Charles  V.  vol.  i.  p.  13. 
t  Henry  I.  and  Henry  H. 

+  John  and  Henry  HI.      Sec  Hume,  vol.  i.  and  Blackstone,  vol.  iv.  c.  53. 
§  Blackstone,  vol.  iv.  c.33.  on  the  Rise,  I'rogress,  and  Completion  of  the  British 
Constitution. 


8  VIEW  OF  THE 

[Civil  anil  political  objects  of  Edward  I.  and  III.] 

tal  Europe,  proceeded  also,  in  the  progress  of  time,  the  beginning 
of  our  commercial  efforts,  and  the  revival  and  extension  of  our  naval 
force.  From  the  possession  of  Normandy  by  the  English  princes, 
proceeded  those  wars  which  so  long  raged  between  France  and  Eng- 
land to  their  mutual  detriment.  The  crusades  at  certain  times,  by 
giving  them  identity  of  object,  produced  alliance  ;  but  this  was  soon 
after  followed  by  hostilities.  The  weakness  and  wickedness  of  John, 
abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  produced  most  beneficial  effects  to  his 
country.  The  murder  of  prince  Arthur  excited  a  war,  which,  termi- 
nating in  the  conquest  of  the  English  dominions  in  France,  extirpated 
the  principal  cause  of  dissension;  while  the  weakness  of  Henry  III. 
and  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  Louis  IX.  maintained  a  long  peace 
between  the  respective  kingdoms. 

The  lofty  genius,  comprehensive  wisdom,  and  intrepid  spirit  of  the 
first  Edward,  were  chiefly  occupied  with  two  grand  objects  ;  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  perfect  system  of  jurisprudence  in  England,  and  the 
consolidation  of  Great  Britain  into  one  kingdom.  Engaged  so  deeply 
within  the  island,  he  was  involved  in  no  lasting  or  important  hostili- 
ties with  the  continent.  In  the  unfortunate  reign  of  Edward  II.  the 
feebleness  of  the  son  in  Britain  undid  a  great  part  of  what  the  abili- 
ties of  the  father  had  effected  ;  and  with  the  continent  he  had  estab- 
lished no  material  connexion.  The  ambition  mingled  with  the  extraor- 
dinary qualities  of  his  celebrated  son  found  a  new  ground  of  contest 
with  France,  which  caused  great  disasters  to  both  kingdoms.  Unwise 
as  the  policy  was  which  prompted  Edward  III.  to  seek  the  sovereignty 
of  a  kingdom  in  opposition  to  its  established  laws,  and  contrary  to  the 
interests  of  his  own  country,  his  measures  for  executing  the  under- 
taking were  concerted  with  an  ability  worthy  of  his  character.  To 
make  a  powerful  impression,  he  formed  an  extensive  confederacy  with 
continental  states,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  much  wider  intercourse 
with  the  Low  Countries  and  Germany,  than  had  ever  existed  before. 
The  first  important  consequence  resulting  from  Edward's  alliance 
with  the  Netherlands  was,  that  his  attention  was  thereby  directed  to 
naval  affairs.  After  the  revival  of  commerce,  first  by  the  Italian 
states  in  the  south,  and  afterwards  by  the  Flanseatic  league  in  the 
north  of  Europe,  central  position,  maritime  situation,  fertility  of  soil, 
and  industry  of  people,  being  fostered  imder  a  government  of  less 
feudal  aristocracy,  and  more  enlarged  frcdom  than  prevailed  in  France 
and  Germany,  rendered  Flanders  the  medium  of  commercial  com- 
munication between  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Baltic. 
It  nearly  monopolized  that  intermediate  trallic,  for  its  neighbours  of 
France  and  Britain  made  no  attempt  to  improve  their  respective  op- 
portunities for  trade.  English  materials  indeed  were  the  principal 
subjects  of  Flemish  skill;  from  the  raw  produce  of  the  farms  and 
pastures  of  England,  Flanders  derived  the  staple  of  her  flax  and 
woollen  manufactures.  An  emporium  of  merchandize,  she  acquired 
wealth  and  force;  and  was  particularly  dibtinguished  for  naval  power. 
Resorting  to  Flanders  to  promote  the  purposes  of  the  military  alliance, 
Edward  was  not  slow  in  observing  the  political  state  of  that  country. 
His  perspicacious  mind  discovered  the  cause  to  be,  its  commerce  and 
manufactures.  He  endeavoured  to  excite  among  his  own  subjects, 
that  spirit  of  industry,  which  he  found  so  beneficial  to  its  votaries  ; 


STA  IF.  OF  ENGLAND.  f) 

[Influence  of  Enghuid  in  tUe  afTairs  of  Europe.    Failure  of  Edw-ard's  policy] 

and  to  direct  it  to  those  objects  in  which  he  perceived  its  efforts  to 
be  most  productive.  He  invited  Flemish  artizans  to  settle  in  his  do- 
minions, and  commenced  the  woollen  manufactures  in  his  own  king- 
dom. Knowing  his  people  to  have  genius,  enterprise,  and  perseve- 
rance, he  first  turned  those  qualities  towaids  the  arts  which  have 
raised  England  to  be  the  foremost  among  commercial  nations.  As 
Edward  I.  formed  and  digested  English  jurisprudence,  so  admirably- 
fitted  for  rendering  to  every  man  his  right,  and  guaiding  his  pro- 
perty; Edward  III.  laid  the  foundation  of  that  skill,  and  those  efforts, 
which  have  acquired  to  Englishmen  so  much  property  to  secure. 
From  his  engagements  with  Flanders  originated  niival  victory,*  which 
united  with  his  commercial  views  to  impress  on  his  mind  the  impor- 
tance of  mariiime  power.  The  splendid  achievements  at  Cressy  and 
Poictiers,  so  glorious  to  English  valour,  and  to  the  courage  and  con- 
duct of  Edward  and  his  renowned  son,  combining  with  the  admired 
talents  and  character  of  both,  gave  to  them  and  their  country  a  weiglit 
in  other  European  kingdoms,  which  England  h.ul  never  before  pos- 
sessed. The  irritation  of  the  contest  produced  a  spirit  of  hostility 
between  the  two  first  nations  of  the  modern  world.  Frequent  wars 
impeded  the  advances  of  both  to  an  opulence  and  power  suited  to 
their  respective  genius  and  character.  The  reign  of  Edward  III. 
may  be  considered,  in  English  history,  as  the  great  epoch  of  com- 
mencing manufactures  and  commeree  in  this  nation  ;  as  the  period 
when  England  began  to  have  an  extensive  influence  in  the  affairs  of 
the  continent ;  and  when  a  spirit  of  regular  and  permanent  hostility 
first  broke  out  between  England  and  France. 

Though  the  basis  of  British  commerce  and  naval  power  was  so 
ably  and  skilfully  laid  by  Edward,  yet  general  causes  and  particular 
events  long  retarded  the  superstructure.  The  murtial  spirit  prevalent 
in  England,  when  intermingled  with  the  pride  of  feudal  aristocracy, 
represented  the  manufacturer  and  merchant  as  despicable,  in  compa- 
rison to  the  soldier;  and  while  the  warlike  character  of  the  times  de- 
preciated in  the  public  opinion  the  estimation  in  which  those  peaceful 
professions  were  held,  and  precluded  from  them  the  votaries  of 
honour  and  fame,  the  violence  and  turbulence  of  those  rude  ages  di- 
minishing the  security  of  property,  often  tended  to  obstruct  the  vo- 
taries of  interest  in  their  mercantile  adventures.  The  character  and 
circumstances  of  the  succeeding  sovereigns,  and  the  contests  aI)out 
the  throne,  promoting  for  a  century  military  energy,  and  not  restrain- 
ing turbulent  violence  and  injustice,  interrupted  the  natural  progress 
of  Edward's  plans. 

The  feebleness  of  a  long  minority,  the  frivolity  and  profligacy  of 
Richard's  personal  character,  the  jarring  interests  of  the  princes  9f 
the  blood,  and  their  respective  pretensions  to  that  power  which  the 
incapacity  of  the  sovereign  was  so  little  qualified  to  hold,  prevented 
any  advances  from  being  made  in  great  schemes  of  policy.  When 
Richard's  sceptre  was  wrested  from  his  weak  hands  by  the  skill  and 
force  of  a  powerful  usurper,  there  still  continued  in  the  kingdonx 
grounds  of  feud  and  discord  very  unfavourable  to  national  improve- 
ment. Henry  IV.  provident,  vigilant,  and  wise,  comprehended  the 
great  importance  of  commerce,  and  promoted  it  to  the  utmost  of  his 

•  Off  Slulse,  June,  1540 
Vol,.  VII  —? 


10  Vir.W   DFTHK 

^Attempted  conquest  of  France.  War*  of  Lancaster  and  York.  Edward  IV.] 

power.  He  formed  a  commercial  treaty  with  the  Hans-town  mer- 
chants; and  promoted  the  seiilemenl  of  mercantile  foreigners  within 
his  own  kingdom.  He  devised  and  encouraged  the  formation  of  Eng- 
lish factories  in  foreign  parts;  a  proposition,  which, as  our  knowledge 
of  the  globe  enlarged,  and  our  intercourse  with  remote  countries  ex- 
tended, has  in  subsequent  times  been  expanded  into  a  grand  and  valua- 
ble system  of  colonization.  He,  like  his  grandfather,  saw  how  neces- 
sary superiority  at  sea  was  to  the  security  and  prosperity  of  England, 
and  made  it  one  of  his  chief  objects  to  maintain  a  formidable  navy.* 
He  encouraged  artizcuis  and  mariners,  and  inculcated  industry;  but 
the  various  insurrections  by  which  his  rei^^n  was  disturbed,  though  all 
successfully  quelled  by  his  courage  and  conduct,  interrupted  the  exe- 
cution of  his  commercial  sclicincs. 

The  extraordinary  genius  of  Henry  V.,  equally  fitted  for  the  field 
and  the  cabinet,  directed  its  exertions  chiefly  lo  military  superiority; 
but  he  was  im|)ressed  with  the  importance  of  naval  strength  to  Eng- 
land :  he  wa?  as  victorious  at  sea  as  at  land  ;  and  in  his  reign  the 
fleets  of  Eiiy;land  rode  iriuuiphant  in  the  channel.  Eagerly  intent, 
however,  on  conquering  France,  he  could  not  bestow  an  adequate 
regard  on  the  commercial  advancement  of  his  kingdom.  After  this 
great  prince  was  prcmalui\,ly  cut  oti",  the  fii'st  years  of  his  son's  reign 
were  employed  in  attempts  lo  preserve  and  extend  his  fathci's  con- 
quests in  France  ;  but  the  succteding  pari  of  his  reign,  replete  with 
(ii^comfiull■e  abroad  and  discontent  at  home,  lost  the  national  superi- 
ority buili  by  sea  and  land.  The  renowned  earl  of  Warwick,  indeed, 
recovered  lo  England  her  maritime  dominion  ;  but  the  discords  in 
whicli  he  soon  took  so  active  a  part,  and  which  terminated  in  such 
bloody  and  desiruciive  civil  wars,  impeded  industry,  commerce,  and 
all  the  peaceful  arts,  and  involved  England  in  grievous  calamities. 
The  duke  of  York,  lineal  heir  to  the  crown,  induced  by  the  imbecility 
of  the  reigning  prince,  with  probable  grounds  for  expecting  success, 
attempted  lo  finish  the  usurpation  which  the  talents  and  character  of 
the  two  preceding  monarchs  appeared  to  have  firmly  established;  and 
though  he  himself  did  not  live  to  attain  the  wished  for  dignity,  yet, 
seconded  and  supported  by  the  illustrious  Warwick,  he  paved  the 
Way  for  ihe  spcetly  accession  of  his  son. 

Edward  IV.  to  dissipation  and  profligacy  joining  great  vigour  of 
character  whenever  occasion  required  its  eiTorts,  exerting  the  mari- 
time supciioriiy  of  England  with  considerable  success,  invaded  France 
with  a  powerful  fleet.  But  the  civil  wars  that  recurred  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  reign,  together  with  the  indolence  that  marked 
his  conduct  when  not  stimulated  by  iniperious  and  immediate  neces- 
sity, prevented  the  promotion  of  commercial  schemes  in  proportion 
lo  the  resources  of  the  country;  of  which  the  state  at  that  time,  ex- 
hausted by  long  wars  and  general  devastation,  was  extremely  unfa- 
vourable to  the  success  ol  arts  and  of  comnierce.  The  short  and 
cruel  reign  of  Richard  HI.,  principally  occupied  in  endeavouring  to  re- 
move the  consequence*  of  one  crime  by  the  commission  of  others,  was 
too  much  engaged  in  massacre  and  proscription  to  afford  him  leisure 
und  atltuiion  lor  supporiiuy;  the  internal  prosperity  or  maritime  force 

•   Heiirj  's  History,  vol,  x.  p.  243. 


STATE  OF  LNGLAND.  H 

[Civil  wars  reduce  the  feudal  nobles.     Efl'ects  of  reviving  learning.] 

of  his  country.     The  recent   disconifuure  of  the  Enj^lish  in  P'rance, 
added   to    their   own  internal  dissensions,  occasioned  great  distress, 
depopulated  the  kinj^dom,  retarded  agriculture  and  manufactures,  and 
increased  the  ferocity  of  manners  ;  while  the   profligate  character  of 
the   princes  of  the  house  of  York,  and  the  wickedness   which  they 
cxciied  or  directed,  introduced   flagrant  depravity.      Edward   havnig 
obtained    possession  of  the  throne  by   military  force,  however  well 
founded    his    right,    very   frequtritly  violated  the   constitution  of  his 
country,  and  tyrannized  over  the   lives,  liberty,  and  property  of  his 
subjects.    His  courtiers  and  favourites  imitating  his  example,  carried 
cruelty  and  oppression  against  their  adversaiies  to  a  still  greater  pitch 
than  even   Edward   himself.      The  ancient  nobility  of  England   were 
almost  entirely  annihilated  by  the  dreadful   contests.      Her  own  fatal 
dissensions,  added  to  her  recent  discomfiture  in  France,  had  lessened 
the  influence  of  England  on  the  continent.      During  the  greatest  part 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  her  progress  in  point  of  internal  civilization 
and  prosperity  as  well  asof  foieign  influence,  WdS  little  proportioned 
to  her  intrinsic   pov'^ers.      Still,  however,  if  her  advances    were  ob- 
structed, they    were  not  altogether  in)peded.      Learning   raised   her 
head,  though  mingled  with  the  superstition  of  the  cloisters,  in  which 
she  had  been  cherished  and  preserved  from  total  extinction.   Various 
colleges  were  founded  and  insliiuiions   promoted,  which  proved  ulti- 
mately favourable  to  the  advancement  of  knowledge.     The  cultivated 
taste  of  polished  ages,  or  the  enlarged   moral  and  political  science  of 
enlightened  philosophers,  were  not  to  be  expected  in  a  state  of  society 
clovjded  with   darkness,  and   fettered  with  superstition;  yet  sonic  of 
the  seeds  were  now  sown,  which  afterwards  ripened  into  literature. 

The  efforts  of  reviving  learning,  though  not  very  judiciously  direct- 
ed, were  by  no  means  feeble.  The  metaphysical  theology  of  the 
schools,  originating  in  misapprehension  concerning  the  most  profound 
of  philosopliei  s,*  was  not  devoid  of  Grecian  acuteness;  and  if  its  dis- 
coveries did  not  greatly  expand  the  understanding,  or  its  spiiit  libe- 
ralize the  sentiments,  yet  its  contentions,  by  sharpening  and  invigora- 
ting the  faculties,  paved  the  way  for  intellectual  aud  moral  improve- 
ment. Increased  sagacity  began  to  produce  discussion  of  arithority  in 
matters  of  thought  and  reasoning:  the  bold  doctrines  of  WicklifiTe, 
though  chiefly  opposed  by  menace  and  persecution,  slill  excited  a  few 
of  the  clergy  to  employ  more  rational  aiguments.  Cotemporary  or 
collateral  heresies  moved  some  ecclesiastics  to  prepare,  by  literary 
effort,  for  the  defence  of  the  existing  superstition  ;  while  they  disposed 
and  formed  others  for  attack.  But  erudition,  narrowly  as  it  was  still 
diffused,  was  not  entirely  confined  to  the  church.  Humphrey  of 
Cilocester  was  a  prince  of  considerable  learning  ;t  Anthony  earl  of 
Rivers,  and  John  earl  of  Worcester,  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  IV.  and 
Edward,  were  eminent  for  literary  knowledge.^  Gallant  and  meri- 
torious  as  were  many  of  the  nobles,  who  perished  in  the  wars  belweea 
Lancaster  and  York,  their  fall   tended  ultimately  to  tiie   reduction  of 

•  See  in  Dr.  Gillits's  Preface  to  his  translation  of  Aristotle,  his  account  of  the 
difference  between  Aristotle's  te.\t  and  tlie  comments  of  his  professed  inierpre- 
ters. 

f  See  Hume's  History  of  Knfjland. 

♦  Henri's  History,  vol.  x.  p.  147. 


12  VIEW  or  THE 

[Different  institutiont, in  EnglanJ  and  France-     Ilenrj  VII] 

the  feudal  aristocracy,  which,  though  never  so  entirely  predominant 
in  England  as  to  slifie  all  remains  of  Saxon  liberty,  was  yet  so  preva- 
lent as  greatly  to  encroach  on  the  constitutional  rights  of  a  free  people. 
Generally  bloody  as  were  the  wars,  the  animosity  of  contending  chief- 
tains, and  the  resentment,  rapacity,  or  jealous  fears  of  the  successive 
conquerors,  rendered  the  proportion  of  grandees  either  killed  in 
battle,  or  massacred  by  cruelly,  much  greater  than  that  of  the  gentry, 
yeomanry,  traders,  and  subordinate  orders.  The  rising  consequence 
of  the  great  body  of  English  commons  eventually  saved  their  country 
from  the  absolute  monarchy  which  overwhelmed  the  neighbouring 
nations. 

Similar,  indeed,  in  calamitous  circumstances,  at  different  though 
near  periods  of  the  fifieenh  century,  but  dissimilar  in  the  original  in- 
stitutions, and  in  the  ranks  and  orders  of  men  which  these  generated, 
France  and  England  were  destined  to  experience  very  unlike  systems 
of  polity,  at  the  time  they  both  advanced  in  civilization  and  knowledge. 
When  the  French  nobility,  after  being  so  much  exhausted  by  inter- 
nal dissensions  and  the  wars  with  England,  were  farther  impaired  by 
the  crafty,  unfeeling,  and  oppressive  policy  of  Louis  XL;  there  being 
no  intermediate  orders  between  them  and  the  labouring  people,  who 
were  actually  slaves,  all  ranks  were  involved  in  one  vortex  ot  arbitrary 
dominion.  France  became  a  simple  monarchy  ;  while  England,  by 
rearing  and  cherishing  a  middle  class,  which  augmented  in  force,  as 
spreading  industry  and  increasing  knowledge,  enlarged  the  means  of 
acquiring  moderate  independence,  was  improved  into  a  free  constitu- 
tion, providing  equally  for  the  governing  and  governed,  and  proposing 
the  general  welfare  as  the  only  legitimate  object  of  political  establish- 
ments and  national  conduct. 

To  the  promotion  of  these  beneficial  purposes,  no  sovereign  was 
more  instrumental  than  Henry  ViL:  though  his  measures  originated 
ill  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  situation,  rather  than  in  liberal 
policy  ;  yet,  without  allowing  either  wisdom  or  goodness  the  full 
credit  of  the  beneficial  effec's  produced,  an  impartial  examiner  of  his 
actions,  and  their  evident  consequences,  must  see,  that  he  promoted 
the  prosperity  and  meliorated  the  condition  of  England.  He,  indeed, 
was  the  first  who  carried  effectually  into  execution,  the  great  plans  of 
improvement  devised  by  the  genius  of  his  illustrious  predecessor 
Edward  HL  Contracted  in  sentiment,  covetous  in  disposition,  and 
suspicious  in  temper,  Henry  did  not  always  propose  the  most  benevo- 
lent ends.  Vigorous  and  penetrating  in  intellect,  cautious  in  delibe- 
ration, but  decisive  in  conduct,  he  both  devised  and  employed  the 
most  opposite  means.  Apprehending  the  adherents  of  the  house  of 
York  to  be  inimical  to  his  own  doubttul  title,  if  he  did  not  create,  he 
probably  brought  into  action,  discontcents  which  might  have  lain  dor- 
mant ;  but  when  dissatisfaction  rose  to  revolt,  he  with  firmness  and 
prudence  suppressed  repeated  rebellions.  Experiencing  of  suspect- 
ing the  principal  enmity  to  subsist  among  the  higher  ranks,  he  was 
anxious  to  weaken  tlic  order  of  nobles  :  he  permitted  the  barons  to 
break  the  entails  of  ilieir  estates,  and  made  laws  to  prevent  them  from 
retaining  lart^e  bodies  of  clirnls,  which  rendered  them  formidable 
and  lurbulciii*      He  encouraged  agriculture  and  commerce,  perhaps 


*  Uo'iertson's  Charles  V.  vol.  i.  p.  103. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  13 

[He  encourages  navigation.     Sebastian  Cabot.] 

with  a  view  (as  our  great  historian  conjectures)  of  gratifying  his  ava- 
rice by  filling  his  coffers  from  imposts  ;t  and  he  concluded  several 
very  useful  commercial  treaties,  which,  though  somewhat  narrow  in 
their  principles,  were  in  their  operation  lucrative.  He  bestowed  great 
auention  on  the  promotion  of  navigation  ;  as,  before  his  time,  foreign 
trade  had  been  chiefly  carried  on  in  foreign  bottoms,  he  endeavoured, 
with  considerable  success,  to  procure  to  English  ships  the  carriage  of 
our  own  exports  and  imports. 

During  this  reign  a  spirit  of  maritime  adventure  for  the  purposes 
of  discovery  and  commerce  arose  in  several  parts  of  Europe.  The 
invention  of  the  compass  encouraged  navigators  to  explore  oceans 
before  untried  by  Europeans.  Venice  and  Genoa  had  hitherto  monopo- 
lized the  traffic  of  the  western  world  to  India.  Portugal,  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  was  governed  by  a  succession  of  courageous,  able,  and  en- 
terprising princes  ;  who,  perceiving  the  advantages  accruing  to  the 
Italian  republics  from  a  trade  with  India,  attempted  to  employ  their 
maritime  situation  in  profitable  traffic.  Nautical  adventurers,  directed 
by  the  princes  of  that  country,  proceeded  gradually  along  the  coast 
of  Africa.  At  length,  they  extended  their  voyage  to  the  southern  pro- 
montory of  that  immense  peninsula  :  to  which,  foreseeing  it  would 
open  a  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  they  gave  the  name  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope ;  and  a  few  years  after  arriving  on  the  Malabar  coast, 
showed  to  western  Europe,  that  India  was  more  easily  accessible  to 
its  commercial  adventurers,  than  to  its  eastern  neighbours  ;  and  that 
oriental  riches  were  no  longer  to  be  exclusively  acquired  by  the  coast- 
ing traders  of  the  Mediterranean,  but  to  be  shared  by  the  bold  es- 
sayers  of  unknown  oceans.  But  while  Vasquez  di  Gama  found  out 
an  accessible  though  circuitous  course,  from  the  shores  of  the  northern 
Atlantic  to  the  southern  regions  of  Hindostan,  Columbus,  by  the 
iorce  of  his  genius,  conceived,  and  by  the  boldness  of  his  enterprise 
and  perseverance,  discovered  to  the  inhabitants  of  Europe,  much 
nearer  to  their  own  coasts,  a  new  world,  replete  with  incentives  to 
commerce  and  navigation;  and  abounding  not  only  with  materials  for 
riches,  but  with  subjects  of  reflection,  and  means  for  enlarging  human 
comprehension  and  enjoyment.  Soon  after  the  illustrious  Florentine 
found  the  West  Indies,  Americus  Vespusius,  in  prosecution  of  Colum- 
bus's plan,  arrived  at  the  southern  continent,  and  gave  his  own  name 
to  a  quarter  of  the  globe  discovered  by  another.  Accident,  and  not 
the  parsimony  of  Henry,  prevented  England  from  enjoying  the  honour 
of  this  signal  discovery.  He  soon  fitted  out  a  squadron,  which  sailed 
to  the  west,  in  order  to  explore  unknown  regions  in  latitudes  more 
contiguous  to  his  own  kingdom,  and  seek  a  nearer  passage  to  India 
than  by  doubling  Africa.  Sebastian  Cabot  conducted  the  enterprise, 
and  arrived  at  a  coast  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Newfoundland. 
Steering  along  to  the  southward  as  far  as  that  part  of  the  coast  which 
has  since  been  named  Virginia,  he  ascertained  that  there  were  large 
tracts  of  laiKl  adjacent,  convenient  for  naval  enterprise  upon  the 
Atlantic.  Though  Henry  did  not  attempt  to  establish  a  settlement 
on  this  coast,  yet  the  enterprise  was  of  the  highest  importance,  as  it 
stimulated  England  to  farther  nautical  adventure.  A  spirit  of  navi- 
gation, commerce,  and  discovery  was  excited  by  Henry,  which  after- 

*  Hume. 


14  VILW   OF  THE 

[Increasing  influence  of  England  among  foreign  states.      State  of  Ekirope.] 

wards  generally  diffused  itself,  and  called  into  action  the  maritime 
exertions  of  these  islands,  improved  by  all  the  sap^aciiy  and  energy 
of  the  national  character  when  employed  in  the  mobi  beneficial  direc- 
tion. 

But  while  Henry  thus  promoted  the  commerce,  navigation,  and  in- 
ternal  prosperity  of  his  country,  he  extended  her  inHuence  among 
foreign  states.     He  loved  peace,  without  fearing   war.     Though  by 
no  means  comprehensive  in  his  views  of  European  policy,  he  under- 
stood sufficiently  the  relations,  objects,  and  condition  of  other  king- 
doms, to  provide  for  the  security  and  defence  of  his  own  dominions. 
He  was  courted  by  cotemporary  princes  in  every  part  of  Europe,  and 
the  English  nation  was  never  so  closely  interwoven  in   continental 
affairs  as  during  his  reign.    Other  circumstances  concurred  with  the 
personal  character  of  Henry,  to  extend  the  intercourse  between  Eng- 
land and  the  nations  of  the  continent.  Previous  to  the  fifteenth  century, 
little  political   connexion   had  subsisted   between    the   neighbouring 
states  of  Europe  ;  their  reciprocal  hostilities  were  rather  the  effect  of 
passion  and  personal  animosity,  than  of  any  well  digested  system  of  poli- 
cy. Their  means  of  reciprocal  annoyance,  occasional  impost, and  tem- 
porary militia,  though  sufficiently  adapted  to  the  desultory  conflicts  of 
the  pride  or  resentment  of  rival  chieftains,  were  little   fitted  for  the 
purposes  of  systematic  war.      When  England,  under  Henry  V.  and 
in  the  posthumous  execution  of  his  great  and  ambitious  projects,  had 
almost  overwhelmed  France,  the  neighbouring  principalities  of  Ger- 
many and  Spain  bestowed  no  attention  on  an  event  menacing  the  se- 
curity and  independence   of   Europe.*     The  contests   between   the 
several  kingdoms  of  Spain,  evidently  tending  to  unite  that  part  of  the 
continent  into  one  great  empire,  were  regarded  by  the  rest  of  Europe 
with  equal  indifference.     Princes  were  little   effected  by  remote  or 
eventual  danger.     This  inattention   did   not  entirely  arise  frf)m  the 
Avant  of  sagacity  to  foresee  distant  contingencies,  but  proceeded  in  a 
considerable  degree  from  the  condition  of  their  dominions,  which 
called  their  consideration  to  present   and   proximate  objects.     The 
power  of  the  barons  under  the  feudal  system,  often  either  distracting 
the  public  tranquillity  by  the  feuds  of  rivalry,  menacing  the  sovereign 
by  rebellion,  or  by  oppression  driving  the  populace  to  insurrection, 
with  the  imperfections  of  the  civil  government,  so  fully  occupied  the 
sovereigns,  as  to  leave  them  little  leisure   to  survey  foreign  affaiis. 
This  was  especially  the  situation  of  France,  the  most  compact,  cen- 
trical, and  populous  kingdom  of  Europe  ;  and  the  best  fitted,  from  the 
advantages  of  her  situation,  the  number  and  character  of  her  people, 
if  internally  well  governed,  cither  to  secure  herself,  or  to  protect  or 
disturb  her  neighbours.     The  fiefs  into  which  that  kingdom  was  di- 
vided, weakened  the  force  of  the  monarchy;  but  from  the  destruction 
fjf  the  nobility  in  the  wars  with  England,  the  rapacious  policy  of  Louis 
XI.  and  the  re-atjnexation  of  the  English  possessions  and  detached 
principalities  to  the  crown,  government  was  rendered  almost  simply 
monarchical.     '1  his  event  was  accelerated  at  home,  and  its  influence 
extended  abroad,  by  another  effect  of  the  wa.s.       These  generated 
standing  armies,  which,  now  being  first  employed  by  Charles  VH.  to 

•   See  Robertson's  Cliarles  V.  vol.  i  p.  3?.     T  l)e  same  truth  may  He  gathered 
f.om  Humc'^  History  of  those  uars,  though  it  is  nut  so  cxpiesil)  blated. 


STATK  OF  KNGLAND,  15 

[Augmented  power  of  princes.    Balance  of  power.] 

preserve  his  crown,  and  afterwards  maintained  by  him  to  humble 
the  remainder  of  his  barons,  were  now  enlarged  by  his  son,  and 
exercised  in  crushing  the  ancient  nobility,  and  seizing  the  territories 
of  his  neighbours. 

Charles  VI 1 1,  the  son  and  successor  of  Louis  XI.  found  the  nobili- 
ty incapable  of  opposing  the  will  or  projects  of  the  prince,  and  a 
powerful  army,  with  little  to  employ  its  force  but  the  resumption  of 
Britatiny.  He  eflected  this  purpose  partly  by  war,  and  finally  by 
marriage.  The  monarch  of  France,  now  no  longer  occupied  at  home 
by  the  English  or  his  barons,  from  efforts  commencing  in  successful 
defence  and  progressively  extending  to  internal  usurpation,  began  to 
prepare  measures  of  offence  against  independent  states,  which  had 
given  him  no  provocation.  For  the  execution  of  such  designs,  he 
|)ossessed  subjects  whose  energy  of  character  rendered  tiiem  formi- 
dable and  efficient  instruments  against  all  with  whom  they  were  at 
war,  either  justly  or  unjustly.  Having  invaded  Italy  with  a  powerful 
force,  he  first  presented  France  as  the  disturber  of  Europe;  a  cha- 
racter which  she  has  so  often  resumed  in  the  three  following  centu- 
ries, wiih  strength  of  operation,  and  vicissitudes  of  event ;  not  rare- 
ly with  injustice  of  principles,  impolicy  of  object,  and  pernicious 
result.  C'harles  overran  Italy  from  the  Alps  to  the  southern  extremi- 
ty and  possessed  himself  of  the  city  and  kingdom  of  Naples.  Neigh- 
bouring nations  were  now  acquiring  similar  efficiency  of  force  with 
France  by  similar  means  ;  by  the  reduction  of  the  nobles,  the  conso- 
lidation of  principalities,  the  re-union  of  fiefs  under  the  lords  para- 
mount, and  the  employment  of  a  standing  army.  Exempted  from 
constant  anxiety  and  apprehensions  from  their  own  subjects,  they 
were  enabled  to  watch  the  conduct  of  their  neighbours  ;  and  in  ob- 
serving their  motions,  to  view  distant  probabilities  as  well  as  immedi- 
ate effects.  The  most  powerful  prince  of  the  continent  after  Charles 
of  France,  was  Ferdinand  of  Arragon,  who  was  now  by  his  marriage 
with  Isabella  of  Castile,  actual  sovereign  of  Spain.  This  prudent 
prince,  alarmed  at  a  progress  which  endangered  the  safely  of  his  do- 
minions, combined  with  the  Italian  states  and  Maximilian  of  Aus- 
tria in  forming  a  confederacy  to  repel  the  prosperous  aggression  of 
France,  and  confine  the  invader  to  his  ancient  dominions.  The  object 
and  principle  of  this  alliance  form  an  epoch  in  political  history,  as  liie 
first  effort  of  modern*  times  to  maintain  a  balance  of  power ;  which 
is  merely  self  preservation  in  a  community  dictating  plans  of  policy,  to 
provide  against  circuitous  injury  and  annoyance,  as  well  as  against  direct 
attacks.  To  this  treaty,  which  was  concluded  at  Cambray,  Henry  VIL 

•  From  history  it  appears,  that  the  sugacious  Greeks  very  early  discerned  the 
necessity  of  resisting  etibrts  against  others,  wliicli  might  extend  to  themselves. 
Animositr,  ambition,  and  pride,  were  not  the  sole  causes  of  tiie  l*eloponnesiai> 
conteueracy  against  Athens;  but,  in  a  considerable  degree,  the  appreiiension  of 
growing  power.  When  the  Spartans  became  in  their  turn  predominant,  a  similar 
confederacy  was  formed,  to  reduce  the  excess  of  their  power  ;  an  object  to  which 
the  Athenians  adhered  with  such  nicety  of  discrimination,  that  when  they  found 
the  scale  preponderate  in  favour  of  the  Thebans,  sacrificing  all  animosity  to 
sound  policy,  they  joined  the  Spartans  in  order  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power. 
See  Gillies,  vol.  ii.  chap.  5.  vol.  iii.  chap.  27  and  30  ;  but  mostly  In  the  last.  Other 
histories  also  illustrate  this  observation  respecting  the  Greeks,  whose  policy  was 
so  contrary  to  that  of  other  ancient  nations,  especially  the  victims  of  progressive 
Roman  conquest. 


Hi  VIF.AV  OF  HIE 

[Character  of  the  reiga  of  Henry  VII.    Henry  \11I.] 

acceded,  and,  though  his  general  caution,  and  distance  from  the  scene 
of  hostilities,  did  not  suffer  him  to  take  an  active  share  in  the  war, 
yet  his  junction  in  the  alliance  is  an  epoch  in  the  histoi-y  of  England ; 
because  England  then  first  joined  in  a  continental  confederacy  to  re- 
press the  offensive  measures  of  France. 

Though  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  conduced  eventually  to  political 
as  well  as  commercial  and  naval  improvement,  yet  the  extension  of 
freedom,  far  from  being  Henry's  object,  was  by  no  means  the  imme- 
diate effect  of  his  measures.  The  aristocracy  was  reduced,  but  the 
people  were  not  yet  risen  to  such  strength  and  importance  as  to  op- 
pose a  sufficient  bulwark,  to  the  augmented  powers  of  the  crown. 
Twenty-eight  temporal  lords  only  formed  the  first  house  of  peers  af- 
ter Henry's  accession  ;  and  the  order  was  soon  found  to  have  decreaed 
in  authority,  as  well  as  in  number  and  possessions.  In  the  interval 
between  the  fall  of  the  barons,  and  the  rise  of  the  commons,  the 
power  of  the  crown  was  much  greater  than  in  former  reigns.  Henry 
\'II.  may  justly  be  termed  an  absolute  prince.  His  government  was 
arbitrary,  both  in  the  series  of  his  acts  and  the  general  regulations  or 
laws  which  through  him  were  established.*  In  his  time  the  authority 
of  the  star-chamber  was  revived,  and  in  some  cases  confirmed  by  law, 
and  armed  with  powers  the  most  dangerous  and  unconstilulional  over 
the  persons  and  properties  of  the  subjects.  Informations  were  al- 
lowed to  be  received,  instead  of  indictments,  in  order  to  multiply 
fines  and  pecuniary  penalties.  A  tendency,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
augment  the  emoluments  of  the  exchequer,  was  the  general  charac- 
ter of  his  laws.  Ambition  in  Henry,  descending  from  its  lofty  rank, 
became  the  humble  minister  of  avarice  ;  but  the  joint  efTecls  of  both 
passions,  though  hurtful  at  the  time,  were  destined  by  providence  to 
be  beneficial  to  posterity. 

Henry  VIII.  was  disposed  to  piomote  the  commercial  improve- 
ments which  his  father  had  begun ;  but  the  knowledge  which  either 
he  himself  or  his  ministers  possessed  of  the  subject,  was  extremely 
imperfect.  On  the  whole,  all  the  direct  acts  and  immediate  conse- 
quences of  his  government  were  inauspicious  to  nautical  discovery, 
and  the  extension  of  commerce.  Navigation  and  trade  were  indeed 
advanced  during  this  period,  but  rather  by  the  efforts  of  private  ad- 
venturers, than  the  policy  of  either  the  sovereign  or  the  legislature. 
The  first  part  of  Henry's  reign  was  chiefly  occupied  at  home  in  plea- 
surable dissipation,  and  courtly  splendour,  under  the  magnificent  and 
ostentatious  ministry  of  Woisey  ;  wasting  in  sumptuous  entertain- 
ments and  costly  pomp,  the  riches  which  the  avarice  of  his  father  had 
acciuired.  The  luxuries  of  the  court  requiring  foreign  supplies, 
stimulated  private  adventure,  and,  without  any  meritorious  plans  of 
the  sovereign  or  his  counsellors,  encouraged  the  importation  of  com- 
modities 'from  distant  and  even  newly  discovered  countries.  The 
spirit  of  maritime  enterprise  excited  by  the  last  king,  though  little 
promoted  by  his  son,  operated  on  the  nation,  and  the  circle  of  trade 
was  gradually  enlarged  in  various  quarters  of  the  world. 

Tliough  no  English  colonics  were  yet  settled  in  any  part  of  the  new 
world,  their  merchants  carried  on  a  trade  with  the  islands  in  the  West 

•  Blackstone'*  Commentaries,  v'<].  iv.  chap  53.,  on  the  progress  of  the  Enfjlish 
laws  and  constitution.  '    * 


STATE  OF  ENGLANIJ.  17 

[Prog^ress  of  trade  and  discovery.    Attempts  to  find  a  north-west  passage.] 

Indies, which  had  been  seized  and  settled  by  the  Spaniards:  they  had 
agents  residing  in  some  of  these  settlements,  parlicuhirly  in  the  great 
island  of  Cuba,  for  the  management  of  their  trade.  Mr.  Thorn  of 
Bristol,  one'  of  the  greatest  merchants  and  boldest  adventurers  of  the 
age,  established  a  factory  at  Cuba;  and  was  the  first  Englishman  who 
set  the  example  of  a  commercial  settlement  in  the  new  woild.  Em- 
ploying the  opportunities  he  thereby  acquired,  not  only  for  the  pur- 
poses of  present  traffic,  but  for  discovery  and  future  extension  of  com- 
merce, he  sent  agents  to  the  Spanish  fleet,  furnished  with  great  sums 
of  money,  to  bring  exact  charts  of  the  seas,  rivers,  and  lands  wliich 
they  visited,  and  as  accurate  a  description  of  the  accessibility,  slate, 
and  productions  of  the  several  countries,  as  they  could  procure  * 
The  spirit  of  discovery  in  private  adventurers  was  no  less  ardent, 
than  the  desire  of  trading  with  countries  already  known.  Henry  in 
the  beginning  of  his  reign  appeared  eager  to  promote  inquiry  into 
new  regions,  and  fitted  out  ships  for  exploring  the  soutlicrn  ocean. 
But  the  expedition  by  some  misconduct  or  mischance  having  failed, t 
the  king,  from  a  fickleness  incident  to  violent  minds,  and  the  promi- 
nent feature  in  his  character,  totally  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  such 
undertakings.  Merchants  and  mariners,  however,  persevered;  and 
though  some  of  their  voyages  appear  not  to  have  been  lucrative,  yet, 
by  adding  to  the  national  stock  of  nautical  science,  and  extending  the 
sphere  of  English  navigation,  they  produced  important  advantages. 

Two  ships  destined  for  South  America  were  committed  to  Cabot, 
which  visited  the  Brazils.  The  knowledge  of  that  coast,  and  its  great 
projection  into  the  Atlantic,  being  acquiied,  Hawkins,  father  to  the 
renowned  voyager,  directed  his  course  to  the  same  country,  and 
having  opened  a  traffic  with  the  Brazilians,  crossing  over  to  the  oppo- 
site promontory,  was  the  first  Englishman  v/ho  surveyed  the  coast  of 
Guinea.  With  their  progress  in  gain,  the  desires  of  English  mari- 
ners increased;  and  their  ideas  expanding  with  the  advancement  of 
knowledge,  they  directed  their  thoughts  to  Indian  opulence.  In  their 
voyages  to  the  Mediterranean,  having  traded  to  its  eastern  coasts,  they 
received  accurate  information  concerning  the  riches  of  Hindostan, 
which  before  were  only  imperfectly  known  through  distant  and  uncer- 
tain report.  In  their  intercourse  with  Portugal,  they  beheld  with  en- 
vy the  vast  wealth  that  flowed  into  that  country  from  the  regions  of 
the  east-t  Conceiving,  with  Columbus,  that  the  islands  which  he  first 
discovered  lay  contiguous  to  the  vast  continent  comprehended  under 
the  general  name  of  India,  they  hoped  to  find  a  more  compendious 
passage,  through  which,  by  easily  outstripping  the  Portuguese  and 
all  southern  Europe,  they  might  acquire  the  principal  share  of  the 
treasures  of  India.  Unsuccessful  as  the  attempt  proved  to  discover 
a  north-west  passage,  and  unfortunate  as  the  adventurers  were,  yet  the 
undertaking  showed  a  bold  spirit  of  commercial  enterprise.  Not- 
withstanding partial  discouragements  and  failures,  the  general  result 
of  private  maritime  pursuits  in  Henry's  reign,  was  a  great  accession 
of  trade  and  riches  to  the  country.  Under  this  monarch,  from  the 
progression  of  causes  that  began  to  operate  through  Europe  in  his 

•  Hackluyl,  vol.  ii.  p.  726.  f  Henry,  vol.  xii.  p.  327. 

i  Kobertson's  posthurhous  America. 
Vol..   V'll— 3 


Ig  Air.W    OF   IIIF 

[Continental  policy  oi   Henry] 

father's  reign,  the  iiilerest  of  European  powers  became  more  involved 
and  intermixed,  ihaii  they  had  been  at  any  former  period. 

Henry  attained  with  the  continental  powers  a  very  great  degree  of 
influence  ;  he  indeed  held  the  balance,  but  turned  the  scale  according 
to  present  iiTipulsr  and  passion  ;  being  more  frequently  actuated  by 
the  suggestions  of  his  proud,  ambitions,  and  resentful  favourite,  than 
either  by  equity  or  sound  policy.  When  he  ascended  the  throne, 
the  power  of  France,  superior  to  any  other  nation  on  the  continent, 
the  hostile  jealousy  between  that  country  and  England,  and  the  con- 
nexion and  affinity  between  Henry  and  Ferdinand,  concarred  in  ren- 
dering the  English  king  ininucal  lu  the  French. 

Louis  XH.  was  eager,  like  his  predecessor,  to  conquer  Naples  ; 
but  the  opposition  of  Ferdinand,  joined  to  the  trea(  hery  of  that  crafty 
and  unprincipled  monarch,  prevented  his  siicrcss.  A  new  field,  how- 
ever, was  soon  opened  for  the  ambitiun  of  Louis.  Julivis  IL  like 
many  of  Ins  predecessors  on  ilie  papal  throne,  instead  ol  promoting 
the  meek  benevolence  of  the  christian  religion,  was  the  incendiary  of 
unprovoked  and  ini(]uitous  war.  By  his  Intrigues  a  partition  treaty 
was  frametl  between  the  three  great  powers  of  Austria,  Spain,  and 
France,  for  dismeh)bcriiig  the  dominions  and  dividing  the  riches  of 
the  illustrious  republic  of  Venice.  A  league  was  formed  at  Cambray 
for  this  nef.trious  purpose;  and  it  was  stipulated,  that  the  pope,  who 
instigated  the  robheiy  and  projected  the  plan,  should  have  a  considera- 
ble share  of  the  plunder  acquired  by  more  powerful  and  efficient 
perpetrators.*  Such  confederacies,  composed  of  jarring  materials, 
contain  the  seeds  of  their  own  dissolution.  The  rapid  successes  of 
French  etungy  filled  the  allies  with  jealousy  and  alarm.  The  pope, 
wl.o  had  first  planned  this  alliance  of  the  great  powers,  anxiously 
sought  to  excite  discord  among  the  several  members,  involving  them 
in  mutual  quarrels,  that  he  might  expel  them  successively  from  Italy, 
and  enjoy  without  control  the  sole  direction  of  that  country.!  He  de- 
tached Ferdinand  from  the  league,  and  endeavotired,  through  that 
prince  and  his  own  influence  to  excite  Henry  to  war  with  France. 
The  sagacious  prelate,  thoroughly  knowing  the  characters  with  which 
he  had  to  deal,  made  suitable  applications  ;  he  first  addressed  himself 
to  Ferdinand's  interest;  then  to  Henry's  love  of  distinction,  national 
animosity  to  the  French,  and  passionate  zeal  for  the  catholic  religion; 
in  which,  as  in  every  thing  else,  his  ardour  was  violent,  and  spurned 
at  all  contradiction.  He  persuaded  Henry  that  in  attacking  France, 
he  should  fight  the  cause  of  the  church,  which  Louis  was  most  pro- 
fanely defying  ;  he  flattered  and  promoted  his  ambassador  ;  and  led 
Henry  to  expect,  that  the  title  of  the  Most  Chriatian  King,  so  precious 
an  ornament  to  the  French  monarchy,  should  be  transferred  to  the 
English  sovereign.  To  fix  the  impression  of  his  religious  authority 
on  this  devout  monarch,  he  sent  him  a  sacred  rose,  perlumed  with 
musk,  and  anointed  wiih  chrism. t  Inspired  by  devotion,  impatient 
lor  displaying  to  Europe  his  power  and  importance,  and  reviving  the 

•  Sec  the  outlines  of  this  confederacy  and  it.s  operations,  in  Ro!)crtson's  Cliarles 
v.,  vol.  i.  p.  117  to  120;  and  Iliime,  vol.  i.  p. 'Jf>3  to  267.  For  the  detail,  see 
(.uicciardini ;  and  l'Abb(:  du  3o8,  Histoire  de  lit  I.igue  de  Cambray.  '   ,* 

I  Gtiicciarrlini,  lib.  viii.  ' 

%  Spe  Hume,  vol.  ii.  p.  265. 


STATF,  OF  KNTGLAM).  |9 

[Balance  of  power.    Interests  of  F.ngland  require  Henry  h)  support  Francis.] 

ancient  claims  upon  France,  Henry  engaged  in  a  war,  which  was 
iieitlier  necessary  lo  Uie  security,  nor  conducive  to  the  interests,  of 
his  kingdom.  Chivalrous  impolicy  engaged  the  romJtitic  James  in 
the  contest,  and  kindled  a  war  between  Scotland  and  England.  Tiie 
disciplined  valour  of  the  southern  Briions  overcame  the  impetuous 
rashness  of  northern  heroism,  and  obtained  a  victory,  fatal  to  the 
vanquished,  and  brilliant  but  useless  to  the  conquerors.  English 
courage  and  military  prowess  Avere  again  displayed  in  France  with 
splendid  achievements,  and  signal  success,  but  followed  by  no  impor- 
tant advantage;  and  all  parties  ])erceiving  the  unavoidable  necessity 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  calamities  of  war,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  con- 
cluded, which  comprehended  all  the  belligerent  powers. 

After  peace  and  tranquillity  had  continued  for  several  years,  a  new 
state  of  European  affairs  gave  a  change  to  the  scale  of  power,  and  to 
the  policy  that  was  expedient  for  maintaining  the  balance.  Charles 
of  Austria  had  now  succeeded  to  all  the  inheritances  and  acquisitions 
of  his  paternal  grandfather  and  grandmother,  in  Germany,  Italy,  and 
the  Low  Countries;  and  to  all. the  inheritances  and  acquisitions  of 
his  maternal  grandfather  and  grandmother  in  Spain,  Italy,  Africa,  and 
the  new  world.*  Francis,  the  first  of  that  name,  had  ascended  the 
throne  of  France  on  the  death  of  his  cousin  Louis.  The  relative  po- 
sition and  stale  of  their  territories  led  these  two  princes  to  political 
rivalry,  while  other  causes  concurred  in  inflaming  their  competition. 
They  were  botii  young,  and  succeeded  to  their  respective  possessions 
about  the  same  time;  both  were,  endued  with  great  abilities,  though 
of  dissimilar  dispositions  ;  and  both  became  masters  o.'^  very  exten- 
sive resources.  Beside  so  many  gener:il  grounds  of  emulous  ani- 
mosity, they  had  a  special  source  in  their  respective  application  for 
the  imperial  diadem.  The  appointment  of  Charles,  and  rejection  of 
Francis,  called  immediately  into  actien  those  causes  of  hostility  which 
must  have  soon  operated  from  their  reciprocal  situation  and  respective 
characters.  Between  these  two  mighty  monarchs,  Henry  of  England 
only,  by  the  greatness  of  his  powei',  was  fitted  to  hold  the  balance. 
Quick  in  perception,  and  vigorous  in  capacity,  he  readily  saw  the 
general  policy  of  preserving  an  equipoise  ;  and,  devoted  to  the  honour 
of  his  country,  as  well  as  to  his  own  glory,  he  valued  himself  on  being 
the  umpire  of  Europe.  But  though  his  talents  were  considerable, 
his  judgment  was  not  proportionably  sound;  at  least,  its  exertions 
were  too  easily  swayed  by  the  impvilse  of  temper  and  passion. 

The  accumulated  possessions  of  the  emperor  Charles  V.  rendered 
him  manifestly  superior  to  Francis;  political  security  therefore,  the 
principle  of  English  interference  in  continental  affairs,!  required 
that  Henry  should  lean  towards  France  ;  but  he  cherished  the  ancient 
English  enmity  to  an  opposite  neighbour.  Francis,  wdio  resembled 
Henry  in  many  of  the  accomplishments  on  which  he  greatly  prided 
himself,  and  in  some  parts  of  his  character,  (though  much  supeiior 

•   Robertson's  Charles  V.,  vol.  ii-  p.  1  to  26. 

f  See  lord  tlrenville's  speech  on  the  Uussinn  arnnament  in  1791  ;  Mr.  Pitt's 
sjjeech  onAhe  negoliulion  with  Buonapiirle;  Mr.  Fox'?>  .speeches  on  the  continental 
connexions  which  England  ought  to  pursue;  Mr.  Pill's  applying  the  same  prin- 
ciple to  our  alliance  with  Holland  and  Prussia;  and  parliamentary  speeches  on 
the  object  and  grounds  ot  the  late  w  ai. 


20  VIl-^V  OF  TlIK 

[Unwise,  but  vigorous  policy  of  Henry.     The  Reformation.] 

on  the  whole,)  was  the  object  of  his  personal  rivalry.  Henry  was 
moreover  governed  by  his  favourite  Wolsey,  whom  Charles  courted, 
and  bribed  most  lavishly  for  the  present,  flattering  him  with  the  hopes 
of  being  raised  to  the  papal  dignity,  at  that  time  the  highest  in  Chris- 
tendom. Instigated  by  this  imperious  counsellor,  the  English  king 
adopted  a  policy  totally  inconsistent  with  the  interests  of  his  king- 
dom;  made  war  with  France,  and,  by  weakening  that  country,  ren- 
dered it  more  easy  for  Charles  to  increase  his  already  overgrov.n 
power.  When  Frimcis,  defeated  and  a  prisoner,  was  reduced  to  the 
lowest  pitch  of  distress,  Henry's  motive  of  interference  was  much 
less  the  necessity  of  repressing  Charles,  than  the  persuasions  of 
Wolsey ;  who,  disappointed  of  the  expected  promotion,  (most  fortu- 
nately lor  the  independence  of  Europe,)  became  as  violent  against  the 
emperor  as  he  had  been  before  in  his  favour.  Henry's  conduct  to- 
wards Catharine  widened  the  breach  between  him  and  her  nephew ; 
so  that,  during  the  rest  of  his  reign,  he  was,  with  very  few  intermis- 
sions, closely  connected  with  i'lcincis,  and  Charles  was  prevented 
from  endangering  the  liberties  of  Europe. 

The  part  which  Henry  took  in  the  affairs  of  the  continent,  though 
far  from  being  uniformly  wise,  or  even,  when  right,  proceeding  from 
reasons  of  sound  policy,  was  generally  cfTicucious.  It  demonstrated 
the  force  and  weight  of  the  English  power, though  not  always  wielded 
by  the  king  from  the  best  motives,  or  for  the  most  useful  purposes. 
The  reign  of  this  monarch,  the  first  period  of  active  and  uniform  in- 
terference in  the  transactions  of  the  continent,  showed  that  England 
was  at  least  an  efficient  member  of  the  great  European  republic ; 
and  that  her  relative  power  being  once  ascertained,  its  utility  to  her- 
self or  her  neighbours  would  depend  upon  the  wisdom  or  folly,  the 
justice  or  injustice,  of  her  directors. 

The  most  momentous  event  by  which  Henry's  reign  is  distin- 
guished, is  the  reformation  ;  a  change  accelerated  by  particular  inci- 
dents, collisions  of  passion,  and  individual  circumstances,  but  origi- 
nating in  general  causes.  Among  these,  on  the  one  hand,  were  the 
scandalous  profligacy  of  the  clergy,  the  grasping  rapacity  of  their 
avarice,  the  enormous  usurpations  of  their  ambition,  tlic  overweening 
insolence  of  their  pride,  and  the  gross  ignorance  of  the  great  part  of 
that  immense  body,  multiplying  the  absurdities  of  superstition,  which 
had  overwhelmed  tlu-  wisdom  and  the  benevolence  of  the  christian 
religion;  and  on  the  other,  the  progressive  expansion  of  the  human 
faculties,  from  that  contracted  state  into  which  they  had  been  confined 
about  the  expiration  of  the  tenth  century,'  and  from  which,  though 
slowly  at  first,  they  had  since  gradually  extricated  themselves.  The 
understandings  of  men,  enlightened  by  knowledge,  became  more 
acute  and  vigorous  by  exertion,  and  their  moral  discernment  more 
just.  That  great  engine  of  intellectual  communication,  the  press, 
was  now  invented ;  men  began  to  read,  and  to  reason  on  what  they  did 
read.  The  bible,  which  had  been  so  studiously  concealed  by  the  priest- 
hood, was  discovered  and  perused.  Penetration,  now  assisted  by  learn- 
ing, found  out  that  many  of  the  articles  of  faith,  and  injunctions  of 
both  ritual  and  moral  practice,  were  not  only  incompatible  with  con- 

•   See  Robertson's  Charles  V.   vol    i.  ;  and  Hume's  general  observations  on 
the  predecessors  oOlenry  Vlf.  at  the  conclusion  of  the  reign  of  Hichard  III. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  21 

[Causes  which  led  to  the  Ileformation.     Consequences  of  that  event.] 

science,  reason,  and  common  sense,  but  opposite  to  genuine  Christi- 
anity as  contained  in  the  scriptures. 

Finding  so  many  defects  in  the  superstructure,  men  gradually  be- 
gan to  examine  the  basis.  Such  was  the  course  which  the  renowned 
Luther  pursued  :  who,  perceiving  the  jibsurdity  and  wickedness  of 
selling  indulgencies  to  vice  and  profligacy,  and  demonstrating  what 
he  perceived,  proceeded  from  one  step  of  discovery  to  another,  until 
he  iouiid  that  the  whole  system  of  papal  superstition  was  raised  upon 
an  hypothesis  totally  inconsistent  with  history,  experience,  and  reason  ; 
that  its  principle  was  the  infallibility  of  a  human  being,  which  was 
obviously  false,  and  consequently  that  the  v/hole  train  of  deductions 
depending  upon  this  principle,  were  inadmissible  on  its  authority. 
With  the  intrinsic  absurdity  of  papal  superstitions,  which  diffused 
reason  and  knowledge  tended  to  dispel  ;  with  the  profligacy  of  the 
clergy,  which  conscience  prompted  to  reprobate  and  oppose  ;  the 
policy  and  passions  of  princes  and  other  individuals,  no  doubt,  con- 
curred in  promoting  the  reformation  commenced  by  Luther.  Revived 
learning,  however,  raising  human  intellect  to  its  real  dignity,  and 
through  the  press  spreading  its  influence  much  more  extensively  than 
even  in  the  enlightened  ages  of  antiquity,  soon  destroyed  ecclesiasti- 
cal thraldom,  and  dispelled  gloomy  superstition.  The  metaphysical 
subtleties  of  one  set  of  reformers  might  be  diflferent  from  those  of 
another;  but  the  most  essential  and   valuable  part  of  the 

HEFORM,  the  EMANCIPATION  OF  HUMAN  REASON  FROM  THE   CHAINS 

OF  HUMAN  AUTHORITY,  Sprang  from  the  ettorts  of  that  reason,  and 
was  the  source  of  the  principal  advantages,  religious,  moral,  civil,  and 
political,  which  resulted  from  this  great  revolution  in  the  church. 
These  changes,  though  operating  chiefly  in  the  country  where  enfran- 
chised genius  and  learning  had  arrived  at  the  highest  pitch,  were  not 
confined  to  nations  which  formerly  protested  against  the  authority  of 
an  Italian  clergyman,  but  extended  to  countries  where  the  pope's 
supremacy  was  still  acknowledged. 

In  protestant  states,  however,  besides  this  great  and  general  ad- 
vantage from  the  overthrow  of  papal  authority,  many  other  more  im- 
portant benefits  accrued,  especially  in  England.  Immense  sums  and 
demesnes,  the  tributes  of  superstition  and  credulity  to  hypocrisy, 
fraud,  and  imposture,  or  the  exactions  of  tyrannic  violence  from  the 
terrors  of  weakness,  which  had  been  employed  in  fostering  sloth, 
idleness,  and  sensuality,  were  now  amalgamated  into  the  mass  of  na- 
tional property,  encouraged  rising  industry,  and  improved  the  public 
revenue.  The  reformation  tended  to  promote  agriculture,  trade, 
manufactures,  and  private  and  public  opulence,  the  means  of  national 
defence,  security,  prosperity,  power,  and  glory.  Thus  a  revolution, 
at  first  sight  theological,  became  a  most  important  event  in  the  com- 
mercial history  of  Britain.  It  tended  also  to  the  improvement  of 
English  jurisprudence  ;  by  removing  from  that  admirable  system,  all 
those  pernicious' incumbrances,  which  had  been  imposed  on  our  laws 
by  clerical  artifice  and  usurpation,  to  shelter  crimes.* 

•  Blackstone,  vol.  iv.  c.  16  and  18,  on  the  benefit  of  clergy  ;  and  chap.  33.  on 
the  progress  of  the  law  and  constitution  of  England,  fourth  period,  under  Hen  y 


22  VIKW   OF  lilE 

[Character  of  Henry's  reign.      Edward  VI.  promotes  iiuvigation  and  eommercc.] 

By  the  reduction  of  the  clerical  aristocracy,  the  still  enfeebled  state 
of  the  lay  aristocracy,  and  the  hitherto  slow  progress  of  the  commons  ; 
the  abject  servility  of  parliaments ;  the  vigorous  talents,  inflexible 
temper,  and  violent  passions  of  the  sovereign;  this  reign,  though 
ultimately  conducive  to  liberty,  was  more  absolute  than  any  re- 
corded in  the  English  history.  Though  the  open,  liberal,  and  intre])id 
mind  of  the  monarch,  never  exercised  his  authority  in  the  treachery, 
dissimulation,  and  baseness,  so  prevalent  in  despotic  courts,  yet  the 
ungovernable  fury  of  his  affections,  the  profusion  and  rapacity  of  his 
disposition,  and  the  violence  and  capriciousness  of  his  inclinations, 
with  the  fickle  bigotry  of  his  ever-changing  theology,  re^ndered  him 
unjust,  oppressive,  tyiannical,  and  cruel.  Under  the  sanction  of  those 
pusillanimous  parliaments,  the  encroachments  of  monarchical  power 
were  established  by  law.  But  the  political  evils  of  Henry's  reign, 
which  resulted  from  individual  character  and  special  circumstances, 
were  only  temporary  ;  tlie  good  arising  from  the  general  causes  was 
permanent,  and  contained  in  itself  the  means  of  progressive  improve- 
ment. 

The  short  reign  of  Edward  VI.  tended  in  many  respects  to  extend 
the  advantages,  and  correct  the  mischiefs  of  Henry's  government. 
Commerce  and  discovery  made  considerable  advances  at  this  period. 
The  trade  of  England  had  hitherto  been  carried  on  chiefly  by  for- 
eigners, especially  by  a  corporate  company  from  the  Hans-towns,  called 
the  merchants  of  the  Steelyard.  In  former  reigns,  these  had  engrossed 
a  great  part  of  the  trafhc  with  foreign  countries,  and  employed  Ger- 
man or  Flemish  shipping.  This  establislmient,  which  was  encouraged 
by  Edward  III.  and  succeeding  princes,  in  order  to  teach  the  Eng- 
lish commercial  lessons,  and  excite  mercantile  emulation  among 
them,  had  been  long  extremely  useful.  The  council  of  young  Ed- 
ward perceiving  that  the  reasons  for  encouraging  these  foreigners  no 
longer  existed,  and  that  a  spirit  of  mercantile  adventure  being  now 
raised  among  the  natives  of  England,  such  privileges  enjoyfed  by 
aliens  interfered  with  the  national  interest,  found  it  necessary  to 
annul  them,  and  place  all  foreigners  on  an  inferior  fooling  to  native 
subjects.  This  change  contributed  greatly  to  the  advancement  of 
commerce  and  navigation  ;*  and  a  commercial  treaty  was  concluded 
with  Sweden,  on  the  solid  principle  of  reciprocal  exchange  of  super- 
fluity to  supply  mutual  want.t"  The  great  fishery  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland  became  an  object  of  attention,  and  was  prosecuted  witii 
activity  and  success. |  The  Er)glish  still  cherished  the  idea  of  open- 
ing a  communication  with  eastern  riches,  by  a  more  expeditious 
course  than  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Cabot,  so  renowned  for  naval 
enterprise,  urged  th.e  English,  instead  of  steering  towards  the 
north-west,  which  had  proved  unsuccessful,  to  attemjjt  the  discovery 
of  the  desired  passage  by  the  north-east.  At  his  instance,  and  under 
his  direction,  several  noblemen  and  persons  of  rank,  together  with 
some  principal  merchants,  having  associated  for  this  purpose,  were 
incorporated  by  a  charter,  under  the  title  of  the  Company  of  Mer- 
chants Adventurers  for  the  discovery  of  regions,  dominions,  islands, 
and  places  unknown.     Two  ships  and  a  bark  were  equipped  for  this 

•  See  Hume.  f  Ibid. 

f  Kobertson's  posthumous  America,  p.  16;  and  Hackluyt's  voyages, /'osstm. 


SrA TK  OF  KNGF.AM).  2.'i 

[Repeals  the  tyrannical  laws  of  his  father.     Mary.] 

service;  and  though  they  failed  in  the  great  end  of  their  expedition, 
one  ship  and  the  bark  being  lost,  yet  the  other  effected  very  iniportant 
discoveries.  An  intercourse  with  the  vast  empire  of  Russia,  before 
unknown  to  English  adventurers,  was  opened  ;  and,  on  the  return  of 
this  ship,  a  mercantile  company  was  formed  for  trading  with  Muscovy. 
Attempts  were  now  made  to  open  a  communication  with  India  and 
China  by  land,  through  the  new  connexion  with  Russia,  by  Astracan 
and  the  Caspian  sea;  and  though  the  adventurers  did  not  penetrate  so 
far  as  they  intended,  yet  they  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  countries, 
commodities,  and  inhabitants  of  Turkey;  which,  combined  with  the 
maritime  enterprises  in  the  Mediterranean,  laid  the  foundation  of 
English  commerce  with  the  Ottomans.  A  commercial  intercourse 
was  also  opened  with  the  western  coasts  of  Africa  ;  while  the  traffic 
begun  with  Ikirbury  was  considerably  extended  in  the  reigns  of  Ed- 
ward and   Mary. 

The  war  with  Scotland,  in  which  Henry  had  left  his  kingdom  en- 
gaged, together  with  the  factions  which  prevailed  under  the  protect- 
orship of  Somerset  and  the  administration  of  Warwick,  prevented 
Edward  from  possessing  on  the  continent  that  influence  which  his 
father  had  maintained.  The  distraction  of  English  councils,  and  the 
connexion  with  Scotland,  now  so  closely  united  by  the  afllance  of  the 
dauphin  with  the  infant  queen,  encouraged  and  stimulated  the  French 
monarch  to  attack  England  in  war;  and  though  hostilities  were  soon 
ended  by  a  peace,  the  English,  torn  by  dissensions,  were  losers  by  the 
treaty  :  nor  did  this  kingdom  afterwards,  in  the  course  of  Edward's 
reign,  interfere  with  effect  in  continental  politics.  The  internal  part 
of  Edward's  history  is  of  the  highest  importance.  The  first  session 
of  his  parliament  repealed  all  the  laws  enacted  through  the  arbitrary 
violence  of  Henry,  which  had  tyrannically  extended  the  crimes  of 
treason  and  felony,  and  made  heresy  a  capital  offence. 

The  prolestant  religion  was  fully  established,  and  though  the  re- 
formation might  not  extend  to  every  principle  and  doctrine  which 
unfettered  reason  could  impugn,  yet  it  proceeded  as  far  as  the  senti- 
ments, knowledge,  and  character  of  the  nation  could  bear.  The  re- 
form was  great,  though  less  violent  and  more  gradual  than  in  some 
other  countries,  where  they  laid  the  whole  hierarchy  prostrate  ;  yet 
from  its  moderate  and  progressive  nature  it  was  the  more  likely  to 
be  durable.  While  it  humbled  the  pride  and  ambition  of  the  clergy, 
and  restrained  their  avarice  and  profligacy,  it  left  them  rank  and  pro- 
perty to  maintain  the  dignity  conducive  to  the  purposes  of  their 
office,  in  a  country  where  great  diversity  of  rank  and  property  pre- 
vailed. Abolishing  much  useless  pageantry,  the  English  reformers, 
aware  that  men  are  as  frequently  led  by  their  senses  and  imagi- 
nations, as  swayed  by  their  hearts  and  understandings,  left  a  sufficient 
degree  of  pomp,  ceremony,  and  accompaniment,  to  amuse  the  fancy, 
and  please  the  eye  and  the  ear,  without  substituting  idolatry  for  real 
devotion. 

The  leading  features  of  Mary's  character,  were,  an  ardent  and 
boundless  zeal  for  Romish  bigotry,  and  an  ungovernable  love  for  the 
man  whom  she  married.  These  passions,  enhancing  and  inflaming 
each  other,  account  for  the  most  important  transactions  of  her  short 
and  detestable  reign.  At  once  a  religious  and  amorous  devotee,  she 
persecuted  and  butchered  protestants,  to  please  herself  and  her  bi- 


24  VIEW  01-  TIIK 

[Elizabeth.    Augmentation  of  the  navy.] 

goted  and  cruel  husband  ;  while  to  gratify  his  wishes,  and  secure  a 
greater  portion  of  his  company  and  love,  she  oppressed  and  exhausted 
lier  people,  and  engaged  in  a  most  impolitic  and  destructive  war.* 
Humanity,  patriotism,  justice,  every  duty  of  morality  and  genuine 
Christianity,  were  sacrificed  to  the  violence  of  her  affections.  Many 
beneficial  laws,  however,  were  enacted  in  her  reign,  which,  though 
proposed  by  Mary  to  reconcile  the  people  to  her  schemes  of  restoring 
the  Romibh  faith  and  hierarciiy,  and  to  her  extortions  of  their  money 
to  lavish  on  her  husband,  produced  permanent  good,  while  the  evil 
of  being  governed  by  the  tool  of  such  infuriating  passions,  was  a  tem- 
porary evil,  and,  fortunately  for  the  kingdom,  of  short  duration.  The 
gloom  was  soon  dispersed,  and  followed  by  the  most  resplendent 
brightness. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth,  so  auspicious  to  the  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness of  her  subjects,  was  extremely  favourable  to  the  rising  spirit 
of  navigation,  discovery,  and  commerce.  The  peace,  foreign  and 
domestic,  which  her  wisdom  and  firmness  preserved  with  little  inter- 
ruption for  almost  the  first  thirty  years  of  her  reign,  notwithstanding 
the  hostile  jealousy  of  surrounding  nations,  the  furious  passions  which 
agitated  the  continent,  and  the  discontent  which  bigotry  and  rivalry 
kindled  or  fanned  in  her  own  kingdom,  were  peculiarly  conducive  to 
the  enterprising  efforts  of  able,  bold,  and  adventurous  Englishmen. 
Strict  and  vigilant  economy  exempted  her  subjects  foom  the  burthen 
of  taxes  injurious  to  trade;  the  popularity  of  her  administration 
among  the  greater  part  of  her  subjects,  overawing  disaffection  and 
preventing  commotion,  left  her  people  full  liberty  to  pursue  nautical 
and  commeicial  enterprise.  Undisturbed  by  the  factions  of  a  turbu- 
lent minority,  or  the  cruel  persecutions  of  frantic  bigotry,  the  saga- 
cious Elizabeth,  like  the  greatest  of  her  predecessors,  saw  that  the 
security  of  a  kingdom  environed  by  the  sea  must  depend  on  its  naval 
force. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  her  government  was  to  increase  the  number 
and  strength  of  her  navy.  Before  her  reign,  the  English  had  com- 
monly been  supplied  with  large  ships  by  foreigners.  The  queen, 
desirous  of  having  the  resources  of  strength  and  the  vehicles  of 
riches  furnished  within  her  own  kingdom,  filled  her  arsenals  with 
naval  stores,  promoted  ship-building,  and  encouraged  her  subjects  to 
bend  their  allcnlion  to  pursuits  which  were  destined  to  render  them- 
selves and  their  jjosterity  eminent  among  nations.  With  this  view 
she  Ijuilt  several  ships  of  great  force  and  versatility;  and  as  the  skill 
of  artificers  improved,  the  number  of  sailors  increased;  and  from  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  may  be  dated  the  first  regulation  of  the  English 
navy.  Her  patronage  and  example  stimulated  and  invigorated  the 
efforts  of  her  subjects  in  ship-building  and  nautical  expeditions. 
Carefully  examining  the  advances  made  under  her  predecessors,  she 
improved  their  discoveries  and  acquisitions;  cultivated  and  extended 
tlie  connexion  formed  with  the  Russian  sovereign  ;  secured  to  her 
subjects  the  continuance  of  their  exclusive  and  lucrative  trade  with 
his  dominions;  and  encouraged  the  incorporated  body  of  merchants 
enjoying  that  trade,  to  resume  their  endeavours  of  penetrating  by  land 
into  eastern  Asia.  Their  efforts  were  at  length  successful  in  opening 

•   See  Hume's  history  oF  Mary,  passim. 


STATE  OF  r.NGLANP.  25 

[Voyages  to  America.     liist  attempts  at  colonizaiion.] 

a  lucrative  trade  with  Persia,  which  manifesting  to  her  subjects  the 
riches  of  the  east,  produced  a  resolution  of  resorting  to  thessc  coun- 
tries by  sea. 

As  the  English  advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  Asia  and  its  pro- 
ductions, their  ardour  incr«ased  lo  discover  a  short  nautical  course  to 
these  opulent  regions.     Their  disappointments  in  the  northwest  and 
northeast    did    not    entirely   chill    their    hopes ;    they    still    flattered 
themselves  that  ihey  miglit   discover  an  outlet  which  had  hitherto 
baffled  their  inquiries  ;  and  FrobiL>her,  in  three  successive  voyages, 
explored  the  coasts  of  Labrador  and  of  Greenland,  but  without  dis- 
covering the   northwest  passage.     Though  the   disappointment  was 
sensibly  felt,  yet  English  courage  and  enterprise  rose  superior  to  dis- 
appointment.   Sir  Francis  Drake,  so  renowned  in  naval  history,  deter- 
mined to  sail  round  the  world:  an  undertaking  hitherto  achieved  by 
Magellan  only.   Having  successfully  finished  this  formidable  voyage, 
and  acquired  an  accurate  and  distinct  conception  of  the  commodities 
both  ol  the  east  and  west,  he  inspirilcd  his  countrymen  to  bolder  and 
more  comprehensive  schemes  of  naval  and  commercial  enterprise, 
than  any  vhich  they  had  hitherto  attempted.      The  English  had  for- 
merly seen  and  acknowledged  themselves  far  surpassed  in  seamanship 
by  the  Flemings  and  Italians,  and   recently  by  the  Portuguese,  who 
were  the  first  lor  naval  reputation  in  the  annals  of  history.  They  now 
rivalled   that  country  in  its   most   splendid   enterprise  :  and   having 
rapidly  risen  iVoai  inferiority  to  equality,  they  doubted  not  soon  to 
attain  a  striking  superiority.     Having  confirmed  their  skill,  they  felt 
their  force;  and  perceived  that  the   surrounding  ocean,  so  long  ne- 
glected, was  an  Englishman's  clement,  on  which  he  was  destined  lo 
excel.     They  formed  a  notion  eventually  true,  bold,  and  beneficial, 
that  no  object  attainable  by  human  ability  exerted  in  maritime  effort, 
is  beyond  the  reach  of  English  seamen  ;  a  nautical  and  commercial 
enthusiasm,  therefore,  diffused  itself  through  the  country. 

English  adventurers,  having  hitherto  confined  their  efiorts  to  visit- 
ing foreign  and  remote  regions,  and  satisfied  with  present  discovery 
and  traffic,  had  made  no  attempt  to  form  new  settlements.  Sir  Hum- 
phry Gilbert,  a  gentleman  of  ingenuity  and  learning,  enthusiastic  for 
discovery,  proposed  to  conduct  a  colony  to  America;  and,  having  ap- 
plied to  the  queen,  obtained  the  first  charier  for  a  colonial  establish- 
ment.* The  charter  authorized  him  to  discover  and  take  possession  of 
all  remote  and  barbarous  lands,  unoccupied  by  any  christian  prince  and 
people;  vested  in  him  and  his  heirs  the  property  of  the  soil  of  such 
countries,  with  the  legislative  powei-,  and  the  civil  and  criminal  juris- 
diction over  those  who  should  settle  in  ihe  new  planlaiions.  The  laws 
and  their  administration  were  to  be  conformable  to  the  polity  of  Eng- 
land, on  which  the  new  colony  was  still  to  depend.  Arbitrary  as  the 
powers  thus  confirmed  were,  such  was  the  spirit  of  udvent»ure  now  pre- 
valent, that  many  agreed  to  conform  to  the  conditions,  and  became  Gil- 
bert's absociates.  In  his  undertaking  he  was  assisted  and  accompanied 
by  his  half-brother  Walter  Raleigh,  afterwards  so  renowned  in  political 
and  literary  history.  Two  expeditions  which  Gilbert  conducted  to  New- 
foundland and  Cape  Breton  ended  disastrously.  In  the  last,  the  leader 
himself  perished.  The  undaunted  spirit  of  Raleigh,  not  disappointed  by 

•  Eobertson's  posthumous-  Americs,  p.  33. 
Vol..  VII— 4 


26  VIKW    OF   TIIF, 

[A\'ist  internal  policy  of  il>c  queen.     Commercial  companies] 

this  miscariiuKC,  projected  a  new  scheme  of  colonizrttion.  After  pro- 
curini^  a  similar  charter  from  the  queen,  adopliri}^  his  brother's  ideas, 
but  avoiding  his  errors,  he  resolved  to  steer  a  much  more  southern 
course,  nnd  also  to  send  trusty  ofliicers  to  explore  the  country,  before  he 
should  attempt  a  seulement.  On  their  return  they  reported,  thai  they 
had  found  in  southern  latitudes  a  most  beautiful  country, distinguished 
for  fertility  of  soil,  and  mildness  of  climate;  of  which  they  had  taken 
possession  in  her  majesty's  name  and  called  it  Virginia,  as  a  memo- 
rial that  this  happy  discovery  had  been  made  under  a  virgin  queen. 
Raleigh  accordingly  fiued  out  a  squadron,  and  planted  in  that  country 
the  first  colony  ever  established  by  Englishmen.  The  nevv  colonists, 
however,  in  the  eagerness  of  their  search  after  the  precious  mines  with 
which  they  supposed  the  new  world  in  every  part  to  abound,  neglected 
the  means  of  subsistence.  Being  on  the  point  of  perishing  with 
famine,  they  returned  to  England.  Raleigh  made  a  second  attempt 
to  establish  a  colony  ;  but  he  and  other  patrons  of  the  settlement  being 
called  to  defend  their  country  agiiinst  the  invasion  of  Philip,  this 
colony  also  failed.  Vigorous,  beneficial,  and  glorious  as  the  admin- 
istration of  Elizabeth  proved,  it  was  not  very  favourable  to  schemes 
of  doubtful  and  contingent  advantage,  or  to  what  in  modern  mercan- 
tile language  are  called  speculations;  and  plans  of  new  establishments 
were  in  her  reign  carried  on  at  the  expense  and  risk  of  individuals. 
Resides,  the  wisdom  and  felicity  of  her  internal  government  promoted 
agriculture,*  manufactures,  commerce,  the  mea/is  of  subsistence, 
convenience,  and  comfort ;  and  as  it  bestowed  security  on  her  subjects 
for  the  enjoyment  of  their  manifold  ailvantages,  was  not  favourable 
to  emigration.  But  though  the  first  attempts  to  plant  colonies  were 
imsuccessful,  the  spirit  of  colonization  excited  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, continuii^g  to  prevail  and  increase  afterwards,  pioduced  in 
colonies  most  abundant  sources  of  British  opulence  and  power.  Eager 
as  Elizabeth  was  for  the  encouragement  and  extension  of  trade,  in 
order  to  cherish  it  in  its  infant  stale,  she  granted  many  monopolies  ; 
which,  though  probably  necessary  at  the  linrie,  would,  if  they  had 
continued,  have  proved  destructive  to  that  commerce  they  were  in- 
tended to  promote. t  The  principal  companies  established  by  Eliza- 
beth were  tlie  Russian  and  the  Turkish,  and  one  which  was  destined 
far  to  surpass  either  in  the  momentous  interests  that  it  involved. 
Near  the  close  of  this  long  and  illustrious  reign,  John  Lancaster  pro- 

•  A  law  war  made  in  the  fifth  of  Eli2abeth,  allowing  for  the  first  time  the  ex- 
portation of  corn.  To  this  enactment,  Camden  imputes  the  great  improvement 
of  agriculture. 

■\  Our  gre:»t  comtDercial  philosopher  in  a  few  words  states  the  reasons  for  mo- 
nopolies bo  cit  any  ard  strongly,  and  illustrates  them  by  such  appo.site  analogies, 
as  10  present  ai  or^e  view  the  extent  and  bounds  which  policy  allows  and  pre- 
scribes to  trading  corporations.  "  When,"  says  he,  "  a  company  of  merchants 
undertake  at  thrir  own  risk  anrl  expnnce  to  establish  a  new  trade  with  some  re- 
n>ote  and  barbarous  nation,  it  may  not  be  unreasonable  to  incorporate  them  into  a 
joint  stock  company,  and  to  nmnt  ihtm,  in  case  ot  tlitir  success,  a  monopoly  of 
the  trarle  for  a  certain  number  of  years.  It  is  the  easiest  and  most  natural  way 
j-n  which  the  st»ie  can  recompense  thi  n»  for  hazarding  a  dangerous  and  extensive 
expeiimeni,  of  winch  the  public  is  af'terwi.rds  to  rei.p  tl  e  bi-mfit.  A  temporary 
monopoly  of  this  kind  may  be  vindicated  upon  the  same  principles  upon  which 
a  like  monopoly  of  a  new  machine  is  granted  to  its  inventor,  and  that  of  a  new 
book  to  Its  author;  but  uptm  the  expiration  of  the  term,  the  monopoly  ought 
ccrtainlj,  to  be  ueiermined."     Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  iii.  p- 144. 


STATE  01    ENGLAND.  27 

[Kast  Imlia  company.     Spanish  Armada  ] 

posing  to  measure  part  of  the  coiirbe  of  sir  Francis  Drake,  under- 
took a  trading  expedition  to  India.  A  charter  was  granted  to  the 
adventurers,  at  whose  expense  the  entei-prjse  was  undertaken,  and 
they  were  formed  into  a  corporation,  under  ilie  name  of  the  East 
India  Company.  The  first  attempt  by  En^^lishmen  to  participate  in 
the  trade  of  India,  being  eminently  successful,  encouraged  future 
adventurers.  Thus  the  reign  of  this  pi-incess  very  strongly  and  effec- 
tually promoted  agriculture,  internal  and  foreign  trade, maritime  skill 
and  enterprise,  the  means  of  subsisting,  enriching,  and  aggrandizing 
the  people  intrusted  to  her  care. 

Under  this  extraordinary  personage,  nautical  effort  was  not  merely 
encouraged   as  the  means  of  opulence,  but  of  defence,  of  securiy» 
and  of  power,    France,  at  this  time  engaged  in  intestine  wars  by  «ie 
bigoted    frenzy  of  furious   religionists,  and   with  all    her   resouvtes 
possessing  scarcely  any  commerce,  was  totally  deficient  in  naval  ft^'ce. 
Philip,  who  included  in  his  dominions  the  experienced  sailors  </ the 
Low   Countries  and  of  Italy;  the  Spaniards,  who  from  their /nter 
course  with  the  new  ^vorld  were  inured  to  nautical  exertion  d/id  er- 
tcrpi'ise  ;  and  by  recent  usurpation,  the  Portuguese,  who  far  su'passtd 
all  their  neighbours  in  naval  fame,  appeared  undoubted  master  of  tie 
ocean,  and  able  to  crush  at  a  blow  every  opponent.     This*  migUy 
engine,  which,  if  moved  and  directed  by  wisdom  and  skill,  wOuid  luvo 
been  so  efficient  and  formidable,  in  the  hand^  of  bigotry,  siperstition, 
and  impolicy  was  at  once  enormous  and  inert.     Part,  indeed,  o*  the 
machine,  torn    from    the  rest   by  tyranny,  recoiled   upor  its  former 
owner.     Philip's  civil  and  ecclesiastical  despotism  rend«t'ed  the  bold 
and  skilful  sailors  of  the  Low  Countries  eagerly  hostii/  to  a  power 
which   attempted   to   overwhelm    their    rights    and    UJertics.      The 
gloomy  zealot,  enraged  against  Elizabeth  lor  protecti/ig  her  awn  re- 
ligion and  that  of  her  people  against  his  superstition/  the  iniperious 
tyrant,  enraged   against    Elizal>eth   as  the   protector  ^f  freemen   who 
dur^it  vindicate  their  own   rights,  though  contrary  \J>  a  despot's  will  i 
meditated  a  blow  by  which  he  expected  to  subjugate  England,  and 
to  involve  the  country  and   its  allies  in   civil  and  /eligious  thraldom. 
For  this  purpose  he  equipped  the   Armada,  whii/h  he  vainly  fancied 
and  denominated  invincible.     Elizabeth,  in  preparing  and  strengthen- 
ing a  navy,  had  not  been  guided   solely  by  the  general  policy  which 
dictated  maritime  force  as  the  means  of  defence  in  insuiar  situation  ; 
but  having  discovered  the  purposes,  motives,  md  plans  of  her  most 
potent  neighbour  and  rival,  she  had  recently  directed  her  pecuaar 
attention  to  the  increase  of  a  fleet.    In  this  pursuit,  she  was  seconded 
by  the  efforts  of  her  subjects,  who  were   inspired  with  that  patriotic 
loyalty,  which  the  wisdom  and  virtues  of  a  sovereign  exerted  for  the 
public  good,  choosing  ministers  and  other  executorial  officers  accord- 
ing to  their  fitness  to  promote  the  national  welfare,  and  actually  cfiect- 
ing  the  ease  and  happiness  of  the'people,  never  fail  to  produce  among 
Englishmen.     These  dispositions,  guided  by  private  and  individual 
skill,  combining  with  armaments  prepared  by  her  foresight  and  headed 
by   commanders  selected  by  her   sagacity,   discomfited   the   operosc 
equipment  of  her  foe.     From  that  lime,  England  became  mistress  of 
the  ocean;  her  sailors  thenceforward  conceived  theni.selves  snperi;.M' 
to  those  of  all  other  nations.    The  coacepiion  powerfully  contributed 


28  MF.W  OF  THE 

[Continental  policy  of  Elizabeth.] 

to  the  attainment  of  reality.  Since  that  time,  defeat,  disaster,  and 
dist^racc,  have  never  failed  to  follow  those  who  have  presumed  to 
l>ravc  England  on  her  own  element.  The  same  reign  witnessed  the 
first  regular  formation  of  an  Encjlish  navy,  and  its  supremacy  over  all 
other  naval  powers.  So  eminently  and  decidedly  successful  in  defen- 
sive effort,  the  English  undertook  repeated  expeditions  to  the  coasts 
of  their  enemies  ;  and  though  the  issue  of  them  was  not  always,  it 
was  generally  prosperous.  Spain  was  humbled,  and  England  was 
exalted. 

Respecting  foreign  politics,  Elizabeth  was  placed   in  a  situation 
')f  infinitely   greater  difficulty  than    her    father,  or  any  of   her  pre- 
cccessors.     Religious  bigotry  was  the  chief  spring  which  moved  the 
Host  powerful  piinces  on  the  continent;  their  very  ambition  was  sub- 
se-vient  and   instrumental   to  their  theological  fanaticism.     France, 
insead  of  watching  the  motions  and  repressing  the  encroachments  of 
^he'iouse  of  Austria,  devoted  her  principal  attention  to  the  persecu- 
\ion  -)f  heretics,  and  joined  in  all  the  dark  and  nefarious  designs  of 
^e  p»pe,  Spain,  and  the  emperor.     According  to  the  sentiments  and 
o»)inioi3   of  popish   sovereigns   and   people,  Elizabeth    was  not   the 
rijhifu'  sovereign  of  England,  because  she  was  not  approved  of  by 
anitaliin  priest.     The  legitimate  successor  to  the  crown,  according 
to  jopisi  interpretation,  was  the  queen  of  Scotland,  a  bigoted  catho- 
lic, and  anear  relation  of  the  ablest  and  most  ferocious  champion  of 
the  (atholc  league.     Elizabeth  was  not,  like  her  father,  so  situated, 
as  to  trim  the  balance  between  the  rival  potentates  of  France  and 
Austiia,  anc  to  turn  the  scale  according  to  her  judgment  or  choice. 
Miicli  more 'lifficult  was  her  part,  to  secure  the  independence  of  her 
people,  and  «f  others  whose  interests  were  closely  connected  with 
theirs,  igainst  I  general  confederacy  of  priests  and  arbitrary  piinces,  of 
bigotry  and  dc.potism,  bandied  in  atrocious  barbarity,  in  order  to  dis- 
seminate articlfci  of  theoloe^ical  belief.     In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
J^ngland  showed  she  could  maintain  the  balance  of  power.     Under 
Elizabeth,  in  pre^rving  that  balance,  England  assumed  the  character 
which  she  has,  ex-.ept  in  the  reigns  of  the  Stuarts,  ever  since  main- 
tained, of  supportijg  the  rights  and  independence  of  Europe  against 
the  powerful  disturicrs  of  its  tranquillity.     Such  was  the  lelation  in 
which  Elizabeth  stood  to  foreign  countries.     Too  vigorous  in  under- 
standing anci  profound  in  wisdom  to  be  a  bigot,  or  to  estimate  modes  of 
faith  by  any  other  test  than  their  conduciveness  to  private  and  public 
welfare,  in  he.-  choice  -)f  religion  she  was  guided  by  prudent  policy, 
founded  in  her  own  hiiualion,  and  the  scntimenls  and  interests  of  the 
greater  part  of  her  people.*      It  v^as  expedient  that  she  should  be  at 
the  head  of  the  protestan\3.     Fortunately,  in  the  two  countiies,  more 
contiguous  to  her  kliigdon   and  of  which  the  sovereigns,  both  from 
joint  and  hepaiate  motives  were  well  disposed   to  give  her  disturb- 
ance, the  number  of  protestants  was  very  great;  so  as  in  France  to 
afford  feufRcient  employment  to  the  popisli  combination  at  home,  and 
in  Scotland  to  be  fully  established,  and  totally  paramount  to  the  party 
which  from  theological  sympathy  was  favoured  by  the  sovereign.    So 
thoroughly  wise  and   prudent  was   Elizabeth,   that   for   twenty-nine 

•  See  Kume'j  account  of  £li2abeth's  reasons  for  re-establjjhing  the  protestant 
religion,  vol.  ii.  p.  565. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  29 

[Ecclesiastical  and  political  establishments.     Tendency  of  her  reign.] 

years  she  discomfited  all  the  designs  and  conspiracies  of  popish  de- 
votees against  her  person  and  kingdom;  supported  the  prolestants  in 
France,  Germany,  and  the  Low  Countries  ;  and  furious,  implacable, 
and  savage,  as  was  the  hatred  of  the  confederate  princes  to  every 
supporter  of  the  protestant  cause,  and  above  all  to  Elizabeth,  she 
never  involved  herself  in  hostiliiies;  but  when  the  aggressive  inva- 
sion of  Philip  rendered  war  unavoidable,  she  showed  that  the  same 
wisdom  and  strength  of  mind  which  had  maintained  peace,  so  benefi- 
cial to  rising  industry  and  commerce,  could  carry  on  war  with  effect 
when  necessary  for  the  security  of  her  country.  In  her  latter  years, 
policy  as  well  as  kindred  genius,  and  wisdom  allied  her  to  the  illus- 
trious Henry  of  prance.  The  catholic  league  being  now  broken,  and 
the  power  of  Philip  reduced,  there  being  no  longer  a  popish  pre- 
tender to  the  crown,  the  chief  difficulties  of  both  her  internal  and 
foreign  relations  ceased ;  and  the  queen  and  country,  which  in  such 
trying  circumstances  had  arisen  to  a  pitch  of  high  importance,  were 
regarded  by  foreign  states  with  an  admiration  that  never  before  had 
been  so  universally  bestowed  upon  the  efforts  of  England. 

In  her  ecclesiastical  conduct  and  establishments,  Elizabeth,  guided 
by  policy,  and  not  stimulated  by  bigotry,  v  as  usually  moderate,  but  on 
certain  occasions  led  to  acts  of  intolerance.  As  long  as  the  Roman 
catholics  confined  themselves  to  their  own  theological  doctrines,  and 
did  not  disturb  her  government,  she  permitted  them  to  enjoy  their 
opinions  without  molestation  ;  but  when  she  ibund  thein  engaged  in 
conspiracies  against  her  life,  she  and  her  parliament  enacted  very 
severe  laws  respecting  a  system  of'  faith  producing  plots  for  treason 
and  assassination.  These  laws,  though  intended  chiefly  to  operate 
for  the  discouragement  of  popery,  afterwards  applied  to  otiier  dis- 
senters from  the  established  church.  A  sect  was  now  rising  in  Eng- 
land, composed  of  those  who  thought  the  reform  as  established  by 
Edward  and  restored  by  Elizabeth  inadequate  to  the  corruptions  of 
the  church,  and  who,  professing  to  seek  a  greater  degree  of  purity, 
were  thence  called  Puritans.  Beginning  to  seek  civil  as  well  as 
ecclesiastical  liberty,  they  were  by  no  means  agreeable  to  Elizabeih, 
whose  notions  of  kingly  prerogative,  being  formed  when  the  power 
of  the  crown,  from  the  depression  of  the  aristocracy  and  before  the 
elevation  of  the  commons,  was  so  predominant,  were  extremely 
lofty.  For  the  repression  of  puritanical  doctrines,  she  established 
the  court  of  ecclesiastical  commission;  a  most  arbitrary  tribunal, 
which,  in  the  powers  vested,  the  jurisdiction  conferred,  the  modes  of 
process  .established,  and  the  punishments  prescribed,  was  not  less 
iniquitous  than  the  popish  inquisition,  though,  from  the  wise  mode- 
ration of  Elizabeth,  much  more  mildly  exercised  than  by  a  Pliilip  or 
an  Alva. 

^  In  her  government,  Elizabeth,  like  all  the  princes  of  the  house  of 
Tudor,  was  extremely  absolute.  A  spirit  of  liberty,  however,  had 
begun  to  rise,  which,  though  fostered  by  the  wise  and  beneficial  con- 
duct ot  Elizabeth,  was  certainly  not  intended  by  her  to  be  cherished, 
The  industry  and  enterprise  which  she  encouraged  and  promoted, 
diffused  property  among  the  commons;  that  property  nourished  inde- 
pendence, and  joined  with  advancing  reason  and  knowledge  in  dissemi- 
XiU'.ing  a  spirit  of  f.'eedom.    The  government,  however,  of  the  ouecn, 


30  "MEW  OF  THE 

[Literature.     Great  merit  of  Elizabeth.    James  1.] 

though  imperious,  yet  generally  lenient,  did  not  irritate  this  new  spirit 
by  particular  acts  of  oppression,  tyranny,  or  cruelty.  Her  conduct, 
steadily  and  wisely  directed  to  the  interests  of  her  people,  rendered 
her  extremely  popular.  Her  manners,  engaging  and  insinuating,  in- 
creased the  attachment  of  her  people.  From  her  character  and  situa- 
tion, the  greater  number  of  her  subjects  considered  her  welfare  as 
identified  with  their  own.  The  most  strenuous  votaries  of  liberty 
were  the  most  inimical  to  popery,  against  the  approaches  of  which 
they  considered  Elizabeth  as  the  strongest  bulwark.  From  attach- 
ment to  a  sovereign  in  whom  they  experienced  so  many  excellencies, 
and  also  from  awe  of  so  very  resolute  and  intrepid  a  character,  they 
yielded  a  submission  to  the  authority  of  Elizabeth,  which  they  by  no 
means  thought  due  to  the  mandates  of  kingly  power. 

The  literature  which  Elizabeth  encouraged  tended  also  to  promote 
the  spirit  of  freedom.  The  writers  of  Greece  and  Rome,  inculcating 
so  strongly  and  impressively  the  principles  and  sentiments  of  liberty, 
■were  now  very  generally  read  among  the  higher  and  middling  ranks. 
Genius,  no  longer  fettered  by  priestly  enactments,  soared  aloft;  and 
though  not  immediately  directed  to  political  discussion,  yet  by  en- 
lightening and  invigorati;« J  men's  minds,  prepared  them  for  just 
notions  respecting  their  rights,  and  hold  and  manly  conduct  in  assert- 
ing their  liberties.  The  reign  of  Elizabeth,  though  like  her  father's 
manifestly  arbitrary,  has  in  its  ultimate  tendency  and  effects,  proved 
favourable  to  freedom.  Thus  in  the  various  constituents  of  internal 
prosperity  and  happiness,  and  in  estimation  and  importance  among 
foreign  powers,  England  never  made  such  advances  as  under  the  very 
long  but  much  more  glorious  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Considered  as  a 
rational  being,  placed  in  authority,  and  intrusted  with  the  government 
of  marikind,  examined  according  to  the  circumstances  of  her  situa- 
tion, the  duties  required,  her  discharge  of  those  duties,  and  the  result 
in  the  condition  in  which  she  found  and  left  her  subjects,  (the 
true  criterion  of  a  ruler's  ability  or  weakness  as  a  sovereign,*]  no 
prince  that  ever  filled  a  throne  surpassed  Elizabeth. 

Different  as  was  the  character  of  Janties  from  that  of  his  illustrious 
predecessor,  his  reign  was  in  many  respects  conducive  to  industry, 
commerce,  and  the  internal  prosperity  of  the  kingdom,  though  it  gene- 
rated disputes  which  were  eventually  productive  of  the  most  fatal  con- 
clusions. Endued  with  scholaslic  learning  and  pedantry,  fitter  for  being 
a  Latin  lecturer  on  controversial  divinity  in  a  sequestered  college,  than 
for  being  the  ruler  of  a  great,  bold,  and  enterprising  nation,  James 
possessed  two  qualities  often  resulting  from  literary  seclusion  :  he 
was  extremely  indolent,  and  extremely  timid  ;  and  therefore  a  lover 
of  peace.  The  pursuits  of  his  subjects  rendered  his  pacific  character 
beneficial. 

The  spirit  of  industry,  adventure,  and  trade,  being  uninterrupted  by 
foreign  wars,  greatly  increased  in  the  reign  of  James.  The  traffic  with 
the  East  Indies  was  now  entirely  established,  tiie  stock  of  the  company 
was  considerably  cnlargtd,  and  its  profits  became  every  year  more 

•  This  is  the  light  in  wlilch  the  expanded  mind  of  Hume  considers  our  illustri- 
ous quaen  ,  disrcgardmji  such  loiblcs,  as,  though  they  might  mark  part  ot  lier 
character,  did  not  interfere  with  her  adminislratton  of  afTaira,  poweiful,  constant, 
and  successful  promotion  of  the  public  good. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  31 

[Increase  of  national  prosperity.     Establishment  of  colonies.] 

extensive.  The  trade  of  Turkey  was  advantageous  ;  a  lucrative  com- 
Ttierce  was  opened  with  Spain,  and  the  mercantile  intercourse  with 
Russia  and  other  northern  countries  increased  in  productiveness.  The 
export  trade  greatly  surpassed  the  import,  which,  though  no  certain 
criterion  of  a  flourishing  commerce,*  proved  that  English  commodi- 
ties were  numerous  and  valuable.  James  perceived  the  hurtful  ten- 
dency of  monopolies,  and  considerably  lessened  their  number  and  im- 
portance. Manufactures  advanced  in  a  similar  proportion,  and  espe- 
cially woollen  commodities.  Tlie  king  eagerly  promoted  English 
cloths,  and  laboured  to  prevent  the  exportation  of  raw  materials,  to 
be  manufactured  in  foreign  countries  for  English  consumption. f 

In  a  commercial  view,  this  reign  was  chieHy  distinguished  by  the 
colonies  which  were  planted,  and  established  on  principles  the  most 
beneficial  of  any  recorded  in  the  history  of  colonization.  The  pacific 
disposition  and  conduct  of  James  were  favourable  to  new  plantations. 
'l"he  planters  were  not  interrupted  in  thwr  settlements  by  foreign 
enemies,  and  the  force  sent  for  their  establishment  was  not  obliged  to 
be  recalled  for  the  defence  of  the  mother  country.  Bold  and  enter- 
prising adventurers,  who  languished  in  inaction  daring  the  peace, 
found  in  colonial  projects  a  new  field  for  active  exertion.  A  most 
strenuous  promoter  of  plantations  was  Richard  Hackluyt,  eminent  for 
commercial  and  nautical  knowledge.  That  he  might  stimulate  his 
countrymen  to  new  efforts,  this  experienced  navigator  published  a 
collection  of  voyages  and  discoveries  made  by  Englishmen :  he  com- 
prehended the  proper  objects  of  inquiry  and  research  concerning 
new  countries,  understood  the  fresh  information  that  arrived,  and  saw 
to  what  purpose  it  might  be  most  usefully  supplied.  In  the  last  year 
of  Elizabeth,  by  Hackluyt's  suggestion,  Gosnold  undertook  a  voyage  to 
America,  and  pursued  a  direct  and  middle  course  between  the  northern 
route  of  sir  Humphry  Gilbert,  and  the  southern  circuit  of  sir  Walter 
Raleigh.  Gosnold  having  reached  a  .country  called  Massachusetts 
Bay,  coasted  to  the  southwest,  landed  on  the  continent,  traded  with 
its  inhabitants,  and  having  ascertained  the  fertility  of  the  country,  re- 
turned to  England.  Having  learned  these  particulars,  he  combined 
them  with  what  was  before  known  concerning  Virginia  ;  and,  after 
consulting  with  other  men  of  ability  and  enterprise,  proposed  an  as- 
sociation for  establishing  colonies  in  America.  The  king,  being  pe- 
titioned, sanctioned  the  project  with  his  authority.  Informed  of  the 
extent,  and  in  some  degree  of  the  value,  of  the  American  lands,  he 
divided  into  two  districts  the  portion  of  the  continent  which  he  in- 
tended to  plant :  the  first,  to  be  called  the  South  Colony  of  Virginia; 
the  second,  the  North  Colony  of  New-England.  The  projected  plan- 
tations were  intrusted  to  the  care  of  exclusive  companies;  a  system 
conducive  to  the  protection  of  infant  colonies;  though  adverse  to  the 
prosperity  of  settlements  arrived  at  mature  vigour.  Associated  under 
the  name  of  the  London  Company,  Hackluyt  and  others  received  a 
grant  of  lands,  and  were  authorized  to  settle  a  colony  in  Virginia. 
Several  gentlemen  and  merchants  of  the  west  of  England,  incorpo- 
rated under  the  name  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  obtained  a  similar 

•  See  Wealth  of  Nations:  and  the  marquis  of  Lansdowne's  speech  on  the  coml 
mercial  treaty  with  France,  in  answering  bishop  Watson, 
t  Hume,  vol.  iii.  p.  382. 


32  VIKW  OF  THE 

[Repiiblican'sm  in  New  England.     Ireland.     Continental  policy.] 

grant  and  authoriiy  for  colonizing;  New-England.  On  each  were  be- 
stowed charters,  which,  though  inconsistent  with  the  enlip;htened  and 
generous  spiiit  of  liberty  that  has  since  previiilcd  in  tins  country, 
were  by  no  means  deficient  in  security  to  properly,  and  ervcourage- 
nient  to  industry.  The  southern  colony  was  first  established  in  the 
early  pai  t  of  James's  reign.  Having  left  their  country  before  the  dis- 
putes between  kingly  prerogative  and  popular  privilege  were  publicly 
ngitated,  the  new  planters  carried  with  them  notions,  opinions,  and 
sentiments,  favourable  to  the  church  and  monarchy,  and  transmitted 
ihem  to  their  posterity. 

The  first  attempt  to  colonize  the  north  proved  unsuccessful,  nor  was 
the  settlement  finally  effected  till  near  the  end  of  the  reign,  when 
great  dissensions  began  to  prevail.  The  planters  of  New-England 
were  chiefly  men,  who,  discontented  with  the  established  church  and 
monarchy,  sought  for  freedom  in  the  wilds  of  America.  Afterwards 
receiviijg  accessions  of  voluntary  exiles  from  the  persecutions  of 
narrow  and  impolitic  bigoliy,they  formed  a  colony,  which  was  inimical 
to  kings  and  bishops,  and  preserved  that  character  to  the  present  age. 

Differing  in  pursuit  from  the  Spanish  conquerors  of  the  New  World, 
the  English  settlers  sought  and  acquired  property,  not  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  but  from  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  the  bounties  of  the 
ocean  liberally  rewarded  the  efforts  of  active  and  enterprising  indus- 
try. The  spirit  of  their  institutions  joined  with  the  productiveness 
of  their  situation  rapidly  promoting  colonial  prosperity. 

To  the  policy  of  James,  the  nation  is  indebted  for  the  regulation 
of  Ireland.  His  measures  amended  and  secured  the  tenure  of  pro- 
perty, established  the  administration  of  justice,  stimulated  industry 
and  the  arts,  and  constituted  an  important  branch  in  the  progressive 
improvement  of  the  British  dominions. 

In  his  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  this  king  was  far  from  pre- 
serving to  his  country  that  weight  and  consideration  which  his  prede- 
cessors iiad  acquired.  Though  the  feeble  and  inactive  hands  of  the 
English  sovereign  were  not  qualified  to  hold  the  balance  of  Europe, 
yet  the  state  of  affairs  rendered  his  inertness  safe  to  his  own  country, 
and  not  injinious  to  the  independence  of  other  nations.  Henry  IV. 
had  harmonized  his  kingdom,  lately  so  discordant;  and  turned  to  arts 
and  industry  those  bold  and  active  spirits  that  had  been  recently  ac- 
tuated by  religious  frenzy,  and  rendered  France  a  suihcient  counter- 
poise for  the  unwieldy  greatness  of  Spain.  After  the  death  of  her 
renowned  monarch,  from  her  own  strength,  and  the  ability  of  her 
minister,  she  fully  maintained  her  weight  in  the  scale.  The  conquest 
of  the  Palatinate  deemed  so  disgraceful  to  James,  was  too  distant  an 
event  to  affect  the  political  interests  of  England,  and  the  forbearance 
of  the  king  might  be  justified  upon  principles  of  prudent  policy.  But 
as  his  motives  were  presumed  to  be  his  constitutional  and  habitual  in- 
dolence and  timidity,  his  conduct  was  exposed  to  mortifying  con- 
tempt. He  almost  daily  was  trying  treaties  to  obtain  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  elector,  but  without  displaying  that  firmness  and  force 
which  most  effectually  promote  English  negotiations  for  repressing 
ambition. 

In  the  political  government  of  his  kingdom  several  errors  of  the 
understanding,  and  weaknesses   rather  than  vices  of  the  heart,  com- 


STATK  or  ENGLAND.     .  3;^ 

[The  king's  lofty  ideas  of  prerogative  uwsuited  lo  his  character  and  the  tunes.] 

bined  with  ihe  circumstances  of  the  times,  and  produced  dissatis- 
faction and  discontent  very  troublesome  lo  himself,  and  fatal  to  his 
son.  James  entertained  lofty  ideas  of  kindly  prerogative,  totally  in- 
compatible with  the  real  purpose  of  any  delegated  trust,  and  much 
beyond  the  limits  prescribed  by  our  fundamental  laws,  but  perfectly 
conformable  to  the  practice  of  the  house  of  Tudor.  He  did  not  per- 
ceive the  great  difference  of  the  case,  both  as  to  the  characters  of  the 
princes,  and  the  opinion  and  power  of  the  subjects.  The  Tudors 
were  more  fitted  lo  secure  submission  by  cool,  stern,  and  determined 
policy;  to  terrify  resistance  by  energetic,  though  capricious  and 
violent  command  ;  or  lo  exact  obedience,  and  lo  ensure  compliance, 
through  the  awe,  veneration,  and  attachment  entertained  by  subjects 
for  the  magnanimity)  wisdom,  and  p^^irioiism  of  the  sovereign.  A  great 
class  of  men  had  now  arisen,  not  only  disposed,  but  able  lo  question 
any  branch  of  the  asserted  prerogative,  which  ihey  considered  as  un- 
necessary cu"  injurious  lo  the  only  legitimate  object  of  government- 
In  his  disposition  and  adminislraiion,  James  was  neither  tyrannical 
nor  imperious,  but  delighting  in  discourse  and  speculative  disserta- 
tion, he  talked  much  more  about  the  divine  right  of  kings,  than  all 
the  princes  of  llie  house  of  Tudor,  who  had  contented  the.pnselve* 
with  exercising  absolute  dominion  without  searching  into  political 
metaphysics.  James  provoked  and  accelerated  discussions  about  pre- 
rogative, to  which  the  commons  were  already  sufiicienlly  prone,* and 
which  his  indolent,  irresolute  and  timid  character  farther  encouraged. 
The  king's  theology  concurred  with  his  political  sentiments  in  pro- 
moling  discontent.  From  the  study  of  polemic  divinity,  he  was  the 
sincere  votary  of  the  high  church  doctrines,  and  a  zealous  advocate 
of  hierarchy.  The  strenuous  friends  of  liberty  were  inimical  to 
popery,  which  they  accused  the  king  of  regarding  too  favourably. 
His  refusal  t<^  reduce  the  power  of  the  high  commission  court,  whilst 
he  granted  every  indulgence  lo  catholics, being  construed  into  a  pre- 
dilection for  the  Romish  doctrines,  and  a  hatred  of  ihe  puritans,  ex- 
asperated the  spirit  of  liberty,  already  so  slrong  in  the  commons. 
Another  feature  in  the  king's  character,  by  helping  to  disgust  hi« 
subjects,  conduced  to  the  depression  of  the  kingly  name;  his  indis- 
creet and  boundless  attachment  to  frivolous  and  contemptible  favour- 
ites;  and  the  promotion  of  the  minions  of  his  childish  fondness,  to 
offices  for  which  they  were  totally  unfit.  The  people  very  naturally 
and  reasonably  concluded,  that  a  person  can  prove  no  divine  right  lo 
govern  a  kingdom,  who  shows  himself  so  very  deficient  in  wisdom, 
as,  in  choosing  a  minister  of  state,  to  consider  merely  personal  graces, 
and  courtly  manners.  Contending  \yiih  such  a  prince,  the  commons 
were  both  emboldened  and  empowered  tu  show  him,  that  absolute 
power  had  no  longer  subsisted  in  England  ;  that  they  were  prepared 
to  vindicate  the  rights  and  liberties  of  ficemen ;  and  that  his  boasting 
claims  would  only  challenge  stronger  confutation,  and  his  eager,  but 
feeble  opposition  produce  farther  demands.  Abburd  and  extravagant 
as  their  theological  cant  and  preteubions  might  be,  the  puritans  were 
hitherto  actuated  by  an  elevated  and  noble  spirit  of  civil  and  political 
freedom,  which  every  Briton  who  justly  appreciates  the  blessings  of 
the  present  constitution  must  acknowledge  with  veneration  and  grati- 
tude. Their  talents  and  conduct  were  well  filled  for  promoting  the 
Vol.  VII— 5  . 


34  \\l'.\\    OF    1  HI, 

(Dispules  bslweeiithf  king  afulcoinmona.  (Jliarlf-s  (.follows  hisfatlier'afDotstepsj 

attiiinmcnt  of  lihcrly;  they  proceeded  caiuioiisly  and  Gjradually,  and 
enlarged  their  views  and  systematized  their  plans,  as  their  cause  be- 
came popular  and  the  opposite  obnoxious.  The  king  employed  rash 
and  violent  letters  and  speeches,*  to  which  they  opposed  prudent, 
vigorous,  and  decisive  conduct.  The  course  of  contest  produced  the 
celebraied  manilesio  in  which  the  commons  of  England  first  boldly, 
openly,  and  precisely  declared,  that  the  representatives  of  the  people 
hold  certain  liberties,  franchises,  and  privileges,  not  as  grants  of  the 
king,  but  as  the  rights  of  frceborn  Englishmen.  Though  James  ex- 
pressed great  rage  against  the  contents  and  authors  of  this  paper,  yet 
he  was  afterwards  obliged  to  court  his  parliament,  to  gratify  them  by 
passing  several  popular  laws,  and  by  his  concessions  to  acknowledge 
that  there  was  in  the  country  a  power  fully  equal  to  the  king's,  and 
arising  fiom  the  strength  of  the  people.  The  latter  end  of  James's 
reign  is  a  most  important  epoch  in  the  constitutional  history  of  Eng- 
land, as  then  first  the  commons  proved  their  own  force. 

James  educated  and  formed  his  son  Charles  in  the  same  poli'.ical  and 
theological  sentiments  and  doctrines  which  he  had  himself  maintained, 
professed,  and  inculcated.  Notwithstanding  his  own  experience  of 
the  change  of  public  opinion,  and  of  political  power,  he  had  taken  no 
pains  to  model  the  prince  according  to  the  present  dispositions  and 
character  of  the  peojjle  •hom  he  was  destined  to  govern.  Young 
Charles  very  naturally  imbibed  his  father's  instructions,  and  conceived 
the  kingly  prerogative  to  be  such  as  James  represented  and  argued, 
and  as  Elizabeth  had  exercised.  Sincere  in  his  profession,  this  prince 
was  a  zealous  votary  of  the  high  church  ;  directed  in  his  opinions 
and  doctrines  by  prelates,  and  especially  by  Laud,  he  was  confirmed 
in  his  notions  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  inseparable  con- 
nexion between  episcopacy  and  monarchy.  With  such  principles 
and  sentiments,  so  very  contrary  to  those  of  -a.  great, |^|uwerful,  and 
increasing  body  of  his  countrymen,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  Charles 
moimted  the  throne. 

The  unlimited  power  of  Buckingham,  JaiTies's  minion,  having  over- 
borne the  pacific  maxims  of  the  king,  and  involved  him  in  hostilities 
•with  Spain,  Charles  at  his  accession  found  himself  engaged  in  a  war. 
As  the  contest  was  professedly  popvilar,  he  reasonably  expected  the 
support  of  his  peo])le  and  parliament ;  but  the  supplies  voted  were 
very  inadtquate  lo  the  expenses  requisite  for  the  arduous  undertaking. 
The  leaders  of  the  commons  determined  to  persevere  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  free  constitution,  considered  the  necessities  of  the 
prince  as  conducive  lo  their  purpose,  and  lesolved  to  grant  no  subsi- 
dies without  a  redress  of  grievances,  and  concessions  favourable  to 
civil  liijcMty.  Amidljle  and  afl'eclionale,  Charles  was  warm  and  steady 
in  his  attachments,  th(jugh  not  proportionably  judicious  in  the  selec- 
tion of  objects.  Thence  he'had  maintained  Buckingham  in  the  high 
favour  and  trust  liuie  dcocrved  by  his  talents  and  virtues,  and  obnox- 
ious to  the  parli.inicnt  and  public.  He  not  only  protected  this  min- 
ister against  the  just  resentment  of  the  commons,  but,  instigated  by 
his  coutfcils,  he  adopted  inirjiiitous  measures  for  extorting  loans,  and 
invading  the  property  of  EngJishmen  without  their  cwn  consent.      A 

•   .See  Hume's  History.  - 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  35 

[Violation  of  tlie  petition  of  riglits.      Series  of  oppression  rotises  resistance.] 

series  of  acts,    flagrantly  violating    the    privileges  of    Englishmen, 
alarmed  and  aroused  the  commons. 

Opposing  firm  and  profound  wisdom  to  the  desultory  and  illegal  op- 
pression of  the  court,  their  strong,  discriminaiing,  and  bold  remon- 
strance procured,  in  the  petition  of  right,  a  demarkalion  of  the  limits 
by  which  lihcrty  and  property  were  secured.  Notwithstanding  the 
king's  engagement,  incurred  by  his  consent  to  the  petition  of  right, 
he  for  many  years  continued  regularly  and  systematically  to  tratis- 
gress  the  established  laws  of  England  ;  to  imprison,  fine,  and  corpo- 
rally punish  men,  without  the  judgment  of  their  peers;  to  deprive 
them  of  their  property,  and  compel  them  to  pay  subsidies  without 
the  consent  of  their  representatives  ;  and  by  manifold  unconstitutional, 
lawless,  and  tyrannical  acts,  to  oppress  his  subjects.*  Virtuous  in  hi» 
domestic  and  private  life.  Charles,  in  relation  to  his  kingdom,  disre- 
garded justice  and  llie  rights  of  liie  people,  as  much  as  if  he  had 
been  wicked  and  tyrannical. 

His  chief  instruments  of  oppression  were  the  star  chamber,  which 
subjected  liberty  and  property  to  the  privy  council,  instead  of  the 
peers  of  the  accused;  and  the  iiigh  court  of  commission,  subjecting 
liberty,  properly,  and  life,  to  an  arbitrary  body,  also  not  constituted  of 
the  defendant's  peers.  Though  these  iriljunals  subsisted  in  the  time 
of  Elizabeth,  they  were  not  only  contiary  to  the  great  charter  and 
other  fundamental  laws  of  England,  but  totally  inconsistent  with  the 
principal  clauses  of  the  petition  of  right,  as  admitted  by  Charles  him- 
self. Th'.'  chief  agents  in  this  oppressive  viokiiion  01  the  constiiu- 
lion  we're  Strafford  and  Laud.  The  vigorous  ability  und  stern  iinpc- 
liousness  of  the  one,  and  the  narrow  bigotry  and  priestly  tyranny  of 
the  other,  instigating  the  pliant  Charles,  jiroduced  iiiifpiitous  judg- 
nienis  and  punishments,  ai)d  uncon->iiiuiionaliv  extorted  money  by 
arbitrary  violence,  but  evenuialiy  hasient-d  the  v:ridication  of  rightful 
liberty.  Even  the  frivoli-ous  muinmciy  ol  Laud's  innovating  ceremo- 
nies, though  in  itself  meiciy  laugliable,  yet  indicating  a  predilection 
for  popery,  added  to  the  alarm  ot  the  reforming  party,  and  their  im- 
patience under  the  lawless  acts  of  tins  domineering  ecclesiastic. t 

Tlie  usurpations  of  Charles  and  his  minisiers  were  destined  to  have 
a  speedy  end.  Goaded  by  oppression,  liberty  rushed  forward  with  an 
overpowering  force,  llampdeu,  with  manly  breast  resisting  exaction 
unauthorized  by  the  law,  roused  the  votaries  of  freedom  through  the 
nation.  Charles's  unbounded  love  of  liturgy  excited  from  the  north 
fresh  enemies  to  his  administration.  Necessitated  to  call  a  parlia- 
ment, the  unhappy  prince  found  that  the  members  brought  with  them 
n  much  stronger  spirit  of  opposition  and  resistance  than  had  prevailed 
among  their  predecessors.  In  their  very  first  acts  they  boldly  showed, 
that  the  commons  ot  England  were  not  only  determined  to  restrain, 
but  to  abolish  iniquitous  tribunals,  however  sanctioned  by  precedent; 
to  punish  tyrannical  violators  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  however 
supported  by  court  favour;  and  to  enforce  the  redress  of  grievances 
in  church  and  state.  So  far  as  these  votaries  of  freedom  intended  to 
limit   the   boundaries   of   kingly   power  according    to    its  legitimate 

•   See  Hume's  History,  vol.  iii.  chap.  52. 

I  See  Hunne's  account  ol  ilic  consecrntion  uf  St.  Catherine's  elmrch  byl.aud, 
vol.  iii.  p.  4.49. 


55  VIEW  Ot  THE 

[Raging  spirit  of  freedom.  Unjust  prosecution  of  StrafTord  and  Laud.  Civil  wars.] 

object,  the  public  good,  and  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  tyranny,  their 
purpose  was  beneficent,  patriotic,  and  meritorious.  The  legislative 
and  political  transactions  ol"  this  memorable  parliament,  during  the 
first  period  of  its  operations,  entitle  its  members  to  the  highest  praise 
and  gratitude  from  the  lovers  of  liberty,  and  all  the  subjects  of  the 
British  constitution.  These  intrepid  votaries  of  freedom,  these  re- 
solute opponents  of  kingly  and  priestly  tyranny,  saved  their  country 
from  civil  and  ecclesiastical  thraldom,  which  Charles's  priests  and 
ministers  were  so  rapidly  imposing.  Had  it  not  been  for  them,  Eng- 
land, like  France,  would  have  been  a  simple  despotism,  subjecting  the 
rights  and  happiness  of  a  whole  people  to  the  arbitrary  will  and 
caprice  of  a  single  individual. 

With  this  generous  zeal  lor  liberty,  was  joined  a  repugnance  to  all 
authority,  however  salutary  and  expedient;  a  spirit  of  democratical 
and  puritanical  enthusiasnti,  seeking  to  level  all  ranks  and  distinctions, 
however  necessary  to  the  stability  and  well-being  of  society.  Actu- 
ated by  these  principles  and  sentiments,  the  opponents  of  the  king 
did  not  rest  saiLsfied  with  measures  and  acts  which  restrained  the 
monarchical  and  clerical  power  from  being  oppressive  and  tyrannical. 
No  sooner  had  they  accomplished  that  important  and  valuable  pur- 
pose, than  they  proceeded  to  reductions  preventing  them  from  being 
active,  efficient,  and  useful ;  and  after  their  first  year,  the  parliament 
(especially  the  commons)  became  turbulent  and  republican.  In  re- 
sisting ship-money,  abolishing  the  star-chamber  and  high  court  of 
commission,  circumscribing  executive  power  within  the  bounds  of 
law  and  the  rights  and  weltare  of  the  people,  the  commons  were  the 
protecting  guardians  of  British  liberty  ;  but  when,  in  their  second 
year,  they  sought  and  attempted  to  grasp  the  chief  provinces  of  the 
executorial  power,  ihey  became  enemies  of  the  constitution.  In  their 
judicial  proceedings,  tiic  popular  leaders,  patriotically  and  justly  at- 
tacked the  counsellors  and  ministers  of  tyranny;  but  in  the  mode  of 
prosecuting  and  trying  Strafford  and  Laud,  the  accusers  charging,  and 
the  judges  admitting,  acts  to  be  treason,  which  were  not  treason  by  the 
law  of  iii&  land,  both  commons  and  peers  were  guilty  of  much  greater 
and  more  irreparable  tyranny,  than  any  against  which  they  had  so  pro- 
perly and  strongly  renionslrated.  From  their  meeting  in  1640  to  the 
close  of  1641,  they  vindicated  and  secured  the  ctnstilutional  and  bene- 
ficial rights,  privileges,  and  liberties  of  English  subjects:  in  1642, 
they  attacked  no  leso  constitutional  and  beneficial  powers  delegated 
for  the  national  good  to  an  English  king:  and  demonstrated  how  natu- 
ral it  is  lor  wise  and  able  men,  ardent  in  pursuit  of  an  object  good 
within  certain  bounds,  to  transgress  those  limits;  and  after  having 
begun  with  what  was  right,  useful,  and  even  necessary,  to  end  in 
what  is  wrong,  hurtful,  and  pernicious.  Not  only  the  particular  acts, 
hut  the  general  conduct  of  the  king,  during  the  first  fourteen  years  of 
his  reign,  recoiled  dreadfully  on  himself,  and  showed  how  dangerous 
it  is  for  the  chief  executive  magistrate  of  a  free  people,  by  galling 
oppression,  to  drive  liberty  to  energetic  resistance. 

The  civil  wars,  and  (heir  dismal  catastrophe  in  regicide,  democratic 
anarchy,  and  militaiy  despotism,  manifest  the  direhil  effects  of  popu- 
lar and  prevalent  enthusiasm,  even  though  it  may  have  originated  in 
;h«  noble  spirit  of  liberty.     Lawless  oppression  drove  a  free,  bold. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  37 

[Increase  of  commerce.     Colonies.     Virginia,    New-Kngland.J 

and  generous  people,  to  decisive  efforts,  at  first  lawful  and  laudable.* 
In  their  proG;ress,  their  measures  became  aggressive,  and  in  their 
success,  levelled  monarchy  with  the  dust;  and  instead  of  rational  and 
modified  liberty,  established  a  boundless  license,  terminated  by  mili- 
tary despotism. 

Left  to  private  enterprise,  commerce  increased  and  flourished  more 
than  at  any  former  period.  The  trade  to  the  East  Indies  and  to 
Guinea  l)ecame  very  considerable.  The  commerce  to  Turkey  and 
the  Mediterranean  was  also  greatly  enlarged.  With  Spain,  inimical 
to  Holland,  England  now  enjoyed  almost  the  sole  traffic.  Under  the 
commonwealth,  the  prevalence  of  republican  principles  engaged 
country  gentlemen  to  bind  their  sons  apprentices  to  merchants,  and 
commerce  has  ever  since  been  moi'e  honourable  in  England  than  in 
any  other  European  kingdom.  Trade  received  great  interruption 
from  the  civil  wars  ;  but  under  the  republic  and  the  protectorate,  it 
revived  with  augmented  vigour.  The  war  with  the  states-gcneral> 
carried  on  with  such  energy,  distressed  the  commerce  of  the  Dutch, 
and  promoted  the  trade  of  England,  their  only  formidable  commer- 
cial rival.  The  exclusive  companies,  which  formerly  confined 
trade,  were  never  expressly  abolished  by  any  ordinance  of  parliament, 
during  the  commonwealth;  but  as  men  paid  no  regard  to  the  prero- 
gative, whence  the  charters  of  these  companies  were  derived,  the 
monopoly  was  gradually  invaded,  and  commerce  increased  by  the  in- 
crease of  liberty.! 

The  colonies  also  now  afTorcled  a  considerable  vent  for  English  mer- 
chandise. Virginia,  strictly  subject  to  an  exclusive  corporation,  ex- 
perienced the  various  impediments  necessarily  resulting  from  the 
selfish  and  monopolising  views  of  such  companies;  but  by  the  advan- 
tage of  its  soil  and  climate  triumphed  over  these  obstacles.  Its  colo- 
nists found  it  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  a  plant 
for  which  the  relish  was  becoming  very  general  throughout  Europe. 
The  Virginians  rendered  this  their  staple  commodity.  Having  pur- 
chased some  negroes  from  a  Dutch  ship,  which  visited  them  from 
the  coast  of  Guinea,  they  found  the  natives  of  the  torrid  zone  so  much 
more  capable  of  enduring  fatigue  under  a  sultry  climate  than  Euro- 
peans, that  they  afterwards  increased  their  number  by  continual  im- 
portation. 

New-England  received  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  numerous  addi- 
tions of  emigrants,  and  increased  in  population  and  power.  Paying 
little  regard  to  the  royal  charter,  by  which  they  were  first  associated, 
the  planters  considered  themselves  as  a  society  voluntarily  united  ; 
and  choosing  a  constitution  framed  on  the  model  of  England,  they 
formed  four  colonies  into  confederated  states,  and  asserted  that  they 
should  be  bound  by  no  laws  to  which  they  themselves  did  not  assent, 
and  subject  to  no^taxes  imposed  in  an  assembly  wherein  they  were 

*  This  opinion  is  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  Mr.  Hume,  vol.  ii.  p.  496.  Mr. 
Hume,  indeed,  though  called  un|  apologist  for  the  Stuarts,  merely  stales  their 
conduct  to  be  natural,  without  vindicating  it  as  just,  ov  enlilled  to  tlie  submis- 
sive acquiescence  of  their  subjects.  See  the  history  of  those  reigns,  /«jsw'»i 
on  the  other  hand,  while  he  exposes  the  evils  of  poUtical  fanaticism,  he  allows 
the  puritans  to  be  the  saviours  of  English  liberty. 

f  Sec  Hume's  History  of  England,  vol.  iv. 


38  VILW   OF  THK 

[Navigation  act.     Decline  of  Spain  and  rise  of  France.] 

not  represented.  Within  a  few  years  of  their  plantation,  the  colonists 
of  New-England  manifested  the  same  spirit,  and  vindicated  the  same 
rights,  which  a  century  and  a  half  afterwards  produced  a  refusal  of 
British  taxation,  and  independence  on  the  British  crown.     The  coin- 
cidence of  their  sentiments  with  tliose  of  the  English  repuljlicans,  ren-  . 
dered   the    2sew-Eiiglanders   particularly  favourable   under   the  com- 
monwealth.     Unfettered  in  their  industry  and  pursuits,  they  grew  in 
internal  prosperity  and  strength,  and  promote<l  the  trade  and  naviga- 
tion oi  the  mother  country.      To  secure  to  Britain  the  commerce  of 
her  rising  colonies,  as  well  as  to  extend  her  general  trade,  nautical 
exertions  and  naval  power,  was  the  great  object  of  the  navigation  act, 
the  most  important  and  memorable  of  commercial    statutes.     This 
act,  and  subsequent  regulations,  originating  in  tiie  same  principle,  but 
comprehending  greater  varieties  of  articles  and  details,  secured  to 
England  an  exclusive  commerce  with  her  colonies  ;  and  formed  and 
methodized  the    monopoly  into  a  regular  and  complete   system.      It 
farther,  in  imposing  a  necessity  of  employing    British    sailors,   very 
powerfully  increased  our  best  means  of  security  and  defence.     With 
trade,  the  naval  force  of  the   kingdom  improved.      Tiie  sliip-money, 
so  illegally  levied  by  Charles,  was  api)licd  to  the  professed  purpose. 
The  English  fleet  in  his  time  was  powerful,  though  not  employed  in 
war.      Cromwell,    energetic    and   efficient  in  every  object   which  he 
pursued,  had  a  navy,  as  well  as  an  army,  superior  to  all  his  enemies. 
During  the'  reigns  of  both  James  and  Charles,  England  appeared 
to  have  almost  totally  forgotten  the  afTdirs  of   the  continent,  though 
retiuiring  her  watchful  attention.     Spain,  under  a  succession  of  weak 
princes  and  incapable  ministers,  was  fast  declining  in  power.     'I'iie 
German  branch  of  the  house  of  Austria  was  reduced  and  humiliiUcd 
by  the  heroic  Gustavus,  and  his  gallant  Ssvedes.  The  b(jld,  vigorous, 
and  intrepid  Richelieu,  operating  upon  the  Kiench  character,  was  last 
raising  his  country  in  |)ower  and  energy.     The  great  objects  of  that 
celebrated  minister  were,  to  render  the  monarchy  internally  and  ex- 
ternally efficient.   He  proposed  to  effect  these  purposes,  by  subduing 
the  Hugonots,  fre(]iicnlly  rebels  against  the  established  government; 
by  iiumbling  the  princes  and  nobles,  who  often  opposed  the  power  of' 
the  crown  ;  and  by  curbing  the  house  of  Austria,  the  chief  enemy  of 
French  greatness,      ills  consunmvate  ability,  directing  the  councils 
and  efforts  of  his  country,  accomplished  these  objects.   He  conquered 
the  prolestants,  disconcerted   and  overcame  the  grandees  at  home,, 
and  rendered  France  a  monaichy  cniirely  aljsolute.  A'oroad,  he  made 
very  considerable  progress  in  his  scheme  of  Iiumbling  the  house  of 
Austria.     In  his  time,  France  resumed  her  station,  and  was  the  most 
powerful  empire  on  the   continent.     Cardinal   Mazarine,  succeeding 
Richelieu  not  only  in  his  ministry,  but  in  his  designs,  discomfited  the 
factious  princes  and  nobles,  and  completed  what  Richelieu  ha^a,far 
advanced.  "  Every  year  aggrandized  France,  and  reduced  the^lbwer 
of  Spain  and  the  cmpci'or.  The  I'rench  generals  and  soldiers  acquired 
daily  a  greater  ascendant  over  the  Spaniards.     Almost  constantly  vic- 
torious in  a  long  war,  and  having  detached  from  her  rival,  by  re\oll, 
dominions  so  productive,  France  was  now  become  oljviously  and  emi- 
nently pieponclerant  in  the  scale  of  Europe.      Such  was  her  situation, 
whsn  Oliver  Cromwell  became  supreme  diiector  ol   I'.nglish  affairs. 


STATE  OF  KNGl.ANI).  39 

(rontineniHl  policy  of  Cromwell.     Literature  an<1  Srience.     The  restopafion) 

The  churacter,  efibrts,  and  achievements  of  liiis  renowned  usurper 
commanded  from  foreign  powers  an  admiration  and  deference  be- 
siowed  on  no  English  ruler  since  the  lime  of  Elizabeth.  The  belli- 
iicrent  nations  saw,  that  England,  directed  and  invigorated  by  Crom- 
well, could  give  victory  to  whatever  parly  he  chose  lo  embrace.  Each 
courted  him  with  the  most  flattering  and  humble  solicitations.  If 
Cromwell  had  thoroughly  understood  and  regarded  the  interests  of 
his  country,  he  would  have  supported  the  declining  fortunes  of  Spain, 
against  the  dangerous  ambition  of  France  ;  and  preserved  the  balance 
of  power,  on  which  the  greatness  and  security  of  England  so  much 
depended.  Allured,  however,  by  the  prospect  of  conquest  and  plun- 
der among  the  Spanish  settlements  in  the  New  World,  and  their 
ships  on  the  intervening  ocean,  he  threw  his  weight  into  the  scale 
which  was  already  preponderant,  and  contributed  his  powerful  eftbrts 
to  tlie  exallaiion  of  an  empire  most  formidable  to  England. 

From  the  time  of  the  reformation,  England  had  been  eminently  dis- 
tinguished for  the  very  highest  efforts  of  literary  genius.  Among 
many  writers  more  remarkable  for  sublimity  and  force  than  beauty 
and  elegance,  she  had  to  boast  a  philosopher,  whom  Aristotle  himself 
did  not  surpass  in  extent  of  knowledge, and  depth  of  investigation,  in 
expansion  of  views,  power  of  invention,  and  importance  of  discovery; 
an  epic  poet,  whom  Homer  did  not  excel  in  sublimity,  in  pathos,  and 
in  force  of  character;  a  dramatic  poet,  whom  not  any,  nor  all  the  il- 
lustrious writers  for  the  ancient  stage,  exceeded  Or  equalled,  in  the 
knowledge  or  exhibition  of  man.  A  very  considerable  degree  of 
learning  was  diffused,  mingled  with  an  incorrect  taste,  and  tinctured 
by  either  the  superstitious  bigotry,  or  the  puritanical  fanaticism,  so 
generally  prevalent.  The  predominant  enthusiasm  formed  charac- 
ters great  and  energetic,  but  not  pleasing  and'  beneficial.  Gloomy 
in  its  tenets,  visionary  in  its  fancies,  austere  in  its  observances,  and 
dismal  in  its  external  appearance,  it  effected  a  very  striking  change 
in  the  national  manners;  but  the  alteration  was  only  temporary.  Doc- 
trines and  notions  so  totally  inconsistent  with  vigorous  and  distin- 
guishing good  sense  ;  sentiments  so  contrary  to  humanity  and  libe- 
rality ;  demeanour  so  repugnant  to  frankness,  sincerity,  and  candour, 
could  not  be  durable  among  Englishmen.  The  ferment  of  passion 
cooled  ;  the  frenzy  of  boundless  itniovation  at  length  gave  way  to  sober 
reason  and  experience.  Men  saw  that  the  liberty  which  they  had 
pursued  beyond  all  useful  limits  had  terminated  in  slavery  ;  they 
wished  for  the  re-establishment  of  a  monarchy  properly  cii  cumscribed; 
favourable  events  seconded  their  desires,  and  with  general  acclama- 
tion Charles  II.  was  restored  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 

During  the  period  between  the  restoration  and  the  revolution,  com- 
merce and  navigation  rose  to  a  pitch  never  before  known  in  the  an- 
nals of  Englapd.  The  two  Dutch  wars,  by  disturbing  the  trade  of 
Holland,  promoted  the  trade  of  this  island  ;  and  the  peace  which 
prevailed  during  the  rest  of  Charles's  reign,  however  censurable  on 
political  grouilds,  and  however  unfavourable  in  its  ultimate  effects  to 
the  balance  of  power  and  independence  of  Europe,  rapidly  and  pow- 
erfully contributed  to  the  opulence  of  England.  Both  the  fortunes 
and  views  of  mercantile  men  vftve  greatly  enlarged.  There  were 
more  merchants  on  London  'change  at  the  end  of  this  time,  worth 


40  VIFAV  OF  THE 

[Extension  of  colonization.     Consequences  of  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  Charles.] 

ten  thousand  pounds,*  than  at  the  beginning  worth  one  thousand. 
With  riches,  ideas  of  accommodation  and  ornament  diverged,  manvi- 
factures  were  also  very  considerably  improved.  The  general  spirit 
of  progressive  industry  was  assisted  by  favovirable  incidents;  the  bi- 
goted and  tyrannical  impolicy  of  Louis  XIV.  revoked  the  edict  of 
Naniz,  and  drove  fiom  their  country  great  numbers  of  his  most  use- 
ful subjects.  He  thereby  furnished  neighbouring  states  with  arts  and 
manufactures,  and  .was  peculiarly  beneficial  to  England.  The  revenue 
rose  with  trade,  its  various  branches  were  much  more  accurately  re- 
gulated, especially  the  customs,!  ll>e  species  of  tax  most  connected 
with  ccrnmerce.  The  excise,  tending  so  much  more  effectually  to 
prevent  frauds,  was  improved,  the  principles  of  finance  began  to  be 
understood.  Left  chielly  to  their  own  industry  a!ul  skill,  the  estab- 
lished colonies  increased  in  prosperity,  and  new  settlements  were 
either  formed  or  acquired. 

New-York  and  New-Jersey  were  ceded  by  the  Dutch  ;  Pennsylva- 
nia and  Carolina  were  planted  :  the  first  by  quakcrs,  who  fled  from 
the  persecutions  to  which,  by  the  intolerance  of  Charles's  govern- 
ment, sectaries  were  exposed;  the  second,  by  persons  well  affected 
to  the  king.  These  carried  to  their  respective  settlements  their  po- 
litical sentiments,  and  transmitted  them  to  their  posterity.  The 
persecutions  also  drove  other  emigrants  to  those  established  colonies 
which  coincided  in  their  opinion.  Thus,  from  New-Hampshire  to 
South-Carolina,  the  American  coast  was  colonized  by  England.  The 
northern  settlements  cherished  a  spirit  of  republicanism,  the  southern 
a  spirit  of  monarchical  loyalty.  Rapidly  prospering  under  the  system 
of  policy  that  had  been  embraced,  they  were  adding  proportionably  to 
both  the  exi)ort  and  import  trado  of  tlie  mother  country.  The  siup- 
ping  of  Elngland,  in  twenty-eight  years,  was  more  than  doubled  ;:|: 
James  and  Charles  both  vigorously  promoted  the  increase  of  a  navy, 
which,  thougli  misemployed  by  the  corrupt  and  pernicious  policy  of 
Charles,  yet  showed  itself  efficient  and  fit  for  defending  the  country 
and  her  allies,  whenever  the  sceptre  of  England  should  be  placed  in 
hands  both  able  and  disposed  to  wield  it  for  the  national  good. 

Charles's  principles  and  schemes  of  government  were  unquestion- 
ably inimical  to  civil  and  religious  liberty;  and  though  the  bold  and 
generous  spirit  of  Englishmen  prevented  his  designs  from  being  fully 
accomplibhed,  yet  many  of  his  acts,  even  in  England,  weie  extremely 
tyrannical.  His  arbitary  measures  would  have  justified  a  much  more 
forcible  resistance  than  they  met;  and  weic,  probably,  by  the  recent 
experience  only  of  the  miseries  of  civil  war,  prevented  from  recoiling 
on  himself.  In  Scotland,  the  constant  and  regular  plan,  as  well  as 
the  particular  acts  of  his  government,  merited  and  excited  abhorrence. 
His  iniquitous  conduct,  at  once  ui^just  and  prolligate,  caused  great 
I)Ut  only  temporary  evil,  while  the  remedies  which  it  suggested  proved 
a  durable  good.  His  attacks  on  the  liberty  of  the  subject  raised  bul- 
warks of  defence  of  the  strongest  jnaterials,  to  last  many  ages  after  he 
and  his  tyrannical  efforts  had  perished  for  ever.  His  lormation  and 
increase  of  a  standing  army    gave  rise  to  a  law,  that  a  standing  aiiny 

•  See  slr.losiali  Chiid'.s  liric-C  Olisorvation-S. 

t  Si.o  \\  caltli  of  Nations,  vol.  iii,  p.  M?. 

;  S(c  IJavcn;iHl'S  DiBCourse  on  die  i*'i|blic  Hevenues 


STATE  OF  RNGLANO.  41 

[Whigs.     Danger  of  premature  resistance.     Greutncss  ot  France.] 

was  illegal,  and  made  the  national  force  dependant  on  the  guardians  of 
national  liberty  ;  unjust  and  unwarrantable  imprisonments  produced 
the  habeas-corpus  act,  which  completed  the  security  of  personal  li- 
beity  :  vigilant  patriotism  otllie  legislature  abolished  military  tenures  ; 
the  prerogatives  of  purveyance  and  pie-empiion  ;  and  the  capital  pu- 
nishment of  heretics.  It  estaljlishcd  triennial  parliaments;  and  the 
lest  and  corporir.tion  acts  ;  and  enacted  many  other  laws  which  improv- 
ed the  security  of  liberty  and  property. 

Hostile  as  was  Charles  to  the  freedom  and  rights  of  the  people  ;  yet 
in  his  reign  the  constitution  of  England,  in  its  progr^sive  state,  ar- 
rived at  mature  vigour  ;  the  true  balance  between  privilege  and  prero- 
gative was  established.  By  the  law,  now  ascertained  and  fixed,  the 
people  had  nearly  as  large  a  portion  of  liberty  as  was  necessary  to  their 
security  and  happiness  ;*  though  fresh  restrictions  were  still  wanting 
lo  ensure  its  operation,  without  interruption  from  the  pretended  prero- 
gatives of  arbitrary  princes.  The  tyrannical  proceedings  of  Charles 
formed  the  opponents  of  his  pretensions  into  a  firm,  well  compacted, 
and  powerful  body.  By  promulgating  the  doctrines  of  passive  obedi- 
ence, so  contrary  to  the  rights  and  liberties  of  Englishmen,  to  com- 
mon sense  and  to  common  feeling,  the  king,  his  ministers,  and  church- 
men, united  the  supporters  of  opposite  sentiments,  under  the  appella- 
tion of  whigs  ;  a  name  important  and  venerable,  while  it  signifies 
champions  of  constitutional  freedom,  wiihojut  extending  to  invaders 
of  no  less  constitutional  prerogatives  of  the  crown.  Carrying  their 
opposition  to  the  measures  and  designs  of  Charles  farther  than  pru- 
dence admitted,  the  friends  of  freedom,  in  their  discomfiture,  near  the 
close  of  the  reign,  and  the  death  of  magnanimous  patriots  on  the  scaf- 
fold, left  to  future  votaries  of  liberty  a  warning  lesson  of  the  danger  of 
premature  resistance  even  in  the  best  cause.  The  same  principles 
which  influenced  the  internal  government  of  Charles  directed  his 
foreign  politics. 

Louis  XIV.  was  absolute  and  unlimited  sovereign  of  the  extensive, 
well  compacted,  and  fertile  empii-e  of  France,  peopled  with  inhabit- 
ants eminently  ingenious,  industrious,  and  energetic.  Ardent,  vio- 
lent, and  excessive  in  every  pursuit,  his  subjects  were  devoted  to  the 
will  of  their  prince,  and  to  the  promotion  of  his  glory.  The  downfall 
of  the  Spanish  monarchy,  and  the  triumphs  of  the  French  arms,  so 
gratifying  to  the  national  pride,  invigorated  the  military  spiiit  of  French- 
men. Zealous  attachment  to  their  young  monarch,  and  the  desire 
of  extending  his  greatness,  stimulated  and  encouraged  their  farther 
efforts.  The  resources  of  the  country  were  extensive  and  increasing  ; 
the  armies  were  numerous,  well  disciplined,  and  commanded  by  con- 
summate generals.  The  officers,  in  all  the  various  ranks  and  grada- 
tions, were  prepared  for  tlieir  profession  by  regular  and  systematic 
tuition,  and  thoroughly  fitted  for  executing  the  plans  of  their  com- 
manders, by  the  skilful  and  masterly  performance  of  every  subordi- 
nate duty.  Gay  and  dissipated  in  private  life,  they  were  in  public 
service  strict,  vigilant,  and  efficient.  Military  stores  abounded,  and 
nothing  was  wanting  to  render  the  land  force  of  France  organized  and 
formidable.     The  rising  spirit  of  navigation  and  trade;  the  maritime 

•  .See  BK-Jckstone's  last  chapter. 
Vol.  VII  —6 


42  VI KW  OF  THF. 

[Situation  of  England  relatively  to  tlie  continent.     Policy  of  Cliarles.    Manners.] 

opportunities;  the  example  of  their  ncit^hbours,  so  successful  in  ac- 
quiring opulence  and  strengthening  security  ;  stimulated  France  to 
naval  efTort.  The  extension  of  commerce  and  navy  became  grand  ob- 
jects of  French  policy,  and  made  considerable  advances.  So  situated 
in  the  youthful  vigour  of  his  life,  enterprising,  both  ambitious  and 
vain,  desirous  of  power  for  ostentatious  display  as  well  as  solid  pos- 
session, Louis  had  strong  incitements  to  attack  and  disturb  his  neigh- 
bours. The  enfeebled  and  exhausted  princes  of  Austria  were  little 
able  to  oppose  this  potent  monarch.  The  whole  continent  was  inca- 
pable of  preseB^ing  the  balance  of  power  ;  England  only  could  hold 
the  scale. 

Skilful  industry,  possessing  plenty  of  materials,  desires  peace  :  the 
result  of  industry,  skilL,  and  materials,  is  property.  War  may  be 
necessary  for  security  ;  but  on  any  other  ground,  must,  to  a  commer- 
cial nation,  be  unwise.  As  prospectiv,e  policy  guards  against  cir- 
cuitous, as  well  as  direct  aggression,  it  becomes  the  interest  of  an 
industrious  and  mercantile  community  to  watch  the  progress  of  am- 
bitious neighbours.  Britain,  flourishing  and  opulent,  had  no  induce- 
ment to  offensive  war,  since  continental  acquisition  could  add  nothing 
to  her  commerce  and  riches;  but  had  frequently  strong  motives  to 
resist  the  offensive  wars  of  her  neighbours,  to  preserve  the  balance 
of  power,  which,  if  overturned,  would  endanger  herself.  The  aggres- 
sive character  of  France, .co  operating  with  her  own  circumstances 
and  situation,  necessarily  imposed  upon  Britain,  her  most  potent  and 
efficient  neighbour,  the  contrary  character,  of  being  for  her  own  ulti- 
mate security  the  protector  of  continental  independence.  Such  has 
been  the  relation  in  which  from  the  reigns  of  Charles  and  of  Louis, 
the  British  and  French  empires  have  stood  to  each  other,  and  to  the 
rest  of  Europe.  The  arbitrary  designs  and  profligate  views  of  Charles 
united  in  driving  him  to  the  treacherous  and  fatal  policy  of  promoting, 
instead  of  opposing,  the  excessive  power  and  boimdless  ambition  of 
France.  Through  Louis,  he  hoped  to  establish  in  England  his  favour- 
ite despotism  and  policy,  the  engine  of  civil  slavery.  From  Louis  he 
received  the  means  of  wallowing  in  debauchery:  a  king  of  England 
betrayed  his  country  for  bribes  from  the  king  of  France,  to  be  squan- 
dered on  prostitutes,  and  worthless  minions  !  From  a  combination  of 
motives,  imconstitulional  and  profligate,  Charles  IL  abandoned  his 
duty  to  these  realms,  joined  with  their  most  dangerous  enemy,  attack- 
ed our  protcstant  ally,  and  powerfully  assisted  in  raising  France  to 
such  a  pitch  of  dangerous  greatness. 

Avoiding  the  gloomy  austerity  of  the  puritans,  and  influenced  by 
the  example  of  the  king  and  court,  English  manners  now  ran  into  the 
opposite  extreme  of  licentiousness  and  profligacy.  Many  ingenious 
and  able  men  fell  into  infidelity,  immorali'ly,  and  impiety,  and  infected 
the  literature  of  the  times.  A  relish  for  grossness  and  indecency 
mingled  itself  with  composition  the  most  witty,  humorous,  and  im- 
pressive, especially  dramatic  productions.  This  alloy  to  very  great 
literary  excellence  long  continued,  until  progressive  refinement  and 
delicacy  removed  the  abuse.  Writers  in  the  lighter  kind  of  composi- 
tions, -who  designed  to  exhibit  the  manners  of  the  times,  and  repre- 
sent them  truly,  drew  them  much  more  minutely  than  was  necessa- 
ry ;  and  more  favourably  than  they  deserved.     One  writer,   however, 


STATK  OF  KN'GLAM).  43 

ILileiMUirc.    .htiiic'S  I.     Fully  of  his  coiichict.     lievoltilion.j 

ihoiij^h  olten  chargeable  with  ihe  indelicacy  of  ihe  limes,  often  hasty 
and  incorrect,  remains  the  third  of  English  poets,  and  almost  the  first 
of  Entjlisli  critics.  In  hit^lier  departments  of  intellectual  effort,  de- 
pending^ on  general  views  of  ethics  and  divinity,  on  the  investigation 
and  conjprehension  of  physical  phenomena  and  their  laws,  English  ge- 
nius rose  to  great  and  beneficial  exertions  ;  talents  and  erudition  sup- 
ported natural  theology,  Christianity,  and  the  protestant  faith  ;  and 
Irom  these,  inculcated  religious  and  moral  duty.*  In  the  more  pro- 
found and  abstruse  studies  pf  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy, 
several  sages  attained  very  high  eminence.  One  reaching  the  zenith 
of  scientific  discovery,  invention,  and  deduction,  equalled  the  very 
deepest  and  wisest  philosophers  of  all  ages  or  countries, 

James  II.  much  inferior  to  his  brother  in  talents,  a  zealous,  ardent, 
and  priest-ridden  bigot,  considered  the  supreme  good  of  mankind  to 
be  a  belief  in  the  Romish  faith.  Imperious,  tyrannical,  and  cruel, 
contrary  to  the  most  obvious  observation  of  his  own  early  and  recent 
experience,  this  prince  conceived  that  Englishmen  vould  yield  to 
any  mandate  which  he,  in  the  insolence  of  lawless  sway,  should  dare 
to  offer.  Arbiti-ary  power  was  principally  desired  by  this  infatuated 
and  contemptible  zealot,  to  make  converts  in  theology.  Neither,  like 
his  brother,  treacherous  or  corrupt,  though  not  without  a  sense  of  the 
national  honour,  nor  a  jealousy  of  the  power  of  France,  yet  he  sacri- 
ficed all  considerations  to  his  darling  popery.  His  priests  and  his 
rituals,  his  masses  and  his  mummeries,  he  preferred  to  the  welfare 
of  his  people,  and  the  security  of  his  throne.  Uniting  against  him 
tories,  churchmen,  parties,  and. classes  most  zealous  for  monarchy,  as 
well  as  whigs  and  votaries  of  liberty  ;  his  conduct  was  more  fortu- 
nate for  the  country,  than  if  less  completely  odious  :  it  facilitated 
the  success  of  our  glorious  deliverer.  The  very  madness  of  this  poor 
infatuated  zealot  was  extremely  beneficial  to  his  country,  by  withdraw- 
ing from  him  all  confidence  and  support,  and  effecting  a  bloodless  re- 
volution, in  driving  him  from  a  throne,  which  he  was  totally  unquali- 
fied to  fill.  His  conduct  brought  the  question  between  liberty  and 
prerogative  to  a  crisis;  it  showed  English  kings,  that  by  abusing, 
for  arbitrary  and  iniquitous  purposes,  powers  vested  in  them  by  the 
constitution  to  promote  the  public  good,  they  soon  should  have  no  pre- 
rogative to  exercise. 

Necessity  compelled  a  deviation  from  the  rules  of  hereditary  suc- 
cession to  the  throne  of  England  ;  the  same  necessity  that  dictated 
the  exception,  defined  its  bounds.  The  disqualification  of  James  had 
arisen  from  his  arbitrary  principles  and  conduct,  chiefly  originating 
in  popish  doctrines,  and  exercised  to  promote  popish  notions  and  gov- 
ernment. The  next  protestant  successors,  not  only  presumed,  but 
known  to  be  the  enemies  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  were  sub- 
stituted, on  their  agreeing  to  conditions  necessary  for  the  security  of 
liberty  and  religion. 

The  revolution  having  been  thus  produced,  and  the  terms  prescrib- 
ed on  which  the  new  sovereign  was  to  reign,  foreign  politics  became 
the  most  urgent  consideration.  The  overgrown  power  of  Louis  ren- 
dered a  confederation  of  other  states  necessary  for  their  joint  and  se- 

•  Barrow,  Tillotion,  and  other  eminient  clergymen. 


44  VIEW  OF  THE 

[William  III.     French  navy  crushed  at  La  Ilogue.    Continental    policy.] 

parate  security.  Having  heroically  defended  and  protected  his  country 
from  the  unprovoked  invasion  and  usurping  ambition  of  Louis,  Wil- 
liam bent  the  principal  force  of  his  genius  to  the  repression  of  France. 
Much  less  efiicacious  in  power,  and  less  splendid  in  character,   than 
the  monarch  of  Paris,  the  stadtholder  of  the  Hague  had  a  more  solid, 
forcible,  and  inventive  genius,  creating  and  acquiring  resources  that 
rendered  him  ultimately  equal  to  his  foe.     By    delivering    his    own 
country  from  impending  thraldom  to  France,  William  was  enabled  af- 
terwards to  effect  the  delivery  of  England.     His   successful  accom- 
plishment of  this  momentous  object,  produced  the  adoption    by   Eng- 
land of  that  system  of  foreign  policy  which  the  state  of  Europe  requir- 
ed.     Blameable    as  were  Charles  and  James  in  so  many  parts  of  their 
administration,  yet  they  had  both  applied  with  great  vigour  and  effect 
to  the  increase  of  the  navy,  and  left  to  a  successor,  seeking  the  real 
interest  of  his  kingdom,  a  formidable  engine  to  be  employed  against 
the  friend  and  ally  of  their  mischievous  counsels.    Louis  had  acquir- 
ed a  considerable  naval  force,  and   was  not  without  the  hopes   that 
France  would  obtain  by  sea  the  same  supremacy  which  shehad  estab- 
lished by  land.     Some  partial  successes  in  the  beginning  of  the  war 
against  England,  encouraged  this  expectation.     But  at  length,  exert- 
ing the  full  force  of  her  fleet,  England,  at  La  Hogue,  crushed  the 
navy  of  France  ;  and  again  taught  her  enemies  that  she  was  still  to  be 
mistress  of  the  ocean.     During  the  rest  of  the  war,  though  detached 
ships  might  be  troublesome  and  vexatious,  no  French  fleet  was  power- 
ful or  formidable.     The  army  which  Charles  and  James  iiad  levied 
nnd  maintained  for  wicked  ends,  under  the  guidance  of  William,  was 
conducive  to  salutary  purposes.  Ins[)ired  by  the  national  spirit  which 
supported  the  protcstant  asserters  of  their  riglils  and  liberty  against  a 
popish  tyrant,  they  performed  feats  of  magnanimous  valour*  and  dis- 
comfited all  the  invading  projects  of  tlio  deposed  tyrant.    They  could 
not  prevent  him  from  perpetrating  liorrid  cruellies,  but  they  hindered 
his    blood-thirsty  murders  from   promoting   his   permanent  interest. 
They  at  length  manifested  to  the  world,  that  no  person  proscribed  by 
the  choice  of  Englishmen,  could  attain  dominion  ovei"  them  I)y  force. 
They  also  showed  to  their  French  invaders,  that  an  attempt  to  subju- 
gate any  part  of  this  island  by  a  foreign  power,  must  uliimately  recoil 
on  tiie  invaders.    On  the  continent,  the  wealcness  and  distractions  of 
the  allies,  and  the  immense  land  force  of  the  enemy,   i)revenled  the 
confederates  from  obtaining  com  pK--te  success;  but  the  eflbrts  of  Wil- 
liam were  strenuous  and  important.      Without  gaining  splendid   vic- 
tory, he  prevented  consummate   generals,  numerous  and  disciplined 
veterans  of  the  enemy,  from  ol)taining    any   signal  or  material  advan- 
tage. Jarring  parties,   and   treacherous   conspiracies,  frequently   dis- 
tuibed  the  internal  tranquillity  of   AViliiam's  reign;  but  the  greater 
number  oi    hi-,     ijeopie,    awake    to  tlie  national  honour  and    intei-est, 
desired  to  prosecute    a    war    with  vigour    which    was    necessary    to 
repress  the  ambition  of  France. 

The  exertions  of  the  nation  and  parliament  to  humble  the  foe  of 
British  indei)endence  exhibited  that  combined  magnaniniity  and  wis- 

"  S'-c  (Icfctice  of  Londonderry,  in  Smolict'.'?  continuation  of  Hwme,  vol.  i.  cli.   1. 
and  the  whole  nanali^e  ot  the  war  in  Ireland. 


STATE  OF  H:N(JT.AM").  45 

[Knglaiul  tlie  most  efticieut  foe  of  French  encroaclimeiit.     Policy  of  France.] 

dom,  Avhich  bears  great  inconveniences,  in  order  to  repel  much 
greater  evils.  They  induced  Louis  to  listen  to  much  more  reasonable 
terms  of  negotiation,  than  in  the  days  of  British  snpineness  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  dictate,  and  showed  the  direct  tendency  of  warlike 
strength  and  effort  to  produce  peace  to  an  intrepid  and  mighty  people. 
In  the  detail  of  battles,  Louis  was  the  conqueror;  yet,  in  the  result 
of  success,  prosperity,  and  power,  the  ambitious  and  imperious 
monarch  of  France  found,  at  the  treaty  of  Rhyswick,  his  dictatorial 
command  limited  and  circumscribed.  He  there  was  taught_Ahat  the 
most  formidable  foe  of  Galli-c  encroachment  is  England.  Deprived 
by  a  contest  with  Britain  of  that  naval  power  which  it  had  been  one 
of  the  chief  objects  of  his  long  reign  to  raise  and  extend,  France  might 
have  learned,  that  a  nation  which  seeks  maritime  aggrandizement  by 
warring  against  a  nation  much  more  powerful  at  sea  than  herself,  only 
labours  to  defeat  her  own  purpose.  From  his  continental  successes, 
and  his  maritime  disasters,  Louis  might  have  learned,  that  while  she  di- 
rected her  principal  attention  to  armies,  France  might  gratify  her 
unbounded  ambition  ;  but  that  her  marine  exertions  to  cope  with  Eng- 
land brought  a  reduction  of  her  strength. 

The  policy  of  France  under  her  vain-glorious  despot,  disturbing  her 
neighbours,  unjust  in  principle,  and  barbarous  in  operation,  was  in  its 
events  ruinous  to  the  country  which  that  despot  governed.  Fitted, 
from  climate,  soil,  situation,  and  the  genius  of  her  people,  to  acquire, 
enjoy,  and  preserve  riches,  and  all  the  comforts  of  life  ;  she,  under 
the  splendid  but  destructive  domination  of  Louis,  experienced  pov- 
erty and  misery.  The  wars  occupied  numbers  of  the  hands  which 
the  welfare  of  the  people  required  to  have  been  employed  in  culti- 
vating the  ground.  The  imports  of  corn,  wanted  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciencies, were  intercepted  by  the  naval  armaments  of  her  over- 
powering enemy.  Multitudes  perished  by  famine.  The  pompous 
pageantry  of  triumphant  rejoicing  for  useless  victory  could  not  pre- 
vent the  melancholy  spectacles  of  wretches  starving  with  hunger.  The 
impious  strains  of  pretended  gratitude,  attributing  to  the  divinity  the 
successes  of  unwise  injustice,  were  followed  by  the  groans  of  subjects 
dying  in  the  streets,  because  the  infatuated  ambition  of  their  prince 
preferred  ruinous  wars  to  beneficial  peace.  These,  together  with  tiie 
depopulation  of  his  kingdom  by  narrow  bigotry,  were  among  the 
glories  of  Louis's  aggressive  policy.  By  his  external  politics,  he 
reduced  the  internal  prosperity,  v/hicli  the  physical  and  moral  re- 
sources of  his  country,  the  talents  and  skill  of  his  ministers  had  so 
rapidly  advanced.  The  commercial  and  maritime  improvements, 
rising  under  the  superintending  wisdom  of  Colbert  in  their  salut:;ry 
tendency  to  the  happiness  of  the  people,  received  effectual  checks 
irom  Louis  himself.  This  view  of  the  consequences  of  his  wars 
might  have  taught  that  king,  that  his  projects  led  only  to  splendid 
misery.  His  apparent  moderation  at  Rhyswick  afforded  some  grounds 
lor  expecting,  that,  for  the  future,  he  would  pursue  a  system  more 
\vise  and  magnanimous,  and  would  sacrifice  the  tinsel  of  false  glory 
to  the  real  benefit  of  his  country.  But  those  who  fancied  that  the 
experienced  errors  of  past  counsels  and  conduct  would  produce  a 
change  of  object  and  principle,  gave  him  credit  for  a  wisdom  and 
greatness  of  mind  which  he  did  not  possess.     His  object  conlinucU 


46  VI KW  OF  IHE 

{Spiiin.     Finance.     F.slablisliiTient  of  tlic  l):iiik.     Funding  system-] 

the  same,  he  only  varied  tlie  means  :  by  a  negotialion,  and  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  defensive  confederacy,  he  sought  that  rapacious  encroach- 
ment, which  he  found  to  be  no  longer  attainable  by  force.  Tlie  peace 
of  Rhyswick  was  intended  to  facilitate  the  accession  of  u  Bourbon 
prince  to  the  throne  of  Spain.  Crafty  in  design,  and  dextrous  in  ad- 
dress, amusing  the  allies  by  partition  treaties,  Louis  over-reached  the 
sounder  and  more  vigorous  understanding  of  William,  and  raising 
his  grandson  to  be  monarch  of  Spain,  rendered  a  kingdom,  so  long 
the  rival,  at  length  the  appendage  of  France.  This  new  act  of  ambi- 
tion, so  dangerous  to  the  independence  of  Europe,  produced  a  new 
confederacy  to  avert  the  danger  by  removing  its  cause. 

The  overgrown  dominion  of  France  demanded  an  expense  un- 
T^nown  in  the  history  of  our  wars,  and  very  heavily  felt  by  the  nation. 
To  lessen  the  immediate  burthens  of  the  people,  a  scheme  was  pro- 
posed, and  adopted,  for  answering  a  great  part  of  the  exigencies  of 
■war,  by  anticipating  the  products  of  peace  and  prosperity.  To  supply 
the  deficiencies  of  present  income,  sums  were  to  be  borrowed,  on  the 
probable  expectation  that  the  finances  would  increase  in  tranquillity 
and  flourishing  commerce,  and  afford  a  surplus  beyond  the  expendi- 
ture. The  debts  contracted  were  to  be  guaranteed  by  the  public  faith, 
and  to  be  discharged  from  the  public  savings  :  hence  first  arose,  in 
England,  the  funding  system.  At  its  outset,  the  national  debt  was  in- 
curred under  an  idea  of  certain  and  even  speedy  liquidation.  The 
security  was  chiefly  an  assignment  of  specific  taxes,  which  was  sup- 
posed, by  an  hypothetical  calculation,  sufficient  to  pay  principal  and 
interest  in  a  few  years.  A  national  bank  was  established,  for  extend- 
ing the  credit  and  security  of  government,  and  for  facilitating  com- 
mercial intercourse  and  exchange.  A  mercantile  joint  stock  com- 
pany was,  with  that  view,  incorporated,  under  the  name  of  the  Bank 
of  England.  This  body,  composed  in  1694,  advanced  the  sum  of 
twelve  hundred  thousand  pounds,  at  eight  per  cent,  constituting  their 
first  capital,  and  repayable  at  the  option  of  government  in  1705;  but 
the  debts  incurred  both  to  that  corporation  and  other  bodies  and  indi- 
viduals, greatly  increasing  during  the  war,  a  system  of  perpetual 
funding  was  deemed  expedient.  In  1697,  the  debts  of  Great  Britain, 
funded  and  unfunded,  amounted  to  21,515,742/.  13«.  8^d.  incumber-, 
ing  the  productive  industry  of  the  country  with  an  annual  burthen  of 
nearly  one  million  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds  for  interest,  at  the 
rate  of  eight  per  cent,  then  paid  by  government. 

To  this  system  of  supplying  national  exigencies,  several  strong 
objections  were  made.  It  was  alleged,  that  the  incumbrance  would 
h*'.  an  oppressive  weight  upon  productive  industry ;  that  it  was  a  tem- 
porary prop  to  national  credit,  which  ought  to  be  supported  on  the  solid 
basis  of  economy;  that  neither  economy  nor  prudence  justified  the 
contraction  of  certain  and  great  debts,  upon  uncertain  and  contingent 
means  of  repayment;  that  by  this  mode,  the  state  resembled  an  im- 
provident spendthrift,  who.  from  his  prodigality,  being  unable  to  wait 
for  the  regular  payment  of  his  revenue,  and  exceeding  in  expenditure 
the  amount  of  his  income,  was  obliged  to  borrow  on  usurious  terms, 
and  thus  to  impair  his  fortune.  Enabled  to  borrow  upon  extravagant 
interest,  ministers  and  princes  would  have  internally  the  means  of 
corruption,  and  obtain  by  influence  what  they  could  not  enforce  by 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  47 

[Arguments  for  ami  aj^uinst  the  funding  system] 

power.  The  restriction  imposed  upon  kingly  prerogative  would  be 
really  unuvailing.  The  king  might  make  wars,  not  conducive  to  tiie 
defence  or  security  of  his  people,  and  therefore  injurious.  The  trea- 
sury, from  borrowed  money,  affording  funds  for  bribery,  might,  in  the 
hands  of  an  artful  and  corrupt  minister,  win  a  majority  in  parliament 
to  support  pernicious  measures  of  tlie  crown.  The  facility  of  raising 
money  would  incline  and  encourage  the  executive  government  to 
promote  wars,  and  other  expensive  and  useless  undertakings.  AH 
the  funds  forpaying  the  national  debt  being  transferable,  and  fluctuating; 
in  value,  would  introduce  a  system  of  stock-jobbing,  and  withdraw 
capitals  from  agriculture, manufacture,  and  commerce,  to  be  employed 
in  speculations  in  the  public  funds.  Instead  of  seeking  riches,  as 
traders,  by  the  progressive  efforts  of  industry  and  skill,  many  would 
become  money  brokers  and  gamblers.  Individuals,  without  ability, 
beneficial  enterprise,  and  effort,  would  accumulate  fortunes,  from  the 
exorbitant  profits  allowed  by  government;  and  the  public  would  be 
impoverished  in  the  same  proportion.  A  system  of  borrowing  un- 
necessarily, like  every  other  pecuniary  profusion,  would  increase  by 
indulgence ;  the  debt  would  not  be  temporary  as  its  authors  asserted, 
but  permanent  and  progressive,  until  it  ended  in  bankruptcy.  Such 
were  the  principal  disadvantages  which  the  adversaries  of  the  fund- 
ing system  anticipated  from  its  adoption.* 

Its  supporters  alleged,  that  the  loans  were  not  upon  the  principles 
of  a  spendthrift,  squandering  without  any  prospect  of  return;  but  in 
the  true  spirit  of  enlightened  merchants,  diminishing  the  pressure  of 
payments  necessarily  made  for  the  attainment  of  beneficial  objects. 
As  a  merchant  wouldj  without  hesitation,  borrow  money  at  a  great  in- 
terest, by  which  he  had  a  moral  certainty  of  either  preventing  a 
greater  loss,  or  acquiring  a  greater  gain ;  government  borrowed,  for 
the  defence  of  the  country  against  the  enemies  of  the  constitution,  and 
for  the  security  of  our  national  independence  against  Gallic  ambition. 
Agreeably  to  the  soundest  principles  of  mercantile  policy,  the  public, 
when  straitened  for  ready  money,  had  incurred^^future  and  distant  re- 
sponsibilities, at  seasons  of  more  convenient  liquidation.  The  efforts 
made  through  the  loans,  and  which  but  for  them  would  have  been 
impracticable,  would  extend  the  greatness,  prosperity,  and  opulence 
of  the  country.  The  establishment  of  this  system,  including  the 
national  bank,  would  revive  and  confirm  public  credit,  and  extend 
circulation.  Increasing  currency  would,  by  competition,  lower  in- 
terest, enhance  the  value  of  land,  promote  the  spirit  of  manufactures 
and  commerce,  facilitate  the  annual  supplies,  and  augment  the  means 
of  private  wealth  and  public  revenue.  The  scheme  would  attach  the 
national  creditors  to  the  recent  establishment,  from  which  the  secu- 
rity of  their  loans  was  derived;  and  find,  in  the  private  interests  of 
monied  capitalists,  a  strong  bulwark  against  the  house  of  Stuart; 
commercial  men,  a  class  of  subjects  already  numerous  and  important, 
and  zealous  supporters  of  a  free  government,  would  be  firm  friends 
to  the  revolution. 

•  See  SmoUet's  History  of  William,  passim.  From  various  political  writings  as 
well  as  the  histories  of  the  times,  this  was  generally  the  opinion  of  the  tories  and 
the  landed  interest,  as  the  contrary  was  the  opinion  of  the  whigs  and  monied 
interest.  Enmity  to  the  funding  system,  though  not  necessarily  connected  with 
tory  principles,  was,  from  extraneous  cacumstances,  a  mark  of  toryism. 


4S  VIEW  OF  THE 

[Impartial  vle\r.    I'mgreas  of  eommerce  during  llils  reign.] 

As  ilie  funded  system  was  an  anlicipatinc^  tax  on  future  and  con- 
tini^cnt,  thoui^h  probable  ind-.isli  y,  its  efficiency  towards  the  proposed 
discliar^e  of  debt,  was  necessarily  to  depend  upon  the  amount  of  that 
indiistiy,  and  ronseciucntly  nn  the  existence  or  continuance  of  circum- 
stances favourable  to  its  exertions.  It  was  a  burthen  upon  future  ef« 
fort,  the  disadvantages  of  which  were  immediately  felt,  were  pecuni- 
ary, and  could  be  instantly  appreciated  by  the  most  ordinary  capacity. 
The  advantai;cs,  commercial  and  political,  could  not  be  so  obvious  ; 
and  to  be  understood,  required  extensive  knowledge  and  enlarged 
comjjrchcnsion  ;  and  though  understood,  to  be  relished  required  a 
wisdom  and  firmness  which  would  encounter  a  smaller  but  present 
and  certain  inconvenience,  to  attain  greater  Ijut  more  distant  and  even- 
tual benefit.  The  new  taxes  imposed  for  liquidating  the  debt,  were 
immediate  deductions  from  either  the  profits  or  enjoyments  of  the 
payer.  If  the  system  was  necessary,  justice  demanded  that  it  should 
be  adopted  no  farther  than  the  necessity  required;  and  that  money 
boriowed  on  the  national  faith,  to  be  paid  from  the  national  industry, 
should  be  envployed  for  the  national  security,  honour,  and  advantage. 
During  the  peace,  the  debt  conti acted  by  government  was,  in  four 
years,  reduced  to  sixteen  millions,  the  reduction  being  upwards  of 
five  millions.* 

The  wars  in  which  William  was  engaged,  considerably  distressed 
mercantile  adventurers,  by  the  capture  of  their  ships.  Unable,  after 
the  battle  of  La  Ilogue,  to  meet  the  English  navy,  France  directed 
her  chief  maritime  attention  to  the  annoyance  of  our  commerce. 
These  depredations,  producing  individual  loss,  and  consequently  di- 
minution oi"  public  revenue,  caused  great  clamours  against  govern- 
ment;  and  the  disaffected  party  represented  our  trade  as  having 
greatly  decayed  in  the  time  of  William.  An  impartial  examination 
of  commercial  history  leads  to  an  opposite  conclusion.  Louis's  at- 
tempts to  destroy  the  commerce  of  England,  like  those  against  her 
navy,  recoiled  on  himself.  Precluded,  during  hostilities,  from  traffic 
with  France,  the  English  began  to  seek  from  their  own  industry  ma- 
nufactures which  before  (.hey  had  imported  from  that  country.  Cut 
off  from  traffic  with  her  southern  neighbours,  she  encouraged  and 
stimulated  the  manufacturing  skill  of  the  protestant  refugees,  whom 
the  tolerating  spirit  of  William  protected  from  the  persecution  of 
Louis.  This  liberal  and  enlightened  policy,  cherishing  such  useful 
preceptors,  tended  eventually  to  render  the  scholars  superior  to  their 
masters.  Affording  security  to  artizuns,  the  free  constitution  of  En- 
gland applied  the  stiongesl  motives  to  the  exertion-  of  industry. 
France  lost  her  expoits  of  linen,  by  which  before  England  had  been 
chiefly  supplied  ;  various  articles  of  hardware,  her  silk  manufactures, 
and  many  other  commodities,  that  these  realms,  taught  to  prepare  for 
themselves,  were  soon  able  to  furnish  for  other  nations.  Though  not 
without  a  share  in  the  calamities  of  war,  the  American  colonies  con- 
tinued rapidly  progressive  in  prosperity.  The  West  Indies  were 
now  cultivated  in  the  manner  whicli- rendered  ihenl  most  eminently 
lucrative.     Sugar  occupied  the  chief  care  of  the  planters,  though, 

•  Two  miHion.s  of  tliis  sum  were  advanced  by  the  new  East  India  company, 
constituted  in  1693.     See  Anderson's  H'(slory  of  Commerce,  vol.  ii.  p.  597 


STATE  OF  ENCT.AXn,  49 

[Recoinajje  favourable  to  trade.     Partiality  of  tlie  king  to  his  native  country] 

without  excludinj!^  in  the  appropriate  soils  the  cultivation  of  other 
productions.  Barbadoes  and  Jamaica,  especially,  had  obtained  very 
threat  population  and  prosperity  at  this  period.  The  African  and 
Turkish  trade  was  considerably  extended;  the  northern  was  risen  in 
a  still  greater  proportion,  as  William,  from  inclination,  vicinity,  and 
command  of  the  north  seas,*  was  closely  connected  with  the  northern 
powers.  With  Sjiain  and  Portui^al,  from  political  as  well  as  com- 
mercial relations,  England  enjoyed  the  principal  share  of  commerce. 
Even  in  the  East  Indies,  notwithstanding  the  misconduct  of  the  first 
company,  and  its  contest  with  its  competitor,  the  mercantile  spirit  of 
England  overcame  th?  disadvantages  of  a  corporate  xnonopoly.  The 
renovated  and  improved  system  of  polity  which  the  revolution  con- 
firmed, secured  property,  and  its  general  operation  promoted  the  spi- 
rit of  commerce.  The  acts,  both  for  extending  national  and  mercan- 
tile credit,  stimulated  commercial  adventure  and  enterprise,  by  faci- 
lUy  of  accommodation,  increase  of  cijrrency,  and  ati  enlargement  of 
that  confidence  on  which  mercantile  transactions  principally  rest. 
The  subsequent  itieans  for  supporting  the  bank  also  tended  to  the 
unprecedented  extension  of  trade.  Very  favourable  to  the  promotion 
of  the  same  object,  was  the  principle  of  re-coinage,  adopted  by  Mon- 
tague, in  the  depreciated  state  of  the  existing  coin.  By  subjecting 
the  public,  and  not  individual  holders  of  current  coins,  to  the  loss  ac- 
cruing from  the  diminished  weight  he  confirmed  national  credit.  The 
re-coinage  of  silver,  on  terms  so  liberal  and  wise,  was  one  of  the  most 
beneficial  measures  by  which  commerce  was  advanced  in  William's 
reign. t  In  the  four  peaceful  years  of  William's  reign,  English  com- 
merce very  far  surpassed  any  former  efforts  and  success. 

Conducive  as  the  co\]nsels  and  acts  of  this  illustrious  prince  were 
to  the  prosperity  of  England,  there  were  reasons,  not  destitute  of 
plausibility,  for  imputing  to  him  partiality  to  his  ijative  country,  when- 
ever her  interests  and  those  of  his  kingdoms  came  into  competition. 
The  Scottish  projects  of  establishing  a  colony  on  the  isthmus  of  Da- 
rien,  in  order  to  trade  witli  the  South  Sea  from  its  western  to  its  east- 
ern boundaries,  having  been  first  countenanced  and  afterwards  op- 
posed by  the  king,  his  disapprobation  of  the  scheme  was  imputed  to 
the  jealousy  of  the  Dutch.  In  his  continental  politics,  he  was  repre- 
sented by  the  disaffected  in  England  as- mindful  chiefly  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  states-general.     According  to  detractors,  English  blood 

•  See  Anderson's  History  of  Commerce,  vol.  ii. 

t  The  following  remark  by  Mr.  Anderson,  after  his  account  of  the  sum  sub- 
scribed by  the  second  East  India  company,  strongly  illustrates  both  tiie  increase 
and  actual  state  of  commerce  at  the  conclusion  of  William's  war.  "  After  so  long, 
and  such  an  expensive  war,  which  was  now  but  just  ended ;  wherein,  also,  there 
had  been  very  great  losses,  by  captures  of  so  many  of  our  rich  merchant  shijis,  it 
gave  foreign  nations  a  high  idea  of  the  wealth  and  grandeur  of  England,  to  see 
two  millions  sterling  money  subscribed  for  in  three  days'  time,  and  had  the  books 
been  kept  open  longer,  there  were  persons  ready  to  have  subscribed  as  much 
more  ;  for  although,  higher  proofs  have  since  appeared  of  the  great  riches  ot  the 
nation,  because  our  wealth  is  visibly  and  much  increased  since  that  time,  yet  till 
then  there  had  never  been  so  illustrious  an  instance  of  England's  opulence.  This, 
however,  was  undoubtedly  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  illegal  establishment 
fif  our  free  constitution,  by  the  accession  of  king  William  and  queen  Mary  to  thft 
throne ;  by  which  a  firm  confidence  in  the  publir  faith  was  established  on  a  solid 
basis."  ' 

Vor..  VII.— 7 


5e 


VIF.AV   OF  THR 


,_Folit7  of  r.pgland  as  fixfd  by  the  revolution.    Source  of  national  prosperity.] 

and  treasure  were  sacrificed  for  an  ideal  balance  of  power,  not  neces- 
sary for  the  security  of  these  islands.  English  interference  in  con- 
tiiicHtal  politics  might  be  useful  to  ihe  Dutch,  but  was  hurtful  to  this 
country.  Bending  our  chief  efforts  to  our  navy,  we,  surrounded  by 
the  ocean,  could  defend  ourselves  against  all  foreign  attempts,  and 
therefore  ought  not  to  waste  our  strength  in  foreign  disputes.  The 
burthen  and  expense  of  continental  war  were  owing  either  to  the 
impolicy  or  injurious  designs  of  William.  Such  were  the  views  of 
the  tories ;  who,  because  unfavourable  to  William  individually  and 
his  schemes,  became  inimical  to  the  interference  of  Britain  as  a  prin- 
cipal party  in  the  contests  of  the  continent.  The  whigs,  friendly  to 
William,  anil  hostile  to  Louis,  M'hom  they  deemed  the  great  protector 
and  abettor  of  arbitrary  power,  ardently  promoted  the  most  active  ef- 
forts of  Great  Britain  against  France.  These  distinctive  and  opposite 
plans  of  policy  respecting  the  continent,  commencing  at  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  lasted  through  the  eighteenth.  Both  parties 
have  professed  to  seek  security.  The  one  has  deemed  naval  effort 
sufficient  for  guarding  the  British  isles  against  every  danger;  the 
other,  either  more  comprehensive  or  more  fanciful,  has  extended  its 
vigilance  against  contingent  as  well  as  impending  danger  ;  and,  for 
that  purpose,  has  promoted  powerful  continental  efforts,  a^  the  wise 
policy  of  Britain. 

The  constitution  of  England,  having  been  ascertained  at  the  com- 
mencement of  William's  reign,  assumed  nearly  the  same  appearance 
which  it  has  since  worn.    The  doctrine  of  resistance  to  an  executive 
magistrate,   violating  our  laws   and  constitution,  was  confirmed  and 
exemplified  in  awful  practice.     The  laws  having  been  before  defined 
with  accurate  precision,  the  power  of  dispensing  with  them  was  for 
ever  terminated.     Prerogative    was   completely   circumscribed,  that 
no  king  could  of  his  own  will  act  contrary  to  the  interests  and  liber- 
ties of  his  subjects.     From  that  lime,  if  the  councils  or  measures  of 
the  sovereign   were  either  aibiirary,  or  injurious  to  his  people,  they 
must  be  so  throut^h  the  neglect  of  the  people  themselves,  or  their 
chosen  representatives  in  parliament  ;  and  not  from  any  power  lodged 
in  the  king.     If  the  influence  of  the  crown  and  its  ministers  has  ever 
produced   noxious  measures   since  the  revolution,  the  people  must 
blame  themselves  for  appointing  delegates,  cither  not  qualified,  or 
not  disposed  to  promote  the  welfare  of  their  country.     The  people 
and  parliament  may,  either  immediately  or  speedily,  control  and  pre- 
vent every  act  of  the  crown  which  they  do  not  approve.    The  liberty, 
property,  and  life  of  a  Briton  cannot  be  invaded  but  by  his  own  act, 
cither  through  himself  or  his  representatives.     If,  therefore,  since 
the  revolution,  liberty,  property,  or  life,  has,  in  any  one  instance,  been 
unjustly  attacked,  the  injustice  is  chargeable  to  the  whole  body  of 
the  people,  and  not  to  the  existing  polity.     Increased  in  prosperity, 
the  means  of  subsistence,  accommodation,  and  security;  in  riches 
and  power;  in  invention,  sagacity,  enterprise;  in  aggregate  industry 
and  skill;  in  physical  resources,  and  the   characters  of  her  inhabit- 
ants; Britain   brings  undoubted  evidence  to  show,  that  a  system  pro- 
ducing such  a  multiplicity  ot  advantages  must  be  wise  and  good. 

The  same  modified  principle  of  hereditary  succession,  which   had 
dictated  the  substitution  of  William  and  Mary  for  the  lineal  monarch, 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND.  J( 

[Parties  in  Eng-land.     Whigs,  Tories,  and  Jacoliitci.] 

on  the  death  of  the  princess  Anne's  son,  suggested  the  act  for  setting 
the  crown  on  the  next  prolestant  heir.  Princess  Sophia,  grand-daugh- 
ter of  James  I.,  was  his  nearest  descendant,  not  disqualified  for  the 
throne  by  the  declared  resolution  and  act  of  the  English  lawgivers. 
'Ihe  act  of  settlement  was  a  corollary  from  the  act  of  the  convention 
parliament,  which  had  settled  the  crown  in  1689.  The  political  doc- 
trine established  in  both,  was  simple  and  explicit  :  in  the  mixed  mo- 
narchy and  free  government  of  England,  an  hereditary  line  of  princes 
is  the  most  expedient,  and  conducive  to  the  tranquillity  tmd  welfare 
of  the  people.  But  if  the  lineal  heir,  or  even  possessur,  he  under 
disqualifications  incompatible  with  the  good  of  the  nation,  the  next  in 
the  line,  not  disqualified,  shall  succeed.  These  were  the  grounds  on 
which  Anne  ascended  the  throne,  to  the  exclusion  of  her  brother,  the 
bon  and  representative  of  king  James. 

From  the  revolution,  and  through  the  reign  of  William,  the  politi- 
cal parlies  were,  in  principles  and  objects,  three.  The  first,  the 
Whigs,  who  supported  the  new  establishment  from  the  love  of  liber- 
ty, as  well  as  enmity  to  popery  and  French  influence.  The  whigs 
were  inimical  to  .the  exlen!>ive  power  of  the  clergy,  as  incompatible 
with  the  freedom  which  they  adored.  Their  doctrines,  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical, were  extremely  disagreeable  to  those  who  abetted  passive 
obedience,  either  to  the  monarch  and  his  servants,  or  the  church,  its 
bishops,  and  its  convocations.  In  theology,  as  well  as  politics,  the 
whigs  estimated  the  importance  of  doctrines,  by  their  tendency  and 
effects  upon  eivil  society,  and  little  regarded  the  contentions  of  meta- 
physical divinity.  Friendly  to  toleratipn,  they  reckoned  the  criterion 
of  its  extent  and  bounds,  political  expediency;  and  proposed,  that  all 
sects  should  be  unmolested,  who  did  not  disturb  the  public  tranquil- 
lity, or  the  constitutional  rights  of  English  subjects.  They  patro- 
nized and  encouraged  the  protestant  dissenters,  a  very  powerful  body, 
and  firm  friends  to  the  revolution.  On  the  side  of  the  whigs,  many- 
votaries  of  the  church  of  England  were  ranged;  these  were  persons 
who  venerated  the  established  church,  as  the  promoter  of  true  chris- 
tian piety  and  morality  ;*  but  who,  not  desirous  of  exalting  either 
kingly  or  priestly  power  beyond  constitutional  bounds,  were  denomi- 
nated the  low  church. 

The  second  party  consisted  of  Tories,  votaries  of  passive  obedience, 
and  staunch  supporters  of  the  church.  These,  being  inimical  to  pope- 
ry, thought  the  revolution  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  pro- 
testant religion,  and  considered  the  popery  of  James  and  his  son  a» 
the  sole  reason  for  excluding  them  from  the  throne.  The  tories  re- 
probated the  political  doctrines  of  the  whigs,  and  the  theological 
opinions  of  the  dissenters;  and  exalting  the  pretensions  of  the  priest- 
hood, thereby  acquired  the  denomination  of  high  church.  According 
to  these,  profaneness  and  impiety  were  the  distinguishing  character- 
istics of  William's  reign,  and  were  bringing  the  nation  fast  to  destruc- 
tion.f 

The  third  party  was  the  Jacobites;  who,  though  tories  in  many  of 
iheir  principles  and  sentiments,  exceeded  them  in  the  practical  adop- 

•  To  this  class  of  whigs,  belonged  Burnet,  TiJlotson,  Ilosdley,  and  Addison. 
i   See  Pope's  Essay  on  CriticiBin, 


52  VIEW  OF  THE 

[All  concur  to  support  queen  Anne.  Marlborough.  Confederacy  against  France.] 

lion  of  passive  obedience,  and  maintained  the  iniquity  of  resistance 
to  the  hereditary  prince,  whatever  his  conduct  might  be,  and  sought 
the  restoration  of  James  to  the  throne.  The  two  former  parties  had 
been  ahernately  opponents  to  king  William;  but  the  whigs  had  most 
frequently  supported  his  political  measures.  The  Jacobites,  from 
their  principles  and  objects,  had  been  tmiformly  inimical  to  our  de- 
liverer,but  varied  their  mode  of  hostility  according  to  circumstances. 
Sometitncs  ihcy  tried  rebellion,  sometimes  conspiracies  ;  but  finding 
their  treasonable  efforts  unsuccessful,  during  a  great  part  of  his  reign, 
they  confined  their  attempts  to  the  difi'nsion  of  discontent. 

Different  as  the  three  parlies  were,  and  in  many  respects  opposite, 
yet  they  concurred  in  supporting  queen  Anne.  The  church  party 
knew  that  her  majesty  was  a  sincere  and  zealous  member  of  the  churcli 
of  England,  and  trusted  that  she  would  support  the  ecclesiastical  es- 
tablishment and  doctrines;  they  expected,  that,  through  her  protect- 
ing influence,  the  high  church  would  triumph  over  sectaries,  schis- 
matics, heretics,  presbyterians  and  whigs,  over  low  churchmen  and 
lukewarm  friends  of  the  hierarchy.  The  Jacobites,  conceiving  her 
majesty  attached  to  the  hereditary  line,  hoped  that,  having  no  issue 
alive,  she  would  attempt  and  affect  the  restoration  of  the  lineal  heir. 
Aware  that  the  queen  held  her  throne  upon  their  principles,  the  whigs 
doubted  not  that,  from  prudence  and  self-interest,  she  would  rest 
chiefly  for  support  on  the  most  strenuous  adversaries  to  the  claim  of 
the  pretender.  They  knew  that  Anne,  a  personage  of  very  moderate 
intellects,  was  entirely  governed  by  the  countess  of  Marlborough,  and 
through  her,  by  the  consummate  talents  of,  the  earl  ;  and  that  the 
vhig  plans  of  policy  were  the  most  consonant  to  the  interests  and  views 
of  this  celebrated  hero.  Having  succeeded  to  the  crown  with  the 
favour  of  all  the  jarring  parties,  Anne,  on  her  first  appearance  in  par- 
liament, declaring  her  sincere  attachment  to  the  church,  gratified  the 
tories  ;  and  testifying  her  resolution  to  maintain  the  laws  and  liberties  of 
her  country  and  the  protestant  succession,  and  her  determination  to  ad- 
here to  the  counsels  and  engagements  of  William,  satisfied  the  whigs. 
England,  again  the  protector  of  European  independence,  and  the  pro- 
vident guardian  of  her  own  security,  went  to  war  with  France,  the 
encroaching  disturber  of  Europe.  The  succession  war  originated  in 
the  same  principles  as  the  former  confederacy  of  William.  Agreeing 
in  the  necessity  of  hoslilely  opposing  France,  the  lories  wished 
Britain  to  act  only  as  an  auxiliary  ;  but  the  whigs,  if  not  more  patriotic 
in  intention,  at  least  more  comprehensive  in  view,  saw  that  partial  and 
secondary  cflbrts  from  Britain  would  not  effectually  answer  the  pur- 
pose of  her  interferences:  a  mere  maritime  and  defensive  war  would 
be  only  a  half  measure  of  short-sighted  and  inefficient  policy.  The 
whigs  succeeded  in  procuring  the  adoption  of  their  plan  to  be  carried 
into  execution,  under  a  renowned  general,  now  at  the  head  of  their 
party.  The  powerful  efioris  of  the  free  states  imparted  to  their 
allies  a  portion  of  their  spirit,  as  well  as  a  considerable  share  of  the 
manifold  resources  which  liberty  formed  and  nourished.  The  dis- 
comfiture and  destruction  of  his  bravest  troops  whenever  they  faced 
an  Eugene  or  a  Marlborough  ;  Turin,  Ramillies,  and  Blenheim  ;  the 
annihilation  of  his  navy,  and  the  ruin  of  his  commerce,  under  the  re- 
•iatlcss  navy  of  England ;  the  cmpoverished  state  of  his  finances,  and 


STATE  OF  KNGLAND.  .53 

[Great  exertions  of  France.     Impolitic  rigour  of  the  allies.] 

the  bitter  miseries  of  his  subjects;  afforded  to  the  aged  violator  of 
justice  an  awful  lesson,  that  the  wise  policy  of  France,  fertile,  strong^, 
internally  secure,  improved  and  improveable,  is  not,  by  disturbing  her 
neighbours,  to  distress  and  enipoverish  herself;  but  by  peace,  and  the 
arts  which  peace  promotes  among  so  ingenious  a  people,  to  cultivate 
and  extend  her  immense  resources  for  her  own  comfort  and  happi- 
ness. What  peace  had  done  for  her  prosperity,  war  had  as  uniformly 
undone.  The  combination  begun,  and  long  employed  for  maintain- 
ing the  balance  of  power,  and  ensuring  future  exemption  from  dis- 
turbance, had  completely  accomplished  its  object.  But  the  confede- 
rates, in  the  exultation  of  victory,  forgot  the  actual  and  the  only  wise 
purpose  of  the  war.  Not  contented  with  the  king's  dereliction  of 
Spain,  they  sought  the  subjugation  and  dismemberment  of  France 
itself;  disdained  the  very  ample  and  momentous  concessions  offered 
by  Louis,  under  the  dejection  of  continued  defeat;  and  drove  him, 
through  indignation  and  despair,  to  efforts  which  in  any  other  circum- 
stances he  would  have  never  attempted.  His  people,  enraged  at  the 
haughty  and  unrelenting  severity  of  the  confederates,  and  interested 
for  the  glory  of  their  monarch  and  the  defence  of  their  country,  made 
exertions  that  amazed  both  their  enemies  and  themselves.  The  im- 
politic refusal  of  victors  to  grant  favourable  terms  to  foes  defeated 
but  not  subdued,  inspirited  the  vanquished,  and  enabled  them  to  make 
head  against  the  combination,  until  the  jealousies  incidental  to  such 
alliances,  and  other  favourable  circumstances,  produced  its  dissolu- 
tion. The  confederates  learned,  when  it -was  too  late,  that  having  in 
decisive  victory  the  means  of  concluding  honourable  and  advantageous 
peace,  which  would  have  fully  effected  the  wise  and  meritorious  pur- 
poses of  the  war,  they  ought  to  have  embraced  the  propitious  mo- 
ment. Intestine  divisions  had  not  then  withdrawn  the  most  efficient 
member  of  the  alliance.  ^The  intriguing  artifices  of  an  inferior  court 
servant,*  the  bigoted  declamation  of  a  hot-headed  zealot,!  had  not  dis- 
placed the  first  general  of  his  time,  or  detached  England  from  a  con- 
federacy for  preserving  the  balance  of  power.  If  they  had  subdued 
Louis  as  completely,  as  by  continuing  the  war  they  proposed,  Britain 
and  Holland,  in  rendering  Austria  'predominant,  would  have  totally 
overturned  the  balance  which  they  had  been  fighting  to  establish.^ 
The  objections  of  the  confederates,  from  a  professed  doubt  of  the  sin-, 
cerity  of  the  French  sovereign,  were  by  no  means  consistent  with  the 
sagacity  of  that  consummate  politician,  who  guided  the  counsels  as 
well  as  led  the  arms  of  the  allies.§  The  penetration  of  Marlborough 
might  have  seen  the  probability  of  the  sincerity  of  Louis,  in  his  situ- 
ation and  conduct.  An  interest,  almost  amounting  to  necessity,  ren- 
dered peace,  upon  humiliating  terms,  desirable,  in  the  ruinous  and 
miserable  state  of  the  French  kingdom.  The  party  which,  in  Eng- 
land, was  supreme  in  power,  could  have  dictated  a  peace  that  would 
have  fully  separated  Spain  from  France;  repressed  Bourbon  ambi- 
tion ;  confirmed  the  independence  of  Europe,  the  protestant  succes- 

•   Mrs.  Marsham.  f  Sacheverel. 

^     i  See  Somerville's  History  of  queen  \nne, passim.     Smollet's  History,  pastim. 

§  See  Dr.  Somerville's  account  of  the  negotiations  at  the  Hague  in  1709 ;  and 
at  r.ertniydenburg,  in  iriO.  Cunningham's  History  i  also  the  Memoirs  of  Torcy, 
«nd  the  several  negotiators. 


54  VIEW  OF  THE 

[Parties  become  more  determinate.     Fluctuations  of  opinion.] 

sion,  and  the  security  of  Britain  ;  and  obtained  every  national  object 
for  cmbarkina;  in  the  contedcracy.  If  they  desired  more,  they  de- 
sired loo  much.  Prolongation  of  the  war,  therefore,  was  unnecessary, 
and  consequently  unwise  and  hurtful.  In  the  changes  of  political 
rulers,  extravagant  concessions  completed  the  evils  of  impolitic 
rigour.  The  precipitate  advances  of  the  tolies  yielded  to  Louis  in- 
finitely more,  than,  when  offered,  the  repulsive  haughtiness  of  the 
whigs  had  refused.  The  terms  were  far  from  corresponding  with  the 
objects  for  which  the  war  had  been  undertaken  ;  and  very  unequal  to 
the  success  with  which  it  had  been  attended,  and  the  force  which  the 
allies  still  possessed  for  its  farther  prosecution.  But  if  the  whigs 
most  justly  and  severely  censured  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  impartial 
examiners  must  admit,  that  its  evils  might  have  been  prevented  at  the 
Hague,  or  Gcrtruydenburg.  Oxford  and  Bolingbroke  could  not  have 
concluded  an  inadequate  peace,  unless  Marlborough  had  three  years 
before  rejected  conditions,  not  only  adequate,  but  highly  honourable 
and  advantageous  for  Britain  and  her  allies. 

The  parties  from  which  sprung  this  great  diversity  in  plans  and 
measures  of  foreign  politics,  in  their  long  and  violent  contentions, 
became  more  determinate  in  their  principles,  more  definite  in  their 
character,  more  uniform  in  tlieir  views,  and  more  methodical  in  their 
plans,  than  during  the  preceding  reig'n.  Inlhe  first  years  of  Anne,  the 
tories,  although  much  more  agreeable  to  the  real  inclinations  of  the 
queen,  were  apparently  superior  in  the  house  of  commons  and  nation. 
But  the  use  which  they  made  of  these  advantages,  manifested  no 
great  depth  of  policy,  and  tended  little  to"  secure  the  contintiance  of 
their  power.  The  principal  object  of  the  tory  majority  in  the  first 
parliament  of  queen  Anne,  was  to  promote  high  church  doctrines,  and 
to  restrict  the  dissenters.  To  effect  their  purpose,  a  cry  was  raised 
that  lilt:  church  nuas  hi  dangtr. 

The  prudence  and  expediency  of  exciting  an  alarm,  in  order  to 
secure  political  influence,  depends,  in  a  free  country,  on  the  exact 
state  of  popular  opinion.  At  the  end  of  William's  reign,  when  dis- 
content had  been  so  studiously  spread  against  the  king,  and  all  those 
whom  he  favoured,  many  conscientious  members  of  tlic  church  really 
believed  that  conspiracies  were  forming  by.  republicans  ^and  schis- 
matics, to  overtiiiow  the  fccclesiaslical  establishment.  To  its  well 
meaning  votaries  the  church  was  then  the  chief  subject  of  anxiety 
and  alarm.  But  though  they  were  churchmen,  they  were  Englishmen 
and  protestants;  and  if  they  haled  presbyterians  much,  they  hated 
Frencliinen  and  popery  more.  'Ihc  war  breaking  out,  occupied  their 
attenlion,  and  engaged  their  passions.  The  grand  and  comprehensive 
scheme  of  operations  promoted  by  the  whigs,  proved  successful.  If 
they  regarded  the  tories  as  the  protectors  of  tlie  churcli,  they  consi- 
tlered  tlie  whigs  as  the  vanquishers  of  our  most  inveterate  enemies. 
Their  fears  for  the  church  were  forgotten  in  the  triumphant  joy  for 
the  glory  of  their  country.  Dissenters  were  not  the  only  enemies  of 
the  church.  Conspiracies  in  favour  of  the  pretender  revived  their 
fears  of  popery ;  and  turned  their  favourable  attention  to  those  whom 
they  considered  as  the  champions  of  the  protestant  succession.  The 
house  of  lords,  averse  to  the  bigotry  and  violence  by  which  the  com- 
mons were  actuated,  strenuously  opposed  their  bill  against  occasional 


STATj:  OF  ENGLAND,  55 

[Whigs  a  compact,  firm  and  powerful  body.    Whig  literature.    Locke.] 

conformity,  and  other  measures  of  impassioned  persecution,  tending 
to  oppress  the  dissenters.  Defeating  these  illiberal  propositions,  they 
exhibited  that  moderation  which  so  peculiarly  becomes  the  interme- 
diate body,  that  the  constitution  intends  to  hold  the  balance  between 
popular  intemperance  and  monarchical  encroachment,  and  afforded 
a  striking  and  salutary  instance  of  the  wisdom  and  utility  of  the  controls 
established  by  the  British  constitution.  From  these  causes,  the  tide 
of  popular  opinion  began  to  flow  for  the  whigs.  With  a  support  so 
very  momentous  to  a  political  party,  other  circumstances  co-operated  : 
the  whig  system  of  continental  policy  rendered  our  allies  peculiarly 
friendly  to  that  party,  because,  urging  the  most  extensive  and  vigor- 
ous efforts  :  they  were  closely  connected  with  the  monied  interest, 
that  could  and  did  contribute  most  powerfully  to  the  immense  pecu- 
niary exertions  requisite  in  the  present  scheme  of  war.  If  inclina- 
tion, therefore,  attached  the  queen  to  the  tories,  policy  impelled  her 
to  support  and  employ  the  whigs.  The  interest  and  ambition  of  Marl- 
borough directed  him  to  join  that  party,  as  his  transcendent  abilities 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  any  set  of  men,  with  whom  he  united.  His 
duchess,  by  her  uncontrolled  power  over  the  queen,  strongly  assisted 
in  rendering  her  majesty  (though  in  her  heart  a  zealous  tory)  in  her  con- 
duct a  most  active  and  effectual  instrument  under  the  direction  of  the 
whigs.  Though  there  were  among  the  tories  men  of  considerable 
abilities,  yet  in  the  aggregate  of  talents,  the  whigs  were  greatly  supe- 
rior. The  men  of  the  highest  estimation  in  church,*  state,!  and  litera- 
ture.! were  of  their  side  :  not  only  favourable  circumstances,  but  con- 
tinuance in  office,  mutual  intercourse,  and  coincidence  of  views  and 
interests,  rendered  the  whigs  a  closely  compacted  body,  capable  of 
acting  very  powerfully  in  concert.  Their  principles  of  conduct  and 
bond  of  union,  were  such,  as  they  durst  openly  avow;  a  firm  attach- 
ment to  liberty,  to  the  British  constitution  as  recently  ascertained  and 
established,  and  to  the  protestant  succession  as  preserving  and  secur- 
ing our  rights  and  polity.  Hence  they  were  eager  promoters  of  every 
scheme  that  tended  to  ensure  the  settlement  of  the  crown,  and  closely 
connected  themselves  with  the  family  of  Hanover;  which,  from  their 
principles,  protestations,  and  conduct,  regarded  this  body  as  its  most 
assured  friends,  and  indeed  the  bulwark  of  the  expected  accession. 

The  able  and  enlightened  politicians  of  that  party  strenuously  pro- 
moted literary  effort:  some  of  them  were  themselves  men  of  taste, 
erudition  and  philosophy  :  those  who  were  not  scholars,  possessing 
vigorous  understandings,  knowing  mankind,  and  the  state  of  society 
in  England,  liberally  and  wisely  patronized  learning.  Many  works 
were  published  in  favour  of  general  freedom,  and  particularly  the 
whig  acceptation  of  freedom,  by  the  disciples'of  the  celebrated  Locke. 
Intending  the  greatest  perfection  of  polity,  and  the  highest  happiness 
of  mankind,  but  accustomed  to  metaphysical  disquisition  in  specula- 
ting upon  government,  this  renowned  philosopher  rather  contem- 
plates his  own  abstractions,  than  considers  man  as  he  is  found  by 
observation  and  experience.     Taking  their  tone  from  this  extraordi- 

•  Atterbury  was  not  yet  known. 

,f  Hurley,  Harcourt,  and  St.  John,  had  not  joined  the  tories. 
t  Swift  was  connected  with  Addison,  Halifax,  and  other  illustrious  whigs.  Pope 
was  not  yet  known. 


56  VIEW  OF  THK 

[Triumph  of  the  tories  and  church  party.] 

nary  man,  other  whig  writers  on  political  subjects,  recurring;  to  his 
metaphysical  principles,  drew  from  them  subtile  inferences,  leading, 
if  admitted,  to  republicanism,  democracy,  and  even  to  equality  of  rank 
and  property.*  This  was  also  the  kind  of  doctrine  often  advanced 
in  the  senate,  where  there  was  a  great  predilection  for  abstract  rea- 
soning on  politics.  Neither  speakers  nor  writers  appeared  aware  of 
the  consequences  of  such  theories,  if  practically  adopted  ;  and  though 
it  was  very  evident  they  were  far  from  desiring  to  carry  them  literally 
into  execution,  they  however  afforded  a  handle  to  their  opponents,  to 
charge  them  with  an  inclination  to  overturn  the  church  and  monarchy. 
The  lories  represented  their  adversaries  as  republicans,  and  endea- 
voured to  impress  the  queen  with  the  same  idea,  and  to  revive  among 
the  people  an  alarm  that  the  church  was  in  danger.  Established  with 
the  people  by  a  series  of  victory  and  glory,  with  the  queen  by  the  ap- 
plause of  the  country,  the  splendour  and  success  of  their  achievements, 
and  the  influence  of  the  Marlborough  family,  with  the  destined  suc- 
cessors to  the  crown  by  their  exertions  in  their  favour,  the  whig 
party  numerous,  able,  compact,  and  skilful,  had  probable  grounds  for 
conceiving  that  its  power  would  be  lasting.  This  expectation,  how- 
ever, proved  vain  :  soon  after  their  power  had  reached  its  highest 
zenith,  it  was  overthrown  by  trifling  instruments.  An  inferior  menial 
first  broke  one  great  tic  by  which  the  queen  was  bound  to  the  whigs, 
and  through  them  to  the  continental  confederacy  :  and  was  the  means 
of  conforming  her  political  conduct  to  the  wishes  of  the  tories,  by 
disposing  her  to  abandon  the  whig  administration,  and  its  political 
plans.  She  was  soon  impressed  with  an  opinion,  that  the  church  was 
endangered,  from  the  prevalence  of  the  whigs,  and  their  friends  the 
dissenters.  Meanwhile,  the  high  church  party  was  extremely  active 
in  inciting  the  people  against  their  adversaries  :  they  represented  the 
war  which  had  brought  very  heavy  and  oppressive  burthens  on  the 
public,  as  carried  on  now  for  the  interested  purposes  of  the  ministers. 
According  to  the  tories,  the  increasing  taxes,  and  the  loss  of  so  many 
countrymen  and  relations,  were  now  no  longer  undergone  for  the  se- 
curity and  glory  of  England,  but  to  gratify  the  ambition  and  avarice 
of  an  interested  faction.  Besides  the  horrors  of  a  now  unnecessary 
war,  the  whig  counsels  (they  asserted)  and  measures  were  perni- 
cious in  peace,  and  tended  to  ovcrtiu'ow  government  and  religion. 
The  whigs  were  schismatics,  infidels,  republicans  and  levellers.  The 
church  was  in  the  most  imminent  danger,  and  must  perish,  unless 
the  people  were  roused  to  overwhelm  the  whigs  and  dissenters. 
Eagerly  urged  by  clerical  demagogues  and  other  ardent  partizans, 
these  topics  now  spread  the  alarm  which  had  in  vain  been  attempted 
some  years  before.  Thpe  train  having  been  thus  laid,  a  person  was 
not  long  wanting  to  light  the  match.  Sachevercl,  a  furious  adven- 
turer in  high  church  doctrines,  without  ability,  learning,  or  eloquence, 
directed  the  opinions,  and  guided  and  stimulated  the  conduct,  of  the 
majority  of  the  people  throughout  England.  His  discourses,  con- 
temptible in  themselves,  were  venerated  and  adored,  for  the  reason 
which  has  so  often  piocured  currency  and  admiration  to  frivolous 
nonsense  or  inflammatory  fanaticism  ;  they  declainied  for  the  popular 

•  Sfe  Hoadiey,  Tlndal,  and  many  other  literary  supporters  of  tlie  whigs. 


STAIK  OF  ENGLAND.  57 

[Whigs  support  the  proteslaiil  succession.     Union  with  Scotland.] 

prejudices  which  ihcii  happened  to  be  ailoul.  Tlic  iumcs  of  big;olry 
which  he  blew  up  might  have  evaporated,  had  not  the  whigs,  by  a  trial, 
taken  the  most  cITcctual  means  to  give  him  and  his  inculcations  im- 
liortance.  Exalted  by  a  well  deserved  but  ill-judged  impeachment, 
Sachcvercl  aflorded  a  lesson  to  future  statesmen  and  politicians,  of 
the  inefficacy  of  persecution  to  remove  popular  delusion.  The  extra- 
vagant ravings  of  this  infuriated  bigot  were  received  throughout  the 
kingdom  as  oracles  of  wisdom.  Imbibing  the  general  sentiment,  the 
queen  became  eagerly  desirous  of  being  freed  from  the  whig  admin- 
istration. Addresses,  drawn  up  in  the  moment  of  enthusiasm,  were 
represented  as  the  dictates  of  conviction  and  solid  reasoning.  During 
the  popular  ferment,  parliament  being  dissolved,  the  elections  (as 
niiglu  have  been  with  certainty  foreseen)  proved  decidedly  favourable 
to  the  promoters  of  the  ferment ;  the  whigs  were  dismissed.  Mr. 
Ilarlcy  professed  to  desire  a  coalition  of  parties ;  but  the  means  thai 
were  employed  by  those  whom  he  now  headed,  being  very  inimical  to 
siich  a  junction,  the  torics  held  the  oflices  of  administration  which 
had  been  forcibly  wrested  from  the  whigs,  and  these  two  parties  be- 
came irreconcilable  adversaries.  As  the  tories  had  represented  their 
party  as  the  only  friends  of  the  church  an^  monarchy,  the  whigs  de- 
clared themselves  the  only  supporters  of  constitutional  liberty  and  the 
protestant  succession  ;  and  imputed  the  peace  to  a  partiality  for  Louis, 
as  the  supporter  of  arbitrary  power  and  the  pretender.  With  a  reso- 
lute firmness,  adhering  more  closely  to  their  principles  and  party  than 
even  when  in  office,  the  whigs  were  a  very  powerful  body  to  promote  or 
thwart  any  political  measure.  Both  principle  and  interest  bound  them 
to  the  house  of  Hanover  ;  they  impressed  that  family  with  the  persua- 
sion, that  both  the  internal  and  foreign  politics  of  the  tories  were  in- 
tended and  calculated  for  the  restoration  of  James  Stuart;  that  the 
queen  eagerly  desired  that  violation  of  the  parliamentary  settlement; 
that  the  whigs,  and  they  only,  were  securing  the  throne  to  the  protes- 
tant succession  ;  and  thus,  that  when  the  Hanoverian  prince  should 
be  called  to  the  crown,  he  would  find  his  subjects  divided  into  two 
parties  :  the  one  his  friends,  and  the  other  his  enemies.  Successful 
in  conveying  to  the  court  of  Hanover  this  opinion,  they  gave  to  its 
princes  a  bias,  which  lasted  long  after  their  accession  to  the  British 
throne. 

From  zeal  for  the  protestant  accession,  as  well  as  from  sound  and 
comprehensive  general  policy,  proceeded  a  measure  which  though 
opposed  by  narrow  views  of  national  prejudice  and  pride,  has  been 
momentously  beneficial  to  the  two  countries  that  formerly  constituted 
separate  kingdoms  in  the  island  of  Great  Britain.  The  union  for  ever 
put  an  end  to  those  internal  wars  which  had  formerly  occasioned  the 
desolation  of  both.  It  detached  Scotland  from  a  connexion  with 
France,  not  less  hurtful  to  herself  than  troublesome  to  England,  It 
prevented  the  crowns  from  being  separated,*  as  would  have  mo»t 
probably  taken  place,  had  the  two  kingdoms  continued  in  a  state  of 
political  disunion.     It  delivered  both  nations  from  the  impending 

*  See  proceedings  in  the  Scottish  parliament  and  nation,  from  the  first  years 
ot  queen  Anne  till  the  union  ;  and  the  views  not  only  of  the  Jacobites,  but  of  the 
Presbyterians.     See  Soinerville,  Cunningham,  Smoilet,  &c. 
Vol.  VII.— 8 


58  VU.W  OF  TUF. 

[Advantages  to  both  kingdoms.     Commerce  and  navigation  under  queen  Anne.] 

evils  of  a  controverted  regal  succession,  and  the  fears  which  were 
justly  entertained  for  the  protestant  religion  and  civil  liberty.  Pre- 
serving to  both  countries  the  protestant  faith  and  a  free  limited  mo- 
narchy, both  in  ecclesiastical  aud  civil  concerns,  it  left  to  each  party 
the  forms,  articles,  institutions,  and  laws,  to  which  they  were  most 
accustomed  and  attached,  which  were  interwoven  with  their  manners, 
their  sentiments,  their  opinions,  their  property,  their  domestic  and 
civil  engagements,  and  their  duties.  Both  Scotland  and  England  could 
now  impart  to  each  other,  their  respective  advantages,  and  both  were 
gainers  by  the  participation.  Of  the  two,  the  party  which  laboured 
under  the  greatest  wants,  no  doubt  acquired  the  greater  advantage  by 
a  co-partnership,  which  afforded  the  means  of  supply;  but  the  benefit 
which  Scotland  derived,  being  still  dependent  on  her  own  industry 
and  skill,  slie  by  those  very  qualities  promoted  the  interest  of  Eng- 
land. Without  minutely  scrutinizing  the  comparative  emoluments  of 
both,  we  evidently  perceive,  that  England  and  Scotland,  in  the  means 
of  subsistence,  accommodation,  defence,  riches,  power,  comfort  at 
home,  and  respectability  abroad,  are  both  severally  and  jointly  be- 
yond all  calculation  benefited  by  the  Union. 

Commerce  continued  in  this  reign  to  increase  in  enterprise,  skill, 
and  success  :  the  views  of  merchants  were  enlarged,  as  their  impor- 
tance so  greatly  rose  in  the  community.  The  war,  no  doubt,  inter- 
rupted trade,  by  the  capture  of  ships;  this  evil,  to  a  certain  degree 
unavoidable,  was  heightened  by  the  inattention  of  the  admiralty  to  the 
important  department  of  its  business,  which  should  provide  convoys. 
The  near  relation  of  the  lord  high  admiral  to  the  sovereign,  through 
delicacy  prevented  so  close  and  vigorous  investigation  into  the  con- 
duct of  naval  affairs,  as  the  interests  of  commerce  and  the  good  of 
the  country  required.  But  notwithstanding  these  disadvantages,  ma- 
nufactures and  commerce  were  extremely  flourishing.  Civil  and 
religious  liberty  invited  many  industrious  and  skilful  foreigners  into 
this  country  ;  while  others  fled  thither  from  the  horrors  of  war.  The 
enlarged  policy  of  the  whigs,  who  saw  the  advantages  that  had  re- 
sultcc!,  and  were  resulting,  from  the  emigration  of  ingenious  and  in- 
dustrious refugees,  and  who  knew  that  the  wealth  and  power  of  the 
nation  rises  with  the  number  of  capable  and  active  inhabitants,  in 
order  to  attach  the  late  emigrants  completely  to  the  country,  proposed 
that  they  slionld  be  naturalized,  and  a  law  was  actually  passed  for 
that  purpose ;  which,  lasting  till  near  the  end  of  the  reign,  was  ex- 
tremely favourable  both  to  trade  and  public  credit.  The  refugees 
promoted  manufactures  and  merchandise,  and  were  also  purchasers 
to  a  very  considerable  extent  in  the  funds.  One  very  convincing 
proof  of  tljc  increase  of  commerce  during  this  reign,  was  the  rise  of 
public  credit;  the  ease  with  which  very  large*  supplies  were  raised  for 
the  use  of  government;  and  the  readiness  with  which  loans  were  ob- 
tained at  six  per  cent,  instead  of  eight,  amounting  to  upwards  of  three 
millions  annually,!  besides  the  yearly  taxes.  Our  North  American 
colonics   continuing  to  experience  that  wise  and  benignant  policy, 

•  According  to  the  value  of  money  and  estimation  of  expenses  in  those  times, 
t  Tlie    national  debt,  wlilcli,  at   the  commencement  of  Anne's  reign,   was 


siATK  or  i-,nc;lanu.  59 

[rolitical  economy  not  well  understood.    Cliaracter  of  her  reign.] 

which,  satisfied  with  affording  protection  and  claiming  general  alle- 
giance, left  internal  efforts  and  industry  to  their  own  course,  was  the 
most  important  and  rising  market  for  British  manufactures  and  com- 
merce.* 

The  trade  to  the  West  India  colonies  was  also  now  of  considerable 
importance.  The  East  India  traffic,  small  as  it  was,  compared  with 
present  times,  yet  notwithstanding  the  cessiiiion  of  competition  by 
the  union  of  the  two  companies  into  one,  was  making  a  lucrative  ac- 
cession to  British  opulence.  Our  trade  with  Spain  almost  ceased 
during  the  war  concerning  its  crown;  but  our  traffic  to  other  parts 
of  Europe,  and  to  Africa,  was,  from  our  maritime  strength  and  the 
weakness  of  our  enemies,  proporiionably  enlarged.  Exerting  our 
naval  force  in  annoying  the  enemy,  and  (though  not  uniformly)  in 
protecting  our  own  commerce,  wc  fully  taught  contending  nations  a 
lesson,  which  they  miglu  have  partially  learned  before,  that  if  weaker 
commercial  naval  powers  arc  fighting  with  a  stronger,  while  the  infe- 
rior loses  his  mercantile  gain,  the  superior,  by  commanding  the  seas, 
promotes  his  trade.  Of  commercial  treaties  concluded  in  this  reign, 
the  convention  with  Portugal  proved  beneficial  to  this  country,  though 
it  showed  that  the  principles  of  commercial  philosophy  were  not  yet 
thoroughly  understood.  The  revered  authority  of  Locke  had  im- 
pressed statesn)en  with  a  very  erroneous  principle  in  political  econo- 
my, that  national  wealth  consists  in  the  quantity  of  gold  and  silver 
which  a  country  possesses;  that  therefore  the  chief  object  of  a  com- 
mercial statesman  is  to  increase  these  precious  metals.  The  pro- 
fessed object  of  Mr.  Methven's  treaty  with  Portugal  was  to  procure 
for  our  commodities  gold  from  the  Brazils;  a  purpose  which  might 
have  been  effected  without  any  treaty,  while  Britain  could  supply  such 
articles  as  the  possessors  of  gold  wanted.  The  interchange  has,  on 
the  whole,  proved  more  lucrative  to  the  Portuguese  than  to  the  Brit- 
ish :  still,  however,  though  the  balance  of  trade  may  have  been  against 
us  with  Portugal,!  it  has  been  advantageous  as  a  source  of  traffic,  of 
revenue,  and  a  nursery  for  seamen.  The  chief  objections  to  the  com- 
mercial treaty  of  Utrecht  were  founded  on  the  same  erroneous  sys- 
tem.:}; It  was  alleged,  that  a  treaty  with  France,  by  interfering  with 
our  treaty  with  Portugal,  would  diminish  our  imports  of  Brazil  gold. 

Anne's  reign,  notwithstanding  a  war  of  eleven  years,  was  favourable 
to  commerce,  and  llie  prosperity  of  the  country.  In  her  external  re- 
lations, Britain  made  much  greater  and  more  extensive  efforts  on  the 
continent,  than  at  any  former  period,  though  she  was  precipitate  and 
irnpolitic  in  the  negotiation  at  Utrecht,  and  thereby  yielded  much  too 
advantageous  terms  to  the  aggressor,  whom  she  had  vanquished ;  yet, 
in  the  misery  of  his  people,  the  bankruptcy  of  his  finances,  and  the 

16,394.701;.  10s.  7id.,  at  tlie  end  of  It  amounted  to  53,681,076;.  5s.  e^d.  As  by 
far  the  greater  part  of  tiiis  debt  was  owing-  to  British  subjects,  it  is  a  proof  how 
much  commerce  and  private  riches  must  liave  been  augmented. 

*  See  the  statemcMit  quoted  by  Mr.  Burke  from  official  documents  in  his  speech, 
March  22d,  1775,  on  conciliation  with  America. 

f  See  Weahh  of  Nations,  vol.  ii.  p.  325. 

t  That  a  trade  may  be  advantageous  to  a  party,  against  whom  the  balance  is,  is 
now  very  evident;  as  may  be  clearly  seen  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  and  also  in 
the  marquis  of  Lansdowne's  speech  on  the  commercial  treaty  with  France. 


60  Vri'.W  OF  TflF 

[George  I.     His  attachment  to  the  whigfs.] 

tlisconifiture  of  his  force,  she  evinced  to  Louis,  that  the  unjust  ambi- 
tion of  the  French  sovereign  which  compelled  Britain  to  arm  against 
him,  rendered  that  fine  country  wretched,  which  might  have  been 
happy. 

While  the  parties,  that  raged  with  such  violence  from  the  dismissal 
of  the  whig  ministry,  were  increasing  in  mutual  hatred  and  invete- 
racy, the  death  of  Anne  called  a  new  family  to  the  throne. 

George,  elector  of  Hanover,  a  prince  of  a  solid  and  vigorous  capa- 
city, well  skilled  in  the  history  of  politics  and  interests  of  the  different 
European  powers,  a  brave,  prudent,  experienced  general,  was  in  the 
prime  of  life,  when,  as  next  protcstant  heir  of  the  royal  line,  he  be- 
came by  the  rule  of  inheritance,  as  it  had  been  modified  by  the  king 
and  parliament,  sovereign  of  these  realms.  In  his  person,  heredita- 
ry succession  was  as  closely  adhered  to  as  was  compatible  with  liberty 
and  religion  :  the  direct  and  next  presumptive  heirs  having  chosen  to 
disqualify  themselves,  the  next  who  had  not  disqualified  himself  suc- 
ceeded. George,  a  great  grandson  of  a  king  of  England,  sprung 
from  that  king's  daughter,  came  to  the  throne ;  instead  of  James, 
another  great  grandson  of  the  same  king,  sprung  from  his  son.  Here- 
by the  extent  and  limitations  of  hereditary  succession  to  the  crown 
were  ascertained:  the  lineal  heir  was  to  succeed,  unless,  by  refusing 
to  comply  with  the  conditions  required,  he  himself  should  virtually 
renounce  the  inheritance. 

Fitted  by  his  talents,  dispositions,  and  character,  to  govern  his  new 
kingdoms  suitably  to  their  interests  and  views,  George's  administra- 
tion gave  much  satisfaction  to  those  who  had  stood  forth  as  the  cham- 
pions of  civil,  religious,  and  constitutional  liberty.  Policy  as  well  as 
inclination  attached  him  first  and  chieily  to  the  whigs,  the  strenuous 
supporters  of  himself  and  his  family.  The  tory  leaders,  in  the  last 
mmistry  of  queen  Anne,  had  gone  such  length  in  opposing  the  whigs, 
as  to  be  deemed  inimical  to  the  succession  of  the  house  of  Hanover. 
If  they  did  not  design  the  restoration  of  the  lineal  heir,  their  actions 
had  appeared  conducive  to  that  purpose.  They  had  cultivated  a  close 
intercourse  with  Louis,  the  great  patron  of  the  pretender;  promoted 
known  Jacobites  to  civil  and  military  offices  ;  and  dismissed  from  the 
army  whig  officers,  to  make  room  for  persons  attached  to  the  house 
of  Stuart.  At  the  election,  Jacobites  had  been  countenanced  and 
chosen,  through  the  influence  and  patronage  of  the  tory  party.*  The 
ministers  had  effected  the  repeal  of  the  barrier  treaty,  which  bound 
the  states-general  to  guarantee  the  protestant  succession  ;  were  ex- 
tremely ccld  to  the  Dutch,  the  zealous  friends  of  that  settlement ; 
and  encouraged  invectives  against  king  William,  its  framer,  and  all 
its  principal  supporters.  The  lories  encouraged  writings  and  writers 
inimical  to  the  protestant  succession.  The  high  church,  so  much 
venerated  by  the  torics,  abetted  the  doctrines  of  indefeasible  heredi- 
tary right,  and  were  ardent  in  inculcating  intolerance  to  dissenters, 
the  warm  friends  of  the  revolution  and  protcstant  succession,  and  ene- 
mies of  jacobitism  and  the  principles  by  which  it  was  upheld.  While 
the  tories  so  acted,  as  to  exhibit  a  probable  appearance  of  a  friendly 

•  See  Somerville's  Dissertation  on  the  Danger  of  the  Protestant  Succession, 
at  the  end  of  his  history, //a mm.     Cunning-liam's  History. 


STATF,  OF  F.NT.T.AND.  f,| 

[Intemperate  violence  of  that  party.] 

disposition  to  the  Jacobites,  they  strenuously  opposed  every  measure 
desired  by  the  friends  of  the  house  of  Hanover  as  conducive  to  the 
security  of  the  protestant  succession.*  Although  the  concurrence 
of  so  many  circumstances  did  not  positively  prove  the  tory  leaders 
to  have  formed  a  design  against  the  Hanoverian  succession,  and 
though  they  all  might  have  arisen  from  different  causes,  yet  they  to- 
gether constituted  such  a  degree  of  probability,  as  to  render  it  pru- 
dent in  the  king  to  repose  his  first  trust  in  the  whigs,  and  to  be 
cautious  and  circumspect  in  bestowing  high  offices  on  any  of  the 
active  troy  leaders  until  he  had  investigated  their  intentions.  But, 
perhaps,  it  might  have  been  practicable  ior  the  king  to  have  gradu- 
ally conciliated  the  greater  number  of  the  most  active  tories.  His 
promotion  of  whigs  exclusively,  and  dismission  of  tories  indiscrimi- 
nately, from  the  recent  conduct  of  both  respectively,  was  natural, 
though  a  more  comprehensive  scheme  of  policy  would  have  been 
wise.  At  the  time  of  the  accession,  the  passions  and  prejudices  of 
both  sides  were  extremely  high.  The  cool  and  impartial  examination 
of  a  discerning  anJ  unbiassed  stranger  must  have  seen,  that  there 
were  on  both  sides  great  abilities  and  great  virtues,  mingled  with  the 
violence  and  excesses  of  party  zeal  ;  and  that  the  leading  and  acting 
men  on  both  sides  might  be  rendered  useful  in  various  departments 
of  public  service.  But  George,  though  discerning,  was  not  unbi- 
assed; though  calm  in  his  own  temper,  judicious  in  his  opinions,  and 
temperate  in  his  conduct,  yet,  from  his  situation,  and  the  connexions 
which  it  had  dictated,  he  was  become  the  member  of  a  party  ;  and  as- 
cended the  throne  of  England,  on  the  one  hand,  with  the  liberal  and 
enlightened  principles,  but  on  the  other  with  the  prejudices  and  pas- 
sions, of  an  English  whig.  ^  Choosing  from  that  party  his  ministers 
and  confidential  advisers,  he  not  only,  by  this  first  measure  of  his  go- 
vernment, disgusted  the  tories,  on  account  of  the  exclusive  preference 
of  their  adversaries,  but  imbibing  the  resentments  of  the  whigs,  too 
readily  and  hastily  countenanced  their  prosecutions.  The  intempe- 
rance of  ministerial  proceedings  excited  great  displeasure  among  the 
friends  and  supporters  of  the  prosecuted  leaders,  and  giving  particu- 
lar umbrage  to  the  high  church  party,  inspired  the  Jacobites  with  a 
notion,  that  the  disapprobation  testified  or  discovered  on  account  of 
these  acts,  and  the  partiality  of  the  king  to  the  whig  party,  indicated 
a  general  dissatisfaction  with  the  whole  system  of  his  new  govern- 
ment. From  this  misapprehension,  they  conceived  the  opportunity 
favourable  to  the  pretender.  Hence,  together  with  the  instigations 
of  the  old  tyrant  of  France,  arose  the  rebellion  of  1715.  The  com- 
paratively small  number  of  those  who  joined  in  this  insurrection,  and 
the  vast  majority  which  adhered  to  king  George,  to  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty,  proved,  that,  though  certain  councils  of  ministry  were 
not  agreeable  to  the  whole  of  the  nation,  yet  the  house  of  Hanover 
was  firmly  established  on  the  throne.  The  trifling  attempts  that  were 
afterwards  made  in  the  same  reign,  being  so  speedily  discomfited, 
confirmed  the  same  position.  Indeed  it  was  evident  that  the  good 
sense  of  the  British,  their  firmness  and  patriotism,  would  strenuously 
and  successfully  resist  every  future  attempt  to  deprive  them  of  the 

•  See  Swift's  Thoughts  on  the  present  State  of  Anairs,/>nw«m. 


62  VIEW  OF  THE 

[Prosecutions.    Septennial  parliaments] 

blessings  which  they  enjoyed  under  the  house  of  Hanover.  It  was 
farthcrobvious,  that  the  security  of  the  king  and  the  existing  establish- 
ment rested  solely  upon  his  sulijccts  tlicmselves,  as  by  those  only  the 
disturbances  were  quelled.  But  lliough  the  number  of  those  who  ac- 
tively rose  against  the  king  was  but  small,  very  many  continued  dis- 
satisfied wiili  the  monopoly  of  favour  and  confidence  enjoyed  by  the 
whigs.  That  policy,  justifiable  only  if  necessary,  maintained  a  very 
great  division  in  the  kingdom,  and  precluded  the  nation  from  the 
services  of  many  brave,  able,  and  entcrjirising  men.  The  prosecu- 
tions against  the  tory  leaders  very  strikingly  manifested  the  injustice 
and  oppression  arising  from  a  violent  s])irit  of  party.  The  most  arbi- 
trary ministers  could  not  have  wrested  facts  and  circumstances  more, 
to  give  a  plausible  colour  to  tyranny,  than  the  professed  champions  of 
liberty  in  their  constructions  of  lord  Oxford's  acts  :  in  their  endea- 
vours to  impute  treason*  to  Bolingbroke  and  Atterbury,  and  in  com- 
pelling the  most  illustrious  and  able  men,  without  any  evidence  of 
guilt,  to  seek  refuge  in  exile. 

The  first  years  of  the  whig  administration  being  employed  chiefly 
in  reducing  their  adversaries,  they  afterwards  proceeded  to  a  system 
of  general  policy.  Their  professed  objects  were,  to  secure  the  pro- 
testant  succession,  and  to  promote  the  financial  and  commercial  pros- 
perity of  the  country.  The  real  tendency  of  their  conduct,  however,  in  a 
great  degree,  was  to  extend  the  iiiHuence  of  ministry  over  the  monied 
interest  and  the  legislature.  The  first  parliament  which  met  alter 
George's  accession,  being  elected  when  the  w'higs  had  just  recovered 
their  superiority,  consisted  in  a  great  measure  of  members  of  that 
party.  Before  the  three  years  had  expired,  ministry  had  declined  very 
much  in  popularity.  The  nation,  though  it  had  shown  itself  firmly 
attached  to  the  establishment,  did  not  approve  of  the  exclusive  go- 
vernment of  one  class  of  men.  There  was  much  reason,  therefore,  to 
expect,  that  a  new  election  might  return  many  representatives  not 
friendly  to  the  whig  monopoly. 

To  prevent  so  probable  an  obstruction,  the  whig  leaders  formed  a 
very  bold  and  effectual  project :  this  was  to  procure  an  act  establish- 
ing septennial  parliaments  instead  of  triennial,  and  prolonging  the 
present  for  four  years.  The  amount  of  this  act  was,  that  delegates, 
chosen  by  their  constituents  for  three  years,  voted  without  the  consent 
of  these  constituents,  tliat  the  trust  should  last  for  four  years  longer 
than  it  had  been  conferred  by  the  owners.  The  alleged  reason  was, 
the  prevalence  of  disaffection  and  jacobitism,  which  the  ferment  of 
a  new  election  would  stimulate  and  promote.  Triennial  parliaments 
served  to  keep  up  party  divisions  :  a  longer  term  would  contribute 
powerfully  to  the  evaporation  of  discontent  and  factious  passions,  and 
secure  the  protestant  settlement  and  the  tranquillity  of  the  country. 
The  opponents  of  the  change  insisted,  that  on  the  same  principle  by 
which  trustees  continued  their  office  beyond  the  appointment  of  their 
employers,  they  might  render  their  power  perpetual,  and  cease  to 
depend  on  those  employers;  that  so  long  a  duration  would  afford  to 

•  Swift's  account  of  the  mode  proposed  in  the  academy  of  projectors,  for  dis. 
covering  plots  and  conspiracies,  was  not  a  much  overcharged  satire  against  the 
whig  deviutors  from  the  salutary  strictness  of  Edward  IIl.'s  definitions  oi"  trea- 
son. 


STATE  or  ENGLAND.  63 

[Growth  of  ministerial  influence.    Walpole.     Foreign  relations.] 

ministers  an  opportunity  of  systematizing  corruption,  and  establishin[j 
by  its  means  an  influence  over  the  legislature,  which  might  render 
that  body  merely  instrumental  in  the  hands  of  the  executive  govern- 
ment ;  that  the  will  of  the  king  and  minister  would  be  the  sole  rule 
of  legislative  as  well  as  executorial  conduct;  that  the  power  of  the 
crown  would,  through  the  whigs,  be  rendered  really  niuch  greater 
than  the  tories  had  ever  wished  to  establish  or  support. 

It  is  certain,  that  ministerial  influence  in  this  reign,  whether  from 
the  long  continuance  of  parliament,  or  other  causes,  became  much 
greater  than  at  any  former  time.  Corruption  had  been  carried  to  ;\ 
considerable  length  by  the  whigs,  in  the  time  of  queen  Anne,  on  pai- 
ticular  occasions:  but  it  was  reserved  for  Walpole  to  establish  it  as 
a  methodical  and  regular  engine  of  government:  and  to  bribe  in  a 
dexterous  and  circuitous  manner,  which  might  not  only  escape  de- 
tection, but  in  some  degree  even  impose  on  the  receiver,  and  which 
might  make  him  suppose  that  to  be  the  reward  of  merit  from  his 
country  which  was  really  the  wages  of  service  to  a  minister.  Closely 
connected  with  stock-jobbers,  and  other  adventurers,  in  projects  for 
the  acquisition  of  money,  Walpole  found,  through  loans  and  similar 
government  transactions,  various  opportunities  of  bestov/ing  indirect 
donatives.  Nor  was  he  sparing  in  direct  presents.  He  appears  to 
have  been  the  first  minister  who  thoroughly  xniderslood  the  mode  of 
managing  parliaments,  and  making  law-givers  willing  tools  in  the 
hands  of  the  court.  He  first  completely  succeeded  in  identifying,  ac- 
cording to  the  apprehension  of  the  majority,  compliance  with  mi- 
nisters, and  patriotism;  opposition  to  ministers,  and  disaffection  to  the 
constitution.  George's  reign  is  an  epoch  in  parliamentary  history, 
as,  since  that  time,  whether  ministers  have  been  able  or  weak,  wise  or 
foolish,  they  have  rarely  failed  to  have  the  co-operation  of  parliament 
in  their  projects,  whether  useful  or  hurtful.  The  influence  of  the 
crown  was  established  on  the  most  solid  basis  by  the  whig  party,  and 
the  whig  leader  sir  Robert  Walpole. 

The  relative  state  of  Britain  and  foreign  powers  did  not  require 
from  this  country  any  great  eff'orts.  Louis  XIV.  after  for  sixty  years 
disturbing  the  tranquillity  of  Europe,  was  at  length  dead.  During 
the  minority  of  his  successor,  the  regent  of  France,  fortunately  for 
his  country,  from  private  and  personal  ambition,  cultivated  amity 
and  intercourse  with  England,  in  hopes  that  should  the  young  king 
die,  Britain  might  assist  him  in  succeeding  to  the  throne,  in  exclu- 
sion of  the  still  more  nearly  related  Philip  Bourbon  of  Spain.  These 
selfish  views  long  cherished  peace  and  alliance  between  the  two  chief 
powers  of  the  world.  France  being  pacific,  none  of  the  other  nations 
could  afford  any  serious  ground  of  alarm.  The  menaces  of  Charles 
XII.  or  the  displeasure  of  the  czar  of  Mrtscovy,  excited  little  appre- 
hension. The  repeated  anempts  of  Spain  to  promote  the  claims  of 
the  pretender,  and  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Britain,  unassisted  by 
France,  were  easily  crushed  or  prevented.  A  signal  defeat  at  sea 
cflectually  convinced  the  Spanish  king  of  his  impolicy  in  provoking 
the  attack  of  an  English  fleet.  The  harmony  which  prevailed  between 
France  and  George  I.  though  arising  from  temporary  coincidence  of 
views  in  his  majesty  and  the  French  regent,  rather  than  from  an  en- 
larged comprehension  of  solid  and  permanent  interests,  was  beneficial 


(54  vir.w  01"  iiiE 

[King's  partiality  for  llaiiovcr.    Avarice.     Soulli  sea  bubble.] 

to  both  parties  ;  by  allowing  the  two  countries  in  tranquillity  to  recov- 
er iVom  the  evils  of  the  dreadful  wars  which  had  occupied  the  two 
preceding  reigns,  it  manifested  to  both,  that  sound  policy  dictated 
ygrecmcnt,  and  not  discord,  to  the  two  first  kingdoms  of  the  universe. 
The  king,  in  his  negotiations  and  engagements  with  France  and  with 
other  powers,  intended  to  strengthen  tiie  security  of  the  protcstant  suc- 
cession :  that  was  the  chief  object  of  the  greater  number  of  the  trea- 
ties in  which  his  history  so  very  much  abounds.  Large  and  numerous 
subsidies  were  paid  to  purchase  assistance,  or  to  buy  off  apprehended 
and  threatened  liostility.* 

The  party  in  opposition  to  ministers  asserted,  that  as  the  various 
attempts  made  in  favour  of  the  pretender,  had  been  crushed  by  liriiish 
paliiotisni  and  energy,  the  lecoursc  to  foreign  assistance  was  totally 
unnecessary.  Experience  had  shown,  that  a  great  majority  of  the 
people  was  disposed  and  able  to  support  the  constitutional  establish- 
ment. "While  British  subjects  were  attached  to  their  sovereign,  ho 
wanted  no  foicign  props  to  his  throne. 

It  was  extremely  natural  for  his  majesty  to  retain  a  partiality  for 
liis  native  country,  and  under  that  partiality  to  blend  and  identify 
interests  that  certainly  had  no  real  connexion.  Sonic  of  the  treaties 
concluded,  and  tubbidies  paid  by  Great  Britain,  were,  on  very  prob- 
able grounds,  alleged  to  be  employed  in  promoting  the  advantage  of 
Hanover,  without  affording  the  smallest  benefit  to  this  country.  The 
balance  of  power  in  the  two  former  reigns,  so  necessary  an  object  of 
attention,  and  so  wise  a  ground  of  confederacy,  though  under  George 
I.  it  produced  a  multiplicity  and  variety  of  alliances,  yet  really,  while 
France  remained  quiet,  appears  to  have  been  in  no  danger. f  'fiie  fo- 
reign policy,  however,  oi  the  first  George,  though  perhaps  too  minute 
and  busy  in  detail,  was,  on  the  whole,  fitted  to  maintain  the  rank  and 
rcspcctabiliiy  of  his  kingdoms  among  the  continental  powers.  If 
Britain  in  his  time  did  not  rise  in  dignity,  at  least  she  did  not  fall. 

The  connexion  between  the  whigs  and  the  monied  interests,  pro- 
duced acts  and  conscqucuccs  that  make  a  memorable  part  of  this 
reign.  Commerce  had  opened  the  way  to  riches;  riches  acquired, 
stimulated  accumulation  ;  or  contemplated,  excited  enterprise  and 
adventure.  The  gains  of  merchandise  are  commonly  progressive. 
The  higii  interest  paid,  or  the  donative^  granted  by  government  on 
loans,  enabled  many  individuals  to  accjuirc  fortunes  much  more  rapidly 
than  trade  could  admit.  The  fluctuating  credit  of  the  national  funds 
opened  a  source  of  hazardous  gains,  by  dealing  in  stock;  or,  to  use 
the  ajipropriale  term,  stock-jobbing.  This  kind  of  traffic,  that  had 
been  rising  in  frequency  as  the  national  debt  increased,  was  become 
extremely  prevalent,  and  was  indeed  very  much  encouraged  by  the 
successive  ministers  of  George;  who  seeing  that  jobbing  kept  up 
the  price  of  the  stocks,  considered  it  as  a  very  beneficial  practice. 
There  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  a  kind  of  enthusiasm  of  avarice  through- 
out maritime  and  commercial  Europe  at  this  lime,  no  less  violent 

•  See  the  treaty  concluded  with  the  king  of  Sweden,  in  1717. 

f  It  was  upon  the  anxiety  of  tlie  British  government  about  the  relative  strength 
of  its  neighbours,  thai  the  author  of  tlic  History  of  John  liuU  introduces  his  hero 
as  keeping  a  pair  of  steelyards  to  weigh  his  neighbours. 


STATK  OP  ENGLAND.  65 

[liifi'lelity  and  immorality.     Liberal  policy  of  Walpole.] 

than  the  religious  or  political  enthusiasm  of  otlier  periods.  Money 
was  the  supreme  object  of  their  thoughts  ;  they  considered  projects 
of  new  l)ai)ks  ;  new  scheriies  of  administering  or  employing  esiaijlish- 
cd  funds;  and  new  modes  of  traffic,  as  the  means  of  miraculous  ac- 
cumulation *  On  the  frenzy  of  covetousness  which  impeded  the  use 
of  sound  reason,  and  generated  the  nnost  visionary  fancies,  tlie  deep 
and  dcsif^ning  viilany  of  ministerial  projectors  contrived  the  famous 
South  Sea  bubble,  that  burst  with  such  destruction  to  its  deluded 
votaries.  Notwithstanding  the  ruin  which  overwhelmed  so  many 
from  this  s])eculation,  there  continued  a  strong  propensity  to  wild  and 
fanciful  adveniues,  for  many  years  afterwards.  Stock-jobbing  very 
naturally  promotes  other  species  of  gaming,!  either  to  increase  its 
gains,  or  compensate  its  losses.  Gambling  became  much  more  fre- 
quent thcin  it  had  been  in  former  times. 

The  liberal  principles  and  sentiniejits  of  the  whigs,  extending  to- 
leration to  the  various  sects  of  religionists,  continued  (hateful  to  the 
higli  church;  nor  were  the  wliigs  behind  in  enmity;  their  aversion 
to  bigotry  carried  them  iiito  the  opposite  extreme.  Many  of  them 
are  justly  chargeable  with  infidelity  ;  and  their  leading  politicians,  if 
not  unbelievers  were  indifferent  about  religion,  and  great  patrons  of  in- 
fidels. The  court,  in  general,  was  very  lukewarm  in  religious  matters. 
With  the  nainister,  himself,  his  supporters  and  favourites,  articles  of 
faith,  the  church,  and  clergy,  were  most  frequent  and  acceptable  sub- 
jects of  men  in»cTit  aud  raillery.  Impiety  was  extremely  fashionable  in 
the  various  gradations  of  society;  to  which  the  court  example  did  not  fail 
to  reach.  Corresponding  to  such  a  state  of  religion,  there  was  great  laxity 
of  manners.  To  this  evil,  the  conduct  of  the  court  had  its  share  in  coi\- 
tributing.  George,  though  by  no  means  profligate  in  his  own  charac- 
ter, yet  tended  to  encourage  licentious  gallantry :  according  to  the 
mode  of  debauched  courts  on  the  continent,  the  king's  mistresses 
made  their  appearance  regularly  among  the  nobility,:};  were  visited  by 
women  of  the  highest  rank  and  fushion,  and  even  introduced  to  the 
young  princesses  his  grand-daughters.  The  minister,  and  all  who  pos- 
sessed or  sought  favour,  paid  a  most  submissive -attention  to  the  royal 
favourites.  Where  such  persons  presided,  modesty  and  chastity 
could  not  be  expected  greatly  to  prevail.  Decency  and  morality  were 
by  no  means  characteristics  of  George's  court. 

This  reign  was  favourable  to  commerce  and  finance,  especially  after 
the  appointment  of  ^VHlpolc  to  be  piime  minister.  The  policy  of 
this  statesman,  constantly  and  steadily  pacific,  was  by  that  single  but 
momentous  quality,  condurive  to  private  and  public  opulence.  Rais- 
ed to  office  immediately  after  the  failure  of  the  South  Sea  scheme,  he 
studiously  and  earnestly  endeavoured  to  repair  the  mischiefs  produced 
by  that  celebrated  fraud,  and  was  successful  in  his  efforts.  Having 
settled  the  busin«ss  of  the  South  Sea,  and  restored  public  credit,  he 
directed  his  attention  to  manufactures  and  trade,  and  showed  that  his 
views  were  both  liberal  and  extensive.     He  found  the   foreign    trade 

•  Besides  the  famous  South  Sea  scheme,  there  was  the  Mississippi  plan  of  Mh 
Law,  and  nuniberU-ss  others  on  the  same  visionary  principle,  though  less  exten- 
sive in  influence  and  impnrtunce. 

t  See  Life  of  Budt>tt,in  Disset's  edition  of  the  Spectator 

*  See  Lord  O.ford's  Keminiscences, 

Vol.  VH.— 9 


OO  MEW  OF  TH't 

[llis  views  of  coloiucs.     George  1!.    Adopts  the  policy  of  his  father. j 

iihackled  with  numerous  petty  duties  and  empoverishing  taxes,  which 
obstructed  the  exportation  of  cur  manufactures,  and  lessened  the  im- 
portation of  the  most  necessary  commodities.  He  framed  the  bene- 
ficial j)lan  of  abolishing  all  these  restrictions,  and  giving  freedom  to 
the  niost  valuable  branches  of  our  external  and  internal  commerce.* 
At  his  instance,  a  bill  was  passed  for  that  purpose.  By  his  persuasion 
also  a  law  was  enacted  for  encouraging  the  importation  of  naval  stores 
from  Noith  America.  Since  these  commodities  were  necessary  for 
the  navy,  he  thought  it  much  wiser  to  be  supplied  from  our  own  plan- 
tations, especially  us  we  could  be  furnished  at  a  cheaper  rate,  and  as 
.ourcolonies  took  our  own  manufactures  in  exchange.  Besides,  should 
England  be  at  war  with  Russia,  that  source  of  naval  stores  might  be 
closed;  by  Walpolc's  regulation,  another  was  opened.  The  promo- 
tion of  commerce  was  one  great  object  of  his  pacific  dispositions  :  he 
was  very  averse  to  hostilities  with  Spain  when  threatened  in  1726, 
through  the  unnatural  union  between  Philip  and  the  emperor.  The 
lommerce  with  Spain  was  very  extensive  and  important  to  Great  Bri- 
tain. Such  a  source  of  revenue  and  riches  he  was  unwilling  to  ob- 
struct by  precipitate  war.  His  views  of  the  benefits  arising  from 
our  foreign  settlements,  just  and  sound,  presented  a  lesson  of  colonial 
policy  which  it  would  ha\e  been  fortunate  for  Britain  if  his  success- 
ors had  always  followed  A  speculative  projector  having  proposed, 
that  the  American  plantations  should  be  subject  to  taxes,  Walpole, 
with  a  discrinjnating  and  comprcheiisiye  idea  of  their  real  utility, 
saw  that  without  impost,  by  their  industry  and  prosperity,  they  were 
rapidly  promoting  the  piivaie  wealth  and  public  revenue  of  Britain, 
and  totally  rejected  the  advice. 

In  the  contest  between  king  George  and  his  son  the  prince  of  Wales, 
Walpole,  though  he  could  not  avoid  giving  some  umbrage  to  the  heir 
npparent,  yet  impressed  both  him  and  his  princess  Caroline,  with  a 
very  high  opinion  of  his  poliLical  talents.  When,  on  the  king's  death, 
George  H.  ascended  the  throne,  Walpole  was  continued  in  his  ofBce, 
because  their  majestiesf  thought  no  other  person  could  be  found  so 
well  qualified  for  directing  the  helm  of  public  affairs. 

George  H.  a  piince  ol  upright  intentions  and  the  strictest  honour, 
but  of  moderate  talents,  and  inferior  to  his  father  in  force  of  understand- 
ing, adopted  his  political  notions  and  prejudices;  considered  the 
whigsas  the  only  svibjccts  to  be  trusted  ;  entertained  groundless  alarms 
of  the  designs  of  the  Jacobites;  and  renewed  or  formed  numerous 
alliances  for  securing  the  protestant  succession. j:  He  was  anxiously 
and  incessantly  busy  with  engagements  and  projects  for  preserving 
the  balance  of  power,  and  very  partial  to  the  interests  of  his  German 
dominions.     The  minister,  adhering  to  his  pacific  plans,  gratified  his 

•  See  Coxe's  Memoirs  of  sir  Kobert  Walpole,  part  i.  p.  164. 

I  From  lord  (nford's  Reminiscences,  it  appears  that  the  king  intended  to  choose 
k  new  iniiiister  ;  but  that  the  queen,  greatly  his  superior  in  abilities,  wlio  govern- 
ed his  uiajesty,  thoiigli  she  appeared  to  be  implicitly  submissive  to  him,  induced 
him  to  continue  Walpole  in  office. 

^  Tiie  prince  of  Hesse,  the  duke  of  Wolfenbuttle,  and  other  petty  princes  of 
Germany,  gravely  undertook  to  guarantee  the  throne  of  Britain,  and  received 
aubsidies  for  tiieir  notable  seivices  !  See  Smollet,  passim  ;  see  also  the  com- 
ments of  the  Craftsman  ;  and  Tog's  Journal. 


e 


STATK  OF  KNGl.AND.  67 

[Expense  of  subsidizing  treaties.     Taxes  ] 

master  by  promotinj^j  German  alliances  and  subsidies,  but  prevented 
the  nation  IVom  being  embroiled  in  war.  Some  of  hia  licutics  were 
deemed  vciy  impolitic,  especially  ihc  ireaty  of  Seville,  by  which  Bri- 
tain introduced  u  branch  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  into  Italy  and  de- 
pressed the  house  of  Austria,  the  natural  ally  of  Eni^land. 

Skilful  as  he  was  in  forming  productive  schemes  of  finance,  Wal 
pole's  public  economy  was  by  no  means  equal  to  his  invention  or  dis- 
covery of  pecuniary  resources.  There  was,  indeed,  a  profuse  waste 
of  the  nalionid  treasures.  Trade  had  greatly  increased,  and  many 
new  taxes  had  been  imposed;  yet  in  so  long  a  period  of  profound 
peace,  which  underwent  no  n\alerial  interruption  from  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht  to  the  commencement  of  the  war  1739,  the  whole  sum  paid 
off  was  no  more  than  8,328,35  i/.  \7^.  Wj^^i-  and  the  capital  of  the 
public  debt  at  that  time  amounted  to  46,954,623/.  3s.  4-f\d.  A  great 
source  of  expenditure  was  what  the  minister  called  secret  service  mo- 
ney, by  which  he  professed  to  mean  sums  required  for  discovering 
the  secret  intentions  of  neighbouring  powers.  This  fund,  according 
to  the  minister's  account,  was  extremely  useful  in  enabling  him  to 
discover  and  disconcert  the  wicked  projects  of  Jacobites,  and  their 
friends  in  foreign  countries  Another  great  source  of  expense,  the 
subsidies  to  German  principalities  for  watching  over  the  safety,  in- 
terest, and  established  government  of  Great  Britain,  was  also,  by  the 
minister's  account,  to  be  reckoned  a  premium  paid  for  insuring  the 
kingdom  against  Jacobites.  The  balance  of  power  also  had  its  share 
in  exacting  subsidies  from  England.  The  British  statesmen  of  that 
time,  indeed,  appear  to  have  considered  the  maintenance  of  an  equi- 
poise, as  the  supreme  and  constant  end  of  our  foreign  politics,  in- 
stead of  a  means  sometimes  necessary  for  the  security  of  Britain,  and 
only  when  necessary,  wisely  employing  British  efforts.  Although  by 
the  act  of  settlement,  it  was  provided,  that  Britain  should  not  be  in- 
volved in  any  engagements  on  account  of  Hanover,  yet  various  treaties 
and  stipulations  were  made,  by  which  expense  was  incurred  by  thess 
realms  on  account  of  that  electorate.  The  protestant  succession,  and 
balance  of  power,  were  also  ministerial  reasons  for  the  regular  and 
constant  maintenance  ef  a  much  greater  number  of  troops  within  the 
kingdom,  than  the  apparent  state  of  mternal  tranquillity  and  foreign 
politics  rendered  necessary.  Cardinal  Fleury,  as  pacifically  disposed 
as  the  British  minister,  and  having  unlimited  control  over  the  weak 
and  incapable  Louis  XV.,  cultivated  a  friendly  intercourse  with  Eng- 
land. The  emperor  found  it  his  interest  to  resume  his  connexions 
with  Great  Britain,  in  order  to  secure  the  pragmatic  sanction,  by  which 
his  hereditary  dominions  were  guaranteed  to  his  daughter,  his  only 
issue.  Spain  interfering  with  certain  parts  of  our  trade  on  coasts  to 
which  she  pretended  an  exclusive  right,  employed  no  efforts  which  a 
naval  force,  vigilantly  exerted  and  judiciously  stationed,  might  not  have 
prevented.  Other  states  were  either  too  inconsiderable,  or  too  re- 
mote, to  give  any  alarm  to  Great  Britain,  or  to  render  any  unusual 
military  exertions  necessary.  The  taxes  required  by  the  minister  for 
defraying  expenses,  deemed  by  a  considerable  part  of  the  nation  use- 
less, were  felt  as  severe  grievances.  The  regular  increasing  pressure, 
however,  caused  much  less  displeasure  and  alarm,  than  one  of  the 
modes  proposed  for  levying  the  imposts;  this  scheme  of  establishing 


(,8  VILW  OF  1  HE 

[State  of  parties.     Whig  connexion.] 

an  excise  on  wine  and  tobacco,  though  if  the  assessments  were  at  all 
necessary,  us  procluciive,  unci  as  little  buithensonie*  a  means  of  col- 
lection, as  could  be  adopted  in  such  subjects  of  revenue;  yet,  from 
party  ardour  and  misrepresentation,  combined  with  the  interest  of 
smuggling  nierchants,  laised  such  a  clamour  as  would  have  driven 
him  from  his  office  unless  he  iisd  abixndoncd  his  proposition. 

The  opponents  of  his  adminictration,  or  any  of  his  counsels,  the  mi- 
nister aflfcctcd  to  consider  as  enemies  of  the  stute;  and  succeeded  in 
impressing  that  opinion  on  m.irsy  patriotic  and  loyal  subjects,  and  also 
on  the  king  himself,  who,  possessing  honest  intentions  iind  not  great 
sagacity  of  understanding,  was  credulous,  and  easily  duped  by  the  pro- 
fessions of  ihose  whom  he  regarded  as  his  friends.  The  ability  ot 
Walpole  did  not  only  convince  the  king,  th..t  the  adversaries  of  the 
minister  were  the  enemies  of  the  house  of  Hanover,  and  of  the  pro- 
testant  succession,  but  even  imprinted  the  same  notion  on  the  supe- 
rior penetration  of  the  queen.  Caroline,  indeed,  as  is  now  well 
known,  was  the  chief  supporter  oi  Walpole,  as  she  was  the  supreme 
director  of  his  majesty. t  But,  with  the  address  of  a  stronger  mind 
governing  by  influence  a  \^eaker,  she  cautiously  concealed  from  the 
king  himself  her  power  over  his  public  measures.  Walpole  estab- 
lished with  the  court  party  the  following  doctrine:  "Whoever  op- 
"  poses  this  whig  administration  is  a  tory  ;  all  tories  are  Jacobites ; 
"■  every  one,  therefore,  that  opjioscs  the  minister,  is  a  jacobi'.e."  So 
much  is  the  generality  of  mankind  governed  by  words  instead  of  pre- 
cise ideas,  that  many  expressed  their  approbation  of  secret  service 
money,  foreign  subsidies,  the  increase  of-the  army,  and  frequent  sus- 
pension of  the  /labras-ccrf.uf:,  to  demonstrate  that  they  were  not  Jaco- 
bites. The  minister,  indeed,  was  supported  by  the  principal  whig 
families,  by  those  who,  styling  themselves  the  whig  connexion,  have 
professed  lo  think  that  they,  and  they  only,  supported  the  principles 
of  constitutional  liberty  and  the  protestant  succession:  and,  therefore, 
that  they  only  ought  to  be  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  affair.'s 
under  the  house  of  Hanover,  This  combination  was  strengthened  and 
consolidated  by  domestic  affinities.  The  great  whig  houses,  by  an  ex- 
tensive chain  of  intermarriages,  formed  a  kind  of  family  compact,  sub- 
servient to  their  political  schemes  for  governing  the  state.  Walpole 
held  his  ofiice  by  various  tenures;  his.  own  abilities,  and  his  declared 
attachment  to  whig  principles  and  the  protestant  succession;  his 
cfToits  for  keeping  out  the  pretender,  and  supporting  the  monied  in- 
terest; for  extending  commerce,  and  improving  revenue,  and  main- 
taining the  balance  of  power:  he  was  farther  strengthened  by  the 
whig  junto,  guided  by  his  talents  and  address;  the  high  opinion  and 
Altacliment  of  the  king  and  queen,  and  the  conviction  of  both  that  his 
councils  cliicfly  tind  most  efiectually  secured  them  on  the  throne.  He 
riveted  iht  confidence  of  George,  by  the  zealous  promotion  of  his 
electoral  and  subsidizing  p'ojects.  He  possessed  many  personal 
friends,  whom  he  had  attached  to  himself  by  his  conduct,  the  apparent 
openness  and  familiar  ease  of  his  manners,  by  accumulated  benefits, 
aiid  cipeciaily  by  a  liberal  and  judicious  distribution  of  secret  service 

•   »t c  »,  Ciltii  ol  Nations,  vol.  iii.  p.  358. 

i  >,ce  Lord  Orfurd's  Kemlmscences,  and  Code's  Memoirs  of  sir  Robert  Wal- 
pole, jii-si'n. 


ST  A  IE  or  LNC.LAlsD.  ^^9 

[Walpole's  literary  advocates.     Opposition.     Bolinj^broke  J 

money.  He  had  also,  through  the  lant  mentioned  means,  a  very  nume- 
rous body  of  biippoitcrs  in  literary  men,  at  least  in  ivriirrs,  who  in 
various  departments  of  composition,  historical,*  political,  theological, 
in  lyric  and  dramatic  poetry ,t  praised  the  miniateiial  plans,  and  vilifiecl 
ihe  opponents  of  government.  Perhaps,  indeed,  in  the  history  of 
literature,  never  had  so  many  pens  been  employed  in  panegyrizing  a 
court  or  ministry,  as  while  sir  Robert  Walpole  directed  the  helm  of 
affairs. 

With  such  intrinsic  and  extrinsic  power,  Walpole  continued  longer 
in  office:|:  than  any  minister  since  the  Cecil  of  Elizabeth. 

In  all  that  time,  he  had  experienced  great  opposition,  and  uniform- 
ly resisted  attacks  wtih  an  ability  and  address  that  very  dexterously 
itdapted  themselves  to  the  changing  nature  and  mode  of  political  en- 
mity which  he  had  to  encounter.  Though  the  minister  endeavoured 
to  represent  the  opposer  of  his  schemes  as  the  supporter  of  the  pre- 
tender, he  very  thoroughly  knew  that  the  greater  number  were  not 
friends  to  the  house  of  Stuart.  The  adversaries  of  W^dpole  consisted 
of  different,  and  indeed  heterogeneous,  classes  of  political  men; 
First,  there  were  discontented  whigs,  who  disapproved  of  his  measures, 
and  repined  at  the  preference  given  to  sir  Robert  Walpole  over  them- 
selves: secondly,  the  torics,  who  were  displeased  at  the  exclusive 
promotion  of  the  whigs,  but  not  inimical  to  the  house  of  Hanover  : 
and  thirdly,  the  Jacobites.  Though  these  last  were  unfriendly  to  the 
family  on  the  throne,  many  of  them  contented  themselves  with  wishes, 
and  appeared  nowise  disposed  lo  hazard  their  own  lives  and  fortunes 
in  order  to  elevate  the  pretender  to  the  throne.  They  adhered  to  the 
tories,  in  hopes  vvith  them  to  foment  and  increase  national  discontent. 
Expectations  had  arisen,  on  different  occasions,  that  the  minister's 
downfall  approached  :  the  tories  and  the  opposition  whigs  respectively 
hoped  to  succeed,  but  both  were  disappointed.  The  splendid  genius 
of  Bolingbroke,  now  pardoned  and  returned  from  exile,  animated  and 
directed  the  tories  ;  while  the  acut^  and  strong  understanding,  brilliant 
wit,  vigorous  and  impressive  eloquence  of  Pulteney,  headed  the  dis- 
afi'ected  whigs.  Different  as  these  two  classes  were  in  abstract  po- 
litical opinion,  yet  they  concurred  in  present  object  and  proximate 
motive:  they  both  desired  to  overthrow  the  minister.  The  jacobites 
were  no  less  desii'ous  of  the  dismission  of  the  whig  connexion,  and 
Walpole  individually.  A  coalition  was  now  deemed  expedient :  and 
the  anti-ministerialists,  with  Bolingbroke  and  Pulteney  at  their  head, 
became  one  united  body  ;  the  former  being  the  chief  framer  of  their 
schemes,  the  latter  the  most  active  and  efficient  agent  in  parliament, 
Their  plan  of  operations  was,  by  the  union  of  parliamentary  and  lite- 
rary talents,  and  their  combined  influence,  first  to  sap,  and  then  de- 
stroy the  power  of  Walpole.  In  the  execution  of  their  plan,  tiiey  set 
on  toot  the  celebrated  Craftsman,  which,  with  great  and  comprehensive 
ability,  viewed  the  various  causes  of  discontent,  and,  with  versatile 
ingenuity,  adapted  itself  to  the  numeious  classes  of  the  discontented. 
This  paper  attracted  high  churchmen,  by  ridiculing  and  satirizing 

*  Tindal,  Oklmixon,  &.c. 

t  Eusden,  Cibber,  &c.     Of  pamplilels,  pci'iodical  journals,  and  political  scr- 
mons,  there  was  a  v:ist  multiplicity  of  writers. 

From  his  second  appoiutment  in  1720,  to  his  disoission  in  1741. 


70  ^  'J'^V  OF  THE 

[  rhe  Cyuflsinan.     Resignalion  of  Walpolc] 

low  churchmen,  whig  bishops,  and  paiiicularly  Hoailley.  Reprobaiing 
ihe  impolicy  and  inicjiiity  of  continental  alliances  and  subsidies  ;  secret 
service  money,  taxes,  and  stock-jobbint,^;  the  mischiefs  that  arose  from 
a  funding  system,  the  anticipation  of  future  industry,  and  the  immense 
mass  of  corruption  which  ministers  had  established  through  the  com- 
mand of  so  much  national  treasure;  and  the  evils  of  the  South  Sea 
scheme,  cotcmporary  and  subsequent  bubbles,  all  which  originated  in 
the  national  debt;  it  gratified  the  lories.  To  please  the  Jacobites,  it 
exposed  the  expensive  inconvenience  and  uselessness  of  engagements 
incurred  by  Britain  for  the  sake  of  Hanover  ;  and  exhibited  the  pre- 
sent government  as  in  its  conduct  totally  opposite  to  the  principles 
and  stipulations  of  the  act  of  settlement.  To  the  whigs  it  appealed, 
upon  their  own  genuine  and  original  doctrines  and  sentiments.  The 
present  administration  had,  by  unexampled  corruption,  established  an 
influence  more  despotical,  than  the  power  which  the  most  tyrannical 
of  the  Stuarts  ever  sought.  Through  corrupt  legislators,  the  influence 
of  the  crown  invaded  our  property  by  exorbitant  taxes,  totally  unne- 
cessary for  the  security  of  the  country,  and  employed  the  money, 
either  for  bribery,  the  increase  of  a  standing  army,  or  some  other 
means  of  giving  efficacy  to  ministry,  at  the  expense  of  British  liberty 
and  property.  The  promoters  of  boundless  kingly  power,  by  what- 
ever means,  direct  or  indirect,  must  be  vigorously  opposed  by  every 
real  whig  :  the  supporters  of  ministry  were  only  nominal  and  pre- 
tended whigs,  whose  great  object  it  was  to  extend  the  influence  of  the 
executive  government.  These  varied  reasons,  addressed  to  dilTerent 
political  classes,  the  ablest  men  of  opposition,  both  in  parliament  and 
the  Craftsman,  as  well  as  in  subordinate  publications,  adapted  to  par- 
ticular subjects,  occasions,  and  circumstances.  Accommodating  their 
strictures  to  the  political  diversities  of  Englishmen,  they  spoke  also  to 
principles  in  which  they  were  very  generally  agreed.  They  addressed 
their  mercantile  and  warlike  spirit ;  they  inveighed  against  the  de- 
predations of  the  Spaniards,  as  injurious  to  our  national  interest;  and 
our  long  and  tame  sufferance  of  these,  as  incompatible  with  national 
honour.  At  last  they  succeeded  in  driving  the  nation  to  war  with 
Spain,  and  compelling  VValpole  to  retire  from  the  administration  of 
British  affairs. 

That  dexterous  politician,  knowing  the  nation  to  be  incensed  against 
him,  when  he  saw  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  any  longer  to 
retain  his  office,  found  means  to  secure  an  indemnity  and  a  peerage; 
to  divide- the  party  that  had  exerted  itself  so  long,  eagerly  and  strenu- 
ously, against  his  measures;  and  to  form  a  coalition  with  a  considera- 
ble body  of  Iiis  adversaries.  By  this  means,  he  cnsuj-ed  the  undis- 
turbed enjoyment  of  his  riches  and  honours.  The  people  thought 
themselves  ijctrayed  by  the  late  declaimers  againit  ministerial  corrup- 
tion ;  and  in  their  lescniment  toward  those  whom  they  branded  as 
apostates  from  patriotism,  forgot  their  rage  against  sir  Robert  Walpole. 
The  administration  that  was  now  formed  consisted  chiefly  of  whigs, 
with  some  tory  converts.  They  engaged  warmly  in  continental  poli- 
tics, ai:(I,  in  a  great  degree,  merely  to  gratify  his  majesty's  electoral 
prepossessions,  involved  the  nation  in  war  much  farther  than  was  ne- 
i  cssary  for  the  security  of  Britain.*     They  encouraged  treaties  and 

*  See  Smollet,  vol,  i.  chap.  7.  {'onim. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND  7] 

[Cantinental  affairs.     Attempt  of  the  prcteHcler.] 

subsidies  for  purposes  totally  useless  to  the  country,  though  requiring 
immense  sums  of  British  money;  and  they  supported  the  introduc- 
tion of  foreign  mercenaries  for  guarding  and  defending  England. 

France  having,  hy  long  peace  and  prosperous  commerce,  repaired 
the  strength  that  had  been  exhausted  by  the  sj^endid  btit  infatuated 
ambition  of  Louis  XIV.  resun)ed  her  usual  character,  and  disturbed 
the  tranquillity  of  the  continent.  The  death  of  the  emperor  afibrdcd 
her  a  favourable  opportunity  of  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  Germany  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  her  accession  to  the  pragmatic  sanction,  of  en- 
deavouring to  wrest  possessions  from  the  queen  of  H\mgary.  The 
critical  situation  of  the  house  of  Austria  rendered  it  expedient  for 
Great  Britain  to  employ  a  considerable  force  to  prevent  Maria  Teresa 
from  being  overpowered.  From  the  loyal  and  patriotic  zeal  of  her 
gallant  subjects,  together  with  the  contributions  of  Great  Britain,  the 
Austrian  dominions  were  soon  delivered  from  the  impending  danger. 
Thus  far  impartial  politicians  approved  of  British  interference;  but 
when  vast  sums  of  money  were  expended  for  adjusting  disputes  in  the 
north  of  Germany,  by  which  it  was  impossible  the  interest  of  Britain 
could  be  either  directly  or  indirectly  affected,  very  great  discontents 
arose.  Under  the  pressure  of  enormous  taxes,  the  people  grievously 
complained,  that  a  great  portion  of  the  fruits  of  their  industry  were 
employed  to  promote  the  interests  of  Hanover,  and  afforded  the  con- 
tributors no  advantage  in  return  for  their  contributions.  In  the  ardour 
of  continental  projects,  the  British  government  bestowed  very  inade- 
quate attention  on  the  chief  bulwark  of  British  power.  Our  commerce 
Avas  much  more  annoyed  than  at  any  former  period,  even  while  we 
had  to  contend  with  Spain  only  as  principal.  France  having  soon 
without  provocation  taken  a  part  in  the  war,  our  trade  was  extremely 
distressed.  The  merchants  loudly  complained  that  their  interests 
were  neglected,  and  joined  in  an  outcry  against  the  electoral  prepos- 
sessions of  the  king,  to  which  they  said  our  commerce  and  navy  were 
sacrificed.  The  employment  at  this  time  of  a  great  body  of  Hano- 
verian troops  within  this  island,  added  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the 
nation  ;  and  the  Hanoverians  became  extremely  unpopular.  The  Jaco- 
bites, seeing  the  prevailing  sentiment,  earnestly  promoted  the  discon- 
tent; but  conceived  it  to  be  much  greater  than  it  eventually  proved. 
They  exaggerated  the  displeasure  which  was  excited  by  the  king's 
supposed  preference  of  Hanoverian  to  British  interest,  and  construed 
it  into  a  dislike  of  the  house  of  Hanover,  in  hopes  that  the  dissatis- 
faction might  pave  the  way  for  the  re-establishmcnt  of  the  house  of 
Stuart  on  the  British  throne.  Foreign  powers  conceived  the  same 
idea,  and  France  attempted  an  invasion.  The  naval  force  of  England, 
however,  began  now  to  be  better  directed,  and  easily  crushed  every 
open  attempt  of  the  enemy. 

1  he  arrival  of  the  young  pretender  the  following  year,  proved  that 
loyalty  and  patriotism  in  British  hearts,  when  the  king  and  country 
are  attacked,  absorb  all  partial  discontents.  The  young  adventurer, 
supported  by  a  strong  band  of  heroic  though  misguided  votaries,* 
found  that  every  attempt  was  and  would  be  unavailing,  to  ascend  a 
throne  which  was  confirmed  to  another  Ly  the  free  choice  and  interest 
ot  the  people.     Common  danger  abolished  all  distinctions  ;  whig? 

•  See  Home's  Historv  of  the  Rebellion  in  1745 


72  \  lEW  OF  TUP. 

) 

[The  rebcHion  favourable  to  the  house  of  Brunswick.] 

and  tories,  churchmen  aud  dissenters,  united  against  an  inroad  vvbicb 
ihi'catened  the  subversion  of  the  constitution  and  the  plunder  of  pro- 
perty. Government  experienced  fiom  the  funded  system  one  of  the 
chief  poUiict.l  advantages  which  its  first  authors  had  predicted.  The 
grtat  numbers  vho  ^vcre  interested  in  supporting  national  credit, 
vigori>v!sly  c:;trted  themselves  to  support  the  cause  with  which  they 
coMsidertd  private  and  pnbiic  prosperity  as  identified  In  opposing 
rebclIio:i  c^nd  supporting  their  lawful  and  constitutional  king,  they 
knew  ai>d  felt  they  were  supjjorting  their  liberty,  their  property, 
Ihcir  families,  and  themselves.  The  rebellion  in  1745  proved  a  most 
iavouiable  crisis  to  the  house  of  Hanover.  It  marked  the  diiference 
bctv.ecn  disapprobation  of  certain  measures  of  his  majesty  or  his  mi- 
niite;!,,  and  disaffection  to  the  title  and  government  of  the  house  of 
Brunsvi'ick.  Britons  saw,  regreittd,  and  censured  the  king's  predi- 
leciicn  for  his  German  territories,  and  the  expense  and  trouble  in 
■which  thty  involved  this  country  ;  but  they  discerned  that  this  was  only 
a  temporary  inconvenience,  arising  from  George  II.  individually,  as 
it  had  Irom  his  father,  but  not  likely  to  descend  to  future  representa- 
tives of  the  family  of  Hanover.  The  regiiing  king  vi'as  not  only  born 
in  Hanover,  but  educated  there  in  all  the  notions  and  sentiments 
of  the  country,  and  had  never  left  it  until  he  passed  his  thirtieth 
year;  a  period  at  which  the  characters  of  men  are  formed,  matured, 
and  ascei  tained.  It  was  therefore  natural  for  George  to  cherish  Hano- 
ver, once  the  only  object  of  his  e.^pectcd  inheritance,  and  to  attend  to 
its  interest  much  more  than  was  wise  and  politic  in  a  king  of  Great 
Britain.  The  whigs,  whom  he  had  long  considered  as  the  props  of 
his  kingly  power,  and  who  had,  from  the  time  of  William,  been  favour- 
able to  continental  connexions,  readily  coincided  in  his  electoral  pro- 
jects, and  encouraged  his  costly  scheme  of  subsidizing  foreign  states 
to  fight  their  own  battles,  or  the  battles  of  other  powers  whose  success 
■was  not  necessary  to  the  security  of  Britain.  Frederick  prince  of 
Wales,  heir  of  the  crown,  was  a  child,*  when  his  grandfather  as- 
cended the  throne  of  Britain.  Having  early  imbibed  English  ideas, 
he  was  inimical  to  such  a  multiplicity  of  continental  engagements  and 
expensive  subsidies,  and  averse  to  that  policy  of  his  father  and  grand- 
father which  conferred  offices  of  high  trust  on  one  party  exclusively. 
Hence  it  was  expected  that  when  providence  should  call  him  to  the 
throne  he  would  be  less  partial  to  his  Hanoverian  dominions, and  less 
disposed  to  an  interference  in  German  politics.  The  prince  had  a 
numerous  family,  who,  being  all  natives  of  England,  were  brought  up 
from  their  infancy  in  the  opinions  and  sentiments  of  Englishmen.  Emi- 
nent for  domestic  virtues,  his  highness  and  his  princess  directed  their 
chief  attention  to  the  tuition  of  their  children,  and  especially  to  initiate 
their  heir  in  the  opinions,  principles,  sentiments,  and  dispositions,  be- 
fitting a  personage  destined  to  be  sovereign  of  Great  Britain.  The  rebel- 
lion also  demonstrated  that  the  house  of  Brunswick  was  not  supported 
by  a  party  only,  but  by  the  British  nation  ;  and  probably  added  strength 
to  the  former  conviction  of  the  heir  of  the  crown,  that  a  king  placed  on 
the  throne  of  Britain  should  rule  for  all  his  subjects,  and  choose  servants 

•   He  was  born  January,  \707;  an.'l  \ras  in  the  eig'hth  year  of  hia  ajje  at  the  ac- 
cession, An^.  1st,  1711    ' 


STAIK  OF  KNGLAN'D.  73 

[I'lie  Highlands.     The  continent.     The  Sea.] 

according  to  merit,  and  not  party  creeds;  and  confirmed  his  deterrai- 
uation  to  infuse  the  same  doctrine  into  his  eldest  son. 

The  measures  speedily  adopted  for  preventing  future  rebellion, 
effected  a  most  important  and  happy  change  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  united  kingdom.  The  overthrow  of  aristocratical  tyranny  in  the 
abolition  of  hereditary  jurisdictions,  established  law  and  order,  ex- 
tended constitutional  lil)erty,  secured  property,  stimulated  industry, 
and  contributed  powerfully  to  civilize  the  Highlanders,  and  turn  to 
beneficial  eftorts  that  bold  energy  of  character,  which  had  hitherto 
been  chiefly  exerted  in  depredations,  feuds,  and  insurrections.  So 
stronglyexhibitiiig  the  striking  and  pi  eminent  virtues,  the  intrepid  cou. 
rage,  the  indelaiigable  activity,  the  invincible  hardiness,  the  unshaken 
fidelity,*  and  ardent  attachments  of  those  generous  mountaineers,  ac- 
tuated by  a  mistaken  principle,  pointed  them  out,  when  they  should 
be  better  informed  and  more  fortunately  guided,  as  powerful  contri- 
butors to  the  benefit,  honour,  and  glory  of  Britain. f 

In  her  continental  exertions,  BritJn  in  this  tedious  war  displayed 
her  usual  courage,  and  incurred  enormous  expense,  virithout  accom- 
plishing any  purpose  tending  to  compensate  her  profusion  of  blood 
and  treasure  ;  her  bravest  soldiers,  betrayed  and  deserted  by  faithless 
allies,  were  far  out-numbered  by  their  enemies,  but,  though  fre- 
quently worsted,  they  never  received  a  complete  and  decisive  defeat.J 

On  their  own  element,  Britons,  totally  unencumbered  with  allies, 
could  exert  and  direct  their  most  valuable  force  ;  and  although  by 
the  remissness  of  ministers,  and  the  negligence,  incapacity,  or  quar- 
rels of  commanders,  they  performed  few  brilliant  or  important  ex- 
ploits in  the  first  years  of  the  war;  yet,  through  iJie  remainder,  they 
were  victorious  in  every  quarter,  and  sho"'ca  the  house  of  Bourbon, 
how  vain  and  pernicious  to  themselves  were  their  attempts  lo  cope 
with  the  navy  of  England. 

The  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapellc,  concluded  on  the  general  principle 
of  reciprocal  restitution,  without  any  indemnification  to  eithc;-  party 
for  the  immense  expense  and  severe  'osif  s  which  the  belligerent 
powers  respectively  incurred,  demonaa-ated  thai  t.iie  two  principal 
contributors,  France  and  England,  had  grievously   sufiercd  by  the 

•  Never  did  this  quality  appear  more  conspicuously  eminent  and  iionourable, 
than  in  the  escape  of  the  unfortunate  chevalier;  \vhici\  vve  cannot  betier  m.irk 
than  in  the  words  of  Smollet:  "  He  (Charles  Stuart)  vvas  obliged  10  trust  his  life 
to  the  fidelity  of  above  4ifty  individuals,  and  many  of  thesse  were  in  the  lowest 
paths  of  fortune.  They  knew  that  a  price  of  thirty  thousand  po'inUfc  wadset 
upon  his  head ;  and  that,  by  betraying-  him,  they  should  eiijo/  wealth  and  afflu- 
ence :  but  they  detested  the  thought  of  obtaining  ricnes  0:1  sach  intamoufr  terms  ; 
and  ministered  to  his  necessities  with  the  utmost  zeal  and  fidelity,  even  at  the 
hazard  of  their  own  destruction."  Vol.  ii. 

t  As  various  Highland  chieftains  were  at  this  time  favourable  to  king-  George, 
dieir  respective  clans  rendered  important  services  in  the  course  of  fne  rebellion. 
Selected  companies  had  been  already  formed  into  a  regular  corps ;  and  ■.  Fonte- 
noy,  where  they  first  saw  an  enemy,  the  forty-second  regiment  be^an  the  tenour 
of  heroism,  which  througli  four  successive  wars  they  have  so  uniformK  and  illus- 
triously displayed,  from  Fontenoy  to  Alexandria. 

^  Even  at  Fontenoy,  the  French  killed  and  wounded  considerably  exceeded 
the  number  of  the  British ;  and  our  army  was  able  to  make  an  orderly  retreat, 
without  the  loss  of  their  camp.    See  Smollet,  vol.  i. 
Vol.  Va— 10 


74  VIEW  Oi    IHE  STATE  OF  ENGLAND. 

[National  debt.     Commerce.] 

contest.  To  the  national  debt  of  England,  a. war  of  nine  years  had 
added  31.338,689/.  18?.  6^(/;*  so  that  the  whole  debt  at  this  time 
amounted  to  78,293,313/.  Is.  lO^r/.  The  addition  to  French  debt,  no 
less  considerable,  tended  to  prove,  that  a  war  producing  such  an  in- 
cumbrance, besides  the  interruption  of  commerce  and  bringing  no 
equivalent,  was  extremely  hurtful  to  both  parties,  to  the  aggressor  a-s 
much  as  the  defender. 

The  commercial  genius  of  England  rose  superior  to  all  interrup- 
tions and  disadvantages  from  her  political  plans.  During  the  last  five 
years  of  the  war,  trade  had  made  extraordinary  advances;  money 
poured  into  the  kingdom,  and  private  enterprise  and  pulilic  credit  rose 
to  an  unprecedented  height  Mr  Pelham,  now  chief  minister,  possess- 
ing great  industry  and  financial  skill,  very  zealously  and  successfully 
promoted  the  extension  of  national  credit  and  commerce.  Aware  of  the 
benefits  resulting  to  Britain  from  trade  with  Spain,  he  cultivated  an  ami- 
cable and  close  intercourse  with  that  country.  He  encouraged  fisheries, 
manufactures,  and  colonization,!  the  benefits  of  which  have  ever  since 
been  felt.  But  the  measure  by  which  his  administration  is  principally 
distinguished,  was  the  reduction  of  the  public  interest,  with  the  con- 
sent and  approbation  of  the  creditors,  from  four  to  three  per  cent. 
His  scheme  for  this  purpose,  which  would  have  been  totally  impracti- 
cable unless  commerce  had  been  flourishing,  money  abounding,  and 
the  funds  very  high,  was  executed  with  great  case  and  popularity. 
The  greater  number  of  creditors,  having  the  option  of  being  paid  the 
principal  or  lowering  the  interest,  chose  the  latter  alternative.  Mr. 
Pelham,  indccfl,  though  not  distinguished  for  force  or  brilliancy  of 
genius,  was  uprigKt  in  intention,  and  indefatigable  in  application,  al- 
ways directing  his  understanding  to  subjects  and  exertions  within  the 
coiTipass  of  his  abilities.  Though  bred  up  in  party  notions,  being 
candid  and  moderate,  he  employed  coadjutors  and  agents  without  re- 
gard to  their  political  party,  and  was  one  of  the  most  useful  ministers 
that  ever  improved  the  blessings  of  peace  to  an  industrious  and  com- 
mercial people.  This  peace,  however,  was  destined  to  be  but  of 
short  continuance :  for  Europe  was  soon  engaged  in  a  war  more 
general  and  extensive  than  any  in  which  it  had  ever  before  been  in- 
volved. 

The  origin,  proximate  causes,  principles,  plans,  events,  and  results, 
of  this  war,  to  the  accession  of  George  HI.  with  the  state  in  which 
they  placed  Britain,  are  particularly  detailed  in  the  first  chapter  of 
this  History. 

*  See  James  Postlethwaite's  History  of  the  Public  Revenue. 
I  See  SmoUet,  vol.  ii.  from  p.  49  to  104. 


HISTOllY 


OF 


THE  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III 


CHAP.  I. 

Kise,  Progress,  Operalioiis,  and  Kesults  of  llie  War  17:>6  to  llie  accession  of 

Geor}(e  111. 

A  LIBERAL  and  expanded  policy  would  have  sviggested  to  France, 
M-hich  experienced  so  little  advantage  from  her  wars  and  ambition,  the 
wisdom  of  permanent  peace.  She  might  thus  have  cultivated  the 
arts  of  which  her  country  was  so  susceptible,  and  by  an  intercourse 
with  England,  might  have  improved  her  commerce  and  her  naval 
skill.  She  might  have  raised  herself  by  industry  and  beneficial  enter- 
prise, instead  of  seeking  to  humble  her  neighbours  by  efforts  at  once 
ineffectual  against  their  object  and  ruinous  to  herself.  But  if  she 
did  prefer  aggression  and  war  to  peace  and  prosperity,  she  might 
have  learned  from  awful  experience,  that  her  success  had  arisen,  and 
must  arise,  from  continental  effort,  in  which  she  might  be  and  was 
superior  to  any  power;  instead  of  maritime  effort,  in  which  she  was 
and  must  be  inferior  to  one  power. 

Another  scheme  of  policy  remained  ;  which  was,  to  direct  her  chief 
attention  to  commerce  and  navigation,  in  order  to  rival  and  surpass 
England.  She  saw  that  colonial  establishments  very  extensively  and 
powerfully  promoted  our  commercial  and  naval  pre-eminence.  Her 
statesmen,  confounding  effect  with  cause,  supposed  our  prosperity  to 
have  arisen  from  our  plantations :  whereas  those  flourishing  settle- 
ments, with  many  other  constituents  of  opulence  and  power,  were 
really  results  from  skilful  industry,  acquiring  capital  under  fostering 
freedom,  and  thus  rapidly  increasing  and  extending  its  power  of  ope- 
i-ation.  They  concluded,  that  the  effectual  means  of  out-rivalling 
Britain  was  to  reduce  her  colonial  possessions.  This  object  count  de 
Maurepas  the  French  minister  proposed  ;  and  for  this  purpose  form- 
ed a  plan,  which,  ever  since  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  operated 
in  various  parts  of  the  world,  but  first  and  chiefly  in  North  America. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  neither  France  nor  England  was 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  geography  of  America,  to  ascertain 
with  precision  the  limits  of  their  respective  claims.  In  treaties*  be- 
tween the  two  crowns,  after  general  stipulations  to  abstain  from  en- 
croachment, the  adjustment  of  bounds  had  been  intrusted  to  commis- 
sioners. Even  at  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  American  limits 
were  still  left  to  be  settled  as  before,  and  thus  a  ground   remained 

•  See  the  treaties  of  Rhyswick  and  Utrecht. 


76        '  lllSTOKV  OF  THL  Chap.   I.— 1753 

[Dispute  wilb  llie  rrencli  in  America.] 

open  for  future  contention.     Thoup;h   the  line    of  dcmarkation   bad 
never  yet  been  asceitaiiied  on   the  frontiers  of  British    America,  yet, 
rapidly  flourishintj  on  the  coasts,  tlic  colonists  sought  a  new  source  of 
weallli  from  the  remotely  interior  country.     They  cultivated  the  In- 
dian trade,  for  which  their  navigable  lakes  and  rivers  opened  an  easy 
and  expeditious  conveyance.  Extending  to  the  west  of  the  Allegany 
mountains,  our  planters  conceived  that  we  had  a  right  to  navigate  the 
Mississippi,  opening  another  communication  between  English  Ame- 
rica ai.d  the  ocean.     With  these  views,  a  company  of  merchants  and 
planters  obtained  a  considerable  tract  of  land  near  the  riverOhio,*  but 
within  the   province  of  Virginia ;  and  were  established  by  a  charter 
under  the  name  of  the  Ohio   Company,  with  the  exclusive  privilege 
of  trading  to  that  river.     This  was  a  measure  by  no  means  agreeable 
to  the  court  of  Versailles;  the  French  had  projected  an  engrossment 
of  the  whole  fur  trade  of  the  American  continent,  and  had   already 
made  con;-)iderable  progress,  by    extending  a  chain   of  foits  from  the 
Mississippi,  along  the  lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  to  Canada  and  St.  Law- 
rence.    Incensed  at  the  interference  of  the  English  in  a  traffic  which 
his   countrymen   proposed    to   monopolize,  the   governor  of  Quebec 
wrote  letters  to  the  governors  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  inform- 
ing them,  that  as  the  English  inland  traders  had   encroached  on   the 
French   territories   and  privileges,  by  trading  with  the  Indians  under 
the  protection  of  his  sovereign,  he  would  seize  them  wherever  they 
could   be   lound,  if  they  did  not  immediately  desist  from  that  illicit 
practice. t     A  denunciation  of  punishment  for  the  infringement  of  an 
alleged    right,  neither   admitted   nor  proved,  met  with  no   attention 
from  the  English  governors.  The  Frenchman,  finding  his  complaints 
disregarded,  next  year  ordered  three   of  the   British  traders  to  be 
seized  and  carried   to  Quebec.     He  confiscated  the  goods  of  the  ac- 
cused, and   sent  the  men  to  Rochelle  in  France,  where  they  were  de- 
tained in  confinement.     The  earl  of  Albemarle,  ambassador  at  Ver- 
sailles, remonstrated  to  the  French  ministry  on  the   unjust  confine- 
ment of  British   subjects,  arid  procured   their  release,  with  promises 
from  the  French  ministry,  that  no  grounds  of  complaint  should  be  suf- 
fered to  continue;  but  the  insincerity  of  those  professions  was  soon 
manifested   by  the   conduct  of  their  servants,  which   was  afterwards 
commended  and  justified  by  the  court.     Meanwhile  the  French,  pur- 
suing their  plan  ot  encroachment,  built  forts  on  the  territories  of  In- 
dian tribes  in  alliance  with  Britain,  at  Niagara,  on  lake  Erie,  in  the 
back  settlements  of  New  York  and   Pennsylvania.     The  governor  of 
Virginia,  informed  of  these  depredations,  sent  major  George  Wash- 
ington, since  so  illustrious,   with  a  letter   to  the   commandant  of  a 
French  fort  recently  built  within  the  confines  of  his  province.     The 
encroachtnenis,  he  said,  were  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  repug- 
nant to  existing  treaties  between  the  two  crowns,  and  injuriou^j  to  the 
interests  of  British  subjects.     He  asked  by    whose  authority  the  ter- 
ritories of  his  Britannic  majesty  were  invaded,  and  required  that  he 
should  evacuate   the  country,  and  not    farther  disturb  th'i  harmony 

•  So  far  back  as  1716,  the  governor  of  Virginia  had  fornned  a  project  of  a 
mercantile  company  to  be  established  on  the  Ohio  ;  but  the  reJalive  politics  of 
George  I.  and  the  duke  of  Orleans  prevented  the  king  from  granting  a  charter. 

f  See  Snnollet,  vol.  ii. 


1753.— CHAr.  I.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  [IF.  77 

[Settlement  at  Nova  Scotia.] 

which  his  sovereign  wished  to  subsist  between  himself  and  the  French 
king.  The  French  commandant  replied,  that  it  did  not  belong  to 
him  to  discuss  the  right  of  his  master  to  the  territories  in  question  ; 
that  he  commanded  the  fort  by  order  of  his  general  the  marquis  Du- 
Quesne  ;  that  he  would  transmit  the  letter  to  him,  act  according  to 
his  direclionj,  and  maintain  the  fort,  unless  commanded  by  his  gene- 
ral to  relinquish  possession.  The  English  governor  now  projected 
a  fort  to  be  built  on  the  Riviere  Aubeuf,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that 
which  the  French  had  recently  erected;  and  the  Virginians  under- 
took to  provide  the  stores,  and  defray  the  expense. 

In  more  northern  parts  of  British  America,  the  same  schemes  of 
encroachment  were  carried  on,  with  a  consistency  of  design,  and  per- 
severance in  execution,  which  evinced  that  both  emanated  from  one 
uniform  and  vigorous  plan. 

At  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  Acadia  had  been  ceded  by  the  French  to 
the  English  ;  but  before  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  it  had  turned 
to  very  little  accotmt.  During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Pelham,  so 
auspicious  to  commerce  and  revenue,  a  scheme  was  formed  for  ren- 
dering this  province  a  beneficial  acquisition.  An  establishment  was 
proposed,  Avhich  should  clear  the  improveable  grounds,  constitute 
communities,  diffuse  the  benefits  of  population  and  agriculture,  and 
promote  navigation  and  the  fishery.  The  design  having  been  ap- 
proved by  his  majesty,  the  earl  of  Halifax,  a  nobleman  of  good  under- 
standing and  Ubcial  sentiments,  and  at  that  time  president  of  the 
board  of  trade,  was  entrusted  with  the  execution.  Officers  and  pri- 
vate men,  dismissed  from  the  land  and  sea  service,  were  invited  by 
offers  of  ground  in  different  proportions,  according  to  their  rank, 
with  additional  considerations  according  to  the  number  and  increase 
of  their  families.  A  civil  government  was  established,  under  which 
they  were  to  enjoy  the  liberties  and  privileges  of  British  subjects. 
The  settlers  were  to  be  conveyed  to  the  place  of  destination,  and 
maintained  for  a  year  at  the  expense  of  government.  From  the  same 
source  they  were  to  be  supplied  Avith  arms  and  £(mmunilion  for  de- 
fence, as  well  as  with  materials  and  utensils  for  agriculture,  fishery, 
and  other  means  of  subsistence.  In  May,  1749,  the  adventurers  set 
sail  from  England,  and  in  the  latter  end  of  June  arrived  at  the  har- 
bour of  Chebucto.  This  port  is  at  once  secure  and  commodious  ;  it 
has  a  communication  with  most  parts  of  the  province,  either  by  land 
carriage,  navigable  rivers,  or  the  sea,  and  is  peculiarly  well  situated 
for  fishery.  Here  governor  Cornwallis  pitched  on  a  spot  for  a  set- 
tlement, and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  town,  the  building  of  which  he 
commenced  on  a  regular  plan,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Halifax^  in 
honour  of  its  noble  patron. 

The  actual  advantage  to  accrue  from  the  colonization  of  Nova  Sco- 
tia, which  must  be  contingent  or  at  least  distant,  appears  to  have  had 
less  share  in  inducing  Britain  to  make  the  establishment,  than  the  de- 
sire of  securing  it  from  being  repossessed  by  the  French  ;  as  they,  if 
again  masters  of  the  country,  might  very  much  annoy  the  more 
southern  colonies,  which  were  then  rapidly  flourishing.  The  French, 
regarding  the  new  colony  with  jealousy  and  displeasure,  as  promoting 
the  advantage  of  Britain,  and  counteracting  theii-  own  views,  did  not 
themselves  at  first  disturb  the  new  settlers,  but  instigated  the  Indians 
to  give  them  every  annoyance. 


78  HISTORY  OF  TUK  (Juap.  1.-1763, 

[Disagreement  of  the  commissioners.] 

When  Halifax  was  built,  the  Indians  were  spirited  to  commit  hos- 
tilities a^uinsl  liie  inhabitants,  some  of  whom  they  murdered,  and  others 
they  carried  prisoners  to  Louisburg,  where  they  sold  them  for  arms 
and  ammunition.  The  French  pretended  that  they  maintained  this 
traffic  from  motives  of  pure  compassion,  in  order  to  prevent  the  mas- 
sacre of  ihc  Enjjflisli  captives;  whom,  however,  ihey  did  not  set  at 
liberty,  wiiiiout  exaciini^  an  enormous  price.  These  marauders,  it 
was  found,  were  generally  headed  by  French  commanders.  When 
complaints  were  made  to  the  i^overnor  of  Louisburg,  he  answered, 
that  Uicsc  Indians  were  not  within  his  jurisdiction. 

The  commissioners  appointed  to  ascertain  the  limits  of  the  two 
powers  met  repeatedly;  but  the  pretensions  of  the  French  were  so 
exorbitant,  and  so  totally  inconsistent  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of 
treaties,  and  the  generally  understood  description  of  the  countries, 
that  they  plainly  perceived  that  every  attempt  to  establish  amicably  a 
fair  demarkaiion  would  be  vain.*  The  governor  of  Canada  detached 
an  officer  with  a  party  of  men  to  fortify  a  post  in  the  bay  of  Chenecto, 
within  the  English  Nova  Scotia,  under  the  pretence  of  its  consti- 
tuting a  part  of  the  French  territory.  Besides  being  a  palpable  in- 
vasion of  a  British  possession,  this  was  productive  of  a  two-fold  evil 
to  the  new  colony.  When  Acadia  had  been  ceded  to  the  crown  of 
England,  Annapolis  was  the  chief  town,  and  indeed  continued  so  till 
the  building  c«f  Halifax.  Many  of  the  French  families  that  inhabited 
the  town  under  their  native  government,  vvere  suffered,  and  chose  to 
continue  in  it,  and  in  fact  became  British  subjects.  Not  a  few,  how- 
ever, still  retained  their  predilection  for  their  mother  country,  were 
closely  connected  with  the  French  establishments  in  Cape  Breton  and 
Canada,  and  were  active  partisans  in  instigating  the  Indians  to  molest 
the  English  colonists.  Encouraged  by  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  now 
raised,  they  became  openly  rebellious.  By  the  fortification  of  the 
same  post,  the  Indians  also  acquired  an  easy  entrance  into  the  penin- 
sula, to  annoy,  plunder,  capture,  and  massacre  the  subjects  of  Eng- 
land. 

In  spring  1750,  general  Cornwallis  detached  major  Lawrence 
with  a  small  body  of  men  to  reduce  the  Annapolitans  to  obedience; 
but  at  his  approach  they  burnt  their  town,  forsook  their  possessions, 
and  sought  protection  from  monsieur  la  Corne,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  fifteen  hundred  men,  well  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition. 
Major  Lawrence,  knowing  that  he  was  unalile  to  cope  with  such  a 
force  in  the  open  field,  demanded  an  interview  with  the  French  com- 
mandant, and  asked  on  what  principle  he  protected  rebellious  sub- 
jects of  Great  Britain  ?  La  Corne,  without  entering  into  any  discus- 
s'on,  merely  replied,  that  he  was  ordered  to  defend  that  post,  and 
would  obey  his  orders.  The  major  found  it  necessary  to  return  to 
Halifax,  and  lay  the  proceedings  of  the  French  before  the  governor. 
'i'he  Annapolitans,  better  known  by  the  name  of  the  French  Neutrals, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Indians,  renewed  their  depredations  upon  the 
inhabitantsof  Halifax,  and  of  other  settlements  in  the  province.  In- 
censed at  the  ingratitude  of  the  French  Neutrals  towards  that  coun- 
try which  for  near  forty  years  had  afforded  them  the  most  libera] 

•  Smollet,  vol,  ii. 


17.53.— Chap.  1,  UF.IGN  OF  C.IIORGE  HI.  70^ 

[French  line  of  foits.] 

protection,  general  Cornwallis  determined  to  cvpcl  them  from  a 
country  which  they  now  so  much  disturbed,  lie  accordingly  detached 
major  Lawrence  with  a  tliousand  men,  attacked  the  Neutrals  and  In- 
dians, routed  them,  and  killed  and  wounded  a  considerable  number, 
until  they  took  refuge  with  M.  la  Corne.  This  gentleman,  an  officer 
under  the  French  king,  and  commanding  that  monarch's  troops, 
gave  shelter  and  assistance  to  rebels  against  the  British  government, 
then  at  peace  with  his  sovereign.  The  English  built  a  fort  not  far 
from  Chenecto,  called  St.  Lawrence,  after  its  founder,  and  this  served 
in  some  degree  to  keep  the  French  and  their  auxiliary  barbarians  in 
check.  Still,  however,  the  Indians  and  Meutrals*  were  able  very  often 
to  attack  the  English  in  the  interior  parts  of  the  peninsula.  During 
the  years  1751  and  1752,  the  Indians  and  their  coadjutors  continued 
to  disturb,  plunder,  and  butcher  the  new  colonists.  In  their  expedi- 
tions they  were  countenanced  and  supported  by  the  French  com- 
manders, who  always  supplied  tiiem  with  boats,  arms,  and  ammunition. 
While  the  French  thus  stimulated  and  assisted  the  enemies  of  our 
country,  they  were  no  less  active  and  persevering  themselves  in  en- 
croachment, and  continued  to  erect  forts  within  the  English  limits,  to 
secure  their  own  inroads  and  aggressions.  They  projected,  and  in 
a  great  degree  finished,  a  chain  of  posts  in  the  north,  as  they  had 
erected  and  were  erecting  a  similar  chain  in  the  south.  It  was  obvi- 
ously the  intention  of  the  French  to  command  the  whole  interior  coun- 
try from  the  river  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi,  and  thereby  to 
prevent  intercourse  between  the  Indians  and  the  English  colonies:  in 
peace  to  command  all  the  Indian  trade,  and  in  war  to  enable  them- 
selves to  make  continual  inroads  upon  the  English,  and  to  have  the 
whole  assistance  of  the  Indians  to  annoy  and  devastate  the  British 
plantations.  Thus  they  proposed  to  surround  our  settlements  by  a 
strong  and  comprehensive  line  on  every  side  but  that  next  the  sea,  so 
as  not  only  to  contract  our  bounds  and  reduce  their  productiveness, 
but  to  have  the  means  of  progressively  advancing  to  the  coast,  and 
depriving  us  of  our  most  valuable  possessions.  This  was  their  grand 
scheme  of  territorial  and  commercial  acquisition  in  North  America  ; 
in  which  they  had  made  very  considerable  progress,  before  Britain 
took  effectual  steps  to  check  their  encroachments.  Such  was  the 
state  of  affairs  in  1753. 

The  British  government,  by  repeated  representations,  was  made 
sensible  that  the  encroachments  of  France  were  extremely  important ; 
and  it  was  soon  discovered,  that,  besides  the  other  advantages  which 
would  accrue  to  that  nation  from  the  transfer  of  so  much  of  our 
American  trade,  and  the  enclosure  of  our  colonies,  she  would  rapidly 
enhance  the  value  of  her  West  India  islands.  A  reference  to  treaties 
proved,  that  these  pretensions  were  as  contrary  to  justice,  as  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  demonstrated  them  to  be  hurtful  to  our  inter- 
ests. Unwilling,  however,  to  have  recourse  to  hostilities  without 
previously  demanding  satisfaction,  George  instructed  his  ambassador 

•  At  the  cession  of  Acadia  to  England,  a  considerable  number  of  its  French 
colonists  had,  as  we  have  before  observed,  been  permitted  to  remain  in  the 
country,  on  eng'aging  to  yield  allegiance  to  Britain,  and  undertaking  to  be  neu- 
tral in  any  subie.)'  ent  dispute  between  Britain  and  France  ;  and  thence  they  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Neutrals. 


§0  illSTOIiV  OF  THE  Cu.u-.  I.— 175-1. 

[Appointment  of  Wasliing'ton.] 

at  Versailles  to  state  the  grievance,  and  require  redress.  The  am- 
bassador accordinp^ly  repiesented  the  injuiies  which  had  been  sus- 
tained by  British  subjects,  through  the  instigation  of  the  French,  and 
the  aggressions  made  by  their  governors,  in  entering  our  territories 
and  building  forts  within  British  limits.  He  demanded  the  indem- 
nification of  the  sufferers,  the  punishment  of  tlie  aggressors,  and 
the  transmission  of  orders,*  to  prevent  future  violence  and  invasion, 
and  to  demolish  the  forts  already  erected.  The  French  court  gave 
general  promises  of  sending  such  instructions  to  its  officers  in  Ame- 
rica as  would  preclude  every  future  cause  of  just  complaint.  So 
far,  however,  was  that  court  from  being  sincere  in  its  professions, 
that  de  la  Jonquiere,  commander  in  chief,  proceeded  more  rapidly 
than  before  to  extend  the  encroachments.  Britain,  finding  how  little 
the  conductor  France  tallied  with  her  professions,  resolved  to  assume 
a  different  tone,  and  despatched  orders  to  the  governors  of  America 
to  repel  force  by  force,  and  to  form  a  political  confederacy  for  their 
mutual  defence. 

It  was  an  irnportant  object  to  England,  to  detach  the  Indians  from 
their  connexion  with  France,  and  procure  their  co-operation  with  the 
British  settlements.  The  governor  of  New  York  was  directed  to  at- 
tempt the  accomplishment  of  these  purposes.  The  undertaking  was 
difficult ;  the  French  were  employing  every  art  which  their  versatile 
ingenuity  could  devise,  to  win  the  attachment  of  the  Indians.  The 
English  governor,  however,  made  overtures  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Six 
Nations  ;  and,  by  the  promise  of  valuable  presents,  prevailed  on  them 
to  open  a  negotiation.  A  congress  was  accordingly  appointed  at  Al- 
bany, whither  the  governor,  accompanied  by  commissioners  from  the 
other  colonics,  repaired.  By  the  few  Indians  who  attended,  the  pro- 
posals of  the  English  were  received  with  evident  coldness.  They, 
however,  accepted  the  presents,  professed  attachment  to  England,  and 
declared  their  enmity  to  France.  They  even  renewed  their  treaties 
with  Britain,  and  demanded  assistance  to  drive  the  French  from  the 
Indian  territories.  To  avail  themselves  of  these  professions,  the 
British  governors  sent  major  Washington,  with  four  hundred  Vir- 
ginians, to  occupy  a  post  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  That  officer 
erected  a  fort  to  defend  himself,  until  an  expected  re-enforcement 
should  arrive  from  New  York.  Be  Viller,  a  French  commander, 
marched  with  nine  hundred  men  to  dislodge  Washington  ;  but  first 
summoned  the  Virginians  to  evacuate  a  fort,  which  was  built,  as  he 
asserted,  on  groimd  belonging  to  the  I'rench,  or  their  allies.  Finding 
his  intimation  disregarded,  he  attacked  the  place,  Washington, 
though  inferior  in  force,  for  some  lime  defended  himself  with  great 
vigour  ;  but  was  at  length  obliged  to  yield  to  superior  numbers. 
He  surrendered  the  fort  by  capitulation,  stipulating  tlie  return  of  his 
troops  to  their  own  country.  The  Indians,  notwithstanding  their 
recent  professions  and  contract,  attacked  and  plundered  Washington's 
party,  and  massacred  a  considerable  number. 

Affairs  were  now  drawing  to  a  crisis  between  England  and  France. 
The  French  were  persevering  in  a  system  of  encroachment,  which 
the  British  were  determined  no  longer  to  permit.     It  now,  therefore. 

•  Smollet,  vol.  ii. 


1755,— Chap.  1.  KKIGN  OF   CKOnriF,  III.  SI 

[Message  from  the  king-.     V'reparations  for  war.] 

remained  for  France,  either  to  relinqviish_  her  usurpations,  and  make 
satisfaction  to  the  injured,  or  to  support  injustice  by  force.  As  she 
appeared  evidently  resolved  to  embrace  the  latter  alternative,  both  na- 
tions considered  a  rupture  as  piobable,  and  began  to  prepare  for  hos- 
tilities. France  sent  re-enforcements  of  troops  to  America,  and  Eng- 
land directed  her  colonies  to  take  proper  measures  to  prevent  or  re- 
pel the  inroads  of  the  enemy. 

In  the  internal  state  of  British  America  there  were  circumstances 
favourable  to  the  progress  of  the  aggressors.  Each  settlement  had 
separate  interests,  and  was  internally  divided  into  different  factions. 
Some  unreasonable  disputes  between  the  executive  government  and 
popular  speakers  in  the  assemblies,  occupied  the  time  and  attentj-on 
which  the  mutual  interests  of  all  parties  required  to  have  been  devjt- 
ed  to  the  common  defence.  >^^ 

When  the  British  parliament  met  in  1754-5,  his  majesty's  speech,* 
■without  expressly  mentioning  the  probable  approach  of  hostilities, 
evidently  implied  a  conviction  that  they  were  sufficiently  probable  to 
call  for  vigorous  precautionary  measures.  The  king  declared,  that 
his  principal  view  was,  and  should  be,  to  strengthen  the  foundation 
and  secure  the  continuance  of  a  general  peace ;  to  improve  the  pre- 
sent advantages  of  tranquillity  for  promoting  the  trade  of  his  subjects, 
and  protecting  those  possessions  which  constituted  one  great  source 
of  their  wealth  and  commerce.  In  voting  the  supplies,  parliament 
made  provision  for  more  than  the  peace  establishment  of  land  and  sea 
forces.  Meanwhile  preparations  were  making  at  Brest,  and  other 
ports  of  France.  A  powerful  armament  was  equipping,  and  acknow- 
ledged to  be  intended  for  North  America,  though  the  French  govern- 
ment continued  to  make  amicable  professions. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1755,  a  message  from  his  majesty  informed 
parliaiTkcnt,  that  the  present  situation  of  affairs  rendered  it  necessary 
to  augment  his  forces  by  sea  and  land  ;  and  take  such  other  measures 
as  might  best  tend  to  secure  the  just  rights  and  possessions  of  his 
crown  in  America,  as  well  as  to  repel  any  attempts  that  should  be 
formed  against  his  majesty  and  his  kingdoms.  A  loyal  and  suitable 
address  was  returned  to  this  message,  and  a  supply  voted  for  the  pur- 
pose recommended.  The  French  still  offered  the  most  solemn  as- 
surances of  intended  amity,  and  adherence  to  treaties.  With  such 
artifice  and  duplicity  did  the  court  of  Versailles  conduct  itself,  that 
even  the  instrument  of  these  professions,  the  ambassador  at  the  court 
of  London,  believed  his  employers  to  be  sincere  ;t  and,  on  discovering 
his  error,  repaired  to  his  own  country  and  upbraided  the  French  mi- 
nisters with  making  him  the  tool  of  their  dissimulation. 

Persevering  in  deceit,  the  court  of  Versailles  ordered  him  to  return 
to  London,  and  give  fresh  assurances  of  its  peaceful  intentions.  Un- 
doubted intelligence  now  arriving  that  a  strong  armament  was  ready 
to  sail  from  Rochefort  and  Brest,  afforded  proofs  of  the  little  confi- 
dence due  to  the  French  professions  of  pacific  intentions.  The  court 
of  London  in  vain  applied  to  France  for  redress,  and  finding  her  fleet 
destined  for  the  scene  of  her  continued  aggression,  naturally  and  justly 
concluded  her  intentions  to  be  hostile,  and  sent  a  squadron  under  ad- 
miral BoscHwcn  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy's  fleet.     Having 

•   See  state  papers  for  that  vcar.  |  Sec  Smollett,  vol.  ii. 

Vol.  VII.— 11 


8«J  HISTORY  OF  THK  Cair.  I.— 1755. 

{ AggreseiouE  of  France.    Seizure  of  French  merchantmen.] 

soiled  toward  the  end  oF  April  for  the  American  seas,  to  intercept  the 
armanier.t,  he  reached  in  June  the  coast  of  Newfoundland.  The  French 
squadron  arrived  about  the  same  lime  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  St. 
Lawrence.  The  fogs  so  prevalent  on  those  coasts,  prevented  the 
fleets  from  seeing  each  other.  A  great  part  of  our  rival's  armament 
escaped  up  the  river;  but  the  Alcide  andLys,  two  ships  of  the  line,  with 
land  forces  on  board,  being  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  fell 
in  with  two  British  ships,*  and  after  a  vigorous  engagement  were  cap- 
tured. 

This  was  the  commencement  of  maritime  hostilities  ;  and,  were  we 
to  overlook  preceding  acts  of  the  French,  it  might  appear  to  be  an 
aggression  on  our  part;  but  the  fact,  as  we  have  seen,  was,  that  they 
had  for  several  years  encroached  on  our  American  territories  :  we  had 
repeatedly  applied  for  redress  but  in  vain;  for  they  continued  and  in- 
creased their  invasions.  Thus  they  had  commenced  hostilities,  while- 
we  held  only  ustd  force  in  our  own  defence,  to  weaken  an  armament 
which  was  destined  to  support  and  extend  their  acis  of  injustice.  It 
is  as  evident  a  principle  us  any  in  jurisprudence,  tliat  injuries  attempt- 
ed may  be  prevented,  and  therefore  that  war  to  hinder  an  attack  is  as 
lawful  as  war  to  repel  or  punish  an  injury.  The  French,  however, 
bad  done  more  than  attempt,  they  had  inflicted  injury,  and  were  con- 
tinuing in  the  same  course  ;  satisfaction  having  been  demanded,  they 
gave  no  redress;  therefore  force  on  our  part  was  not  only  justifiable, 
but  necessaiy.  Hostilities  being  on  the  side  of  England  just,  the  con- 
duct of  France  from  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  especially  her 
schemes  of  naval  aggrandizement,  and  the  vast  increase  of  her  marine, 
rendered  it  expedient  that  we  should  endeavour  chiefly  to  weaken 
that  part  of  her  power  by  which  we  might  be  most  annoyed.  Policy 
coincided  with  justice  in  dictating  an  attack  upon  her  ships;  this  was 
really  no  more  than  making  reprisals  at  sea  for  her  aggressions  on 
land.  As  the  provocation  of  the  French  justified  reprisals,  pru- 
dence required  thai,  in  order  to  weaken  tne  enemy  as  well  as  in- 
demnify ourselves,  they  should  be  as  extensive  as  possible.  The 
court  of  London  formed  a  very  vigorous  and  bold  resolution :  it 
issued  orders,  that  all  French  ships,  whether  outward  or  home- 
•warrl  bound,  should  be  seized  and  brought  into  English  harbours. 
To  execute  this  plan,  admirals  of  the  highest  celebrity  were  chosen, 
and  English  cruisers  were  judiciously  disposed  in  every  station. 
Though  our  squadrons  had  not  the  good  fortune  to  fall  in  with 
the  enemy,  our  frigates  and  sloops  were  so  successful  in  annoy- 
ing the  French  trade,  that  before  the  end  of  the  year,  three  hun- 
dred of  their  merchant  ships,  many  of  them  from  St.  Domingo  and 
Martinico,  extremely  rich,  and  eight  thousand  of  their  sailors, 
were  taken.  These  captures  not  only  deprived  the  French  of  a  great 
Kource  of  revenue  in  the  property  which  they  contained,  but  of  a  great 
body  of  sean)en,  and  thus  were  extremely  advantageous  to  this  coun- 
tiy.  They  also  afTorded  a  lesson  to  a  power  seeking  commercial  and 
naval  aggrandizement,  that  no  policy  could  more  efiectually  obstruct 
such  an  object,  than  a  hostile  attack  on  Great  Britain. 

The  English  and  their  colonies  began  regular  hostilities  in  Ame- 
rica, to  repel  the  invasions  of  the  French,  and  to  dispossess  them  of 
their  unjust  acquisitions.      In  the  plan  of  operations  for  the  campaign 

•  The  Dunkirk,  eapt.  (late  e*rl)  IIowc,  and  the  Defiance-,  capt.  Andrew. 


ir.55.— Chajp.  I.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGF,  IIT,  83 

[Campaign  in  America.    General  Braddock.] 

1755  in  Norlh  America,  it  was  proposed  to  attack  the  enemy  on  the 
confines  of  Nova  Scotia  in  the  noilh,  their  foils  on  the  lakes  in  the 
west,  and  on  ihe  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  in  the  south- 
west. Early  in  the  spring,  a  body  of  troops  was  transported  from  New 
England  to  Nova  Scotia,  to  assist  in  driving  the  French  from  their  en- 
croachments on  that  province.  Colonel  Moncklori  was  appointed  by 
the  governor  to  command  in  this  service.  1  hree  frigates  ?nd  a  sloop 
were  sent  up  the  bay  of  Fundy,  under  the  command  of  captain  Rous, 
to  second  the  land  forces.  The  British  and  provincial  troops,  attack- 
ing a  large  body  of  French  regulars,  Acadians, and  Indians,  compell- 
ed them  to  fly.  Thence  IVlonckton  advanced  to  the  furt  of  Beause- 
jour,  which  the  French  had  built  on  British  ground,  investing  it  on 
the  12th  of  June,  he  in  four  days  forced  it  to  surrender.  Changing 
the  name  to  Cumberland,  he  secui  ed  llie  possession  by  a  garrison.  On 
the  17th,  he  reduced  another  fort;  a  valuable  acquisition,  as  it  was 
the  chief  magazine  of  the  enemy  in  that  quarter.  Captain  Rous,  no 
less  successful,  obliged  the  French  to  evacuate  a  fort  which  they  had 
erected  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  John.  These  successes  secured 
to  England  the  entire  possession  of  Nova  Scotia,  which  hud  been  so 
.    long  disturbed  by  the  enemy. 

But  the  most  important  object  of  the  campaign  was,  to  drive  the 
French  from  their  posts  on  and  near  the  Ohio.     Tne  strongest  fort  for 
securing  their  settlements  was  Du  Quesne,  against  which  an  expedi- 
tion was  projected,  to  consist  of  British  and  provincial  troops  under 
general  Braddock.     This  commander  arrived  in  Virginia  with  two  re- 
giments in  the  month  of  February.     When  he  was  ready  to  take  the 
field,  he  found  that  the  contractors  had  provided  neither  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  provisions  for  his  troops,  nor  the  requisite  number  of  car- 
riages.    This  deficiency,  however,  might  have  been  foreseen,  if  pro- 
per inquiries  had  been  made  into  the  state  of  that  plantation.     The 
Virginians,  attending  little  to  any  produce  but  tobacco,  did  not  raise 
corn  enough  for  their  own  subsistence;  and,  being  most  commodi- 
ously  situated  for  water  carriage,  they  had  very  few  vehicles  of  any 
other  kind.     Pennsylvania,  on  the  other  hand,  abounded  in  corn,  in 
carts,  waggons,  and  horses;  that,  therefore,  would  have  been  the  fit- 
ter colony  for  forwarding  military  operations.      Besides,  it  would  have 
afforded  a  shorter  route,  by  equally  practicable  roads,  to  the  destined 
place.     The  choice  of  Virginia  considerably  delayed  the  expedition. 
From  Pennsylvania  the  commander  was  at  length  supplied,  and  ena- 
bled to  march  ;  but  a  fatal  obstacle  to  success  still  remained  in  the 
character  of  the  general.     Braddock,  bred  in  the  English  guards,  was 
well  versed  in   established  evolutions.       Of  narrow   understanding, 
though  sufficiently  expert  in  customary  details,  he  had  never  ascend- 
ed to  the  principles  of  military  science.     Rigid  in  matters  of  disci- 
pline, but  fully  as  often  for  the  display  of  command  as  the  performance 
of  duty,  he  was  very  unpopular  among  the  soldiers.    Positive  and  self- 
conceited  in  opinion,  haughty  and  repulsive  in  manners,  he  closed  the 
avenues  to  information.     Brave   and  intrepid,  he   with  his  confined 
abilities,  might  have  been  fit  for  a  subordinate  station,  but  evidently 
had  not  the  power,  essential  to  a  general,  of  commanding  an  ascend- 
ency over  the  minds  of  men.     The  creature  of  custom  and  authority, 
.  he  despised  all  kinds  of  tactics  and  warfare  which  he  had  not  seen 
practised.     He  did  not  consider,  that  the  same  species  of  contest  may 
not  suit  the  plains  of  Flanders  and  the  fastnesses  of  America.     The 


84  lilBTOUY  OF  THE  Ciut.  1,-1755. 

[Defeat  of  Braddock.     Operations  on  the  Lakes.] 

duke  of  Cumbcfland  had  written  his  instructions  witli  his  own  hand, 
and  luici  bolli  in  woid  and  writing-  cautioned  him  strongly  against  am- 
buscade. The  self-conceit  of  his  contracted  mind  suffered  him  nei- 
ther to  regard  these  counsels,  nor  to  consult  any  under  his  command 
respecting  Amciican  warfare.  The  Indians, if  well  disposed, would, 
from  their  knowledge  of  their  country  and  their  countrymen,  have  ren- 
dered essential  service.  Disgusted,  however,  by  his  overbearing  be- 
haviour, most  of  them  forsook  his  army.  On  the  18lh  of  June  he  set 
off  from  Fort  Cumberland,  and  marched  with  great  expedition  through 
the  woods  ;  but  though  entreated  by  his  officers,  neglected  to  explore 
the  country.  On  tiic  3th  of  July  he  arrived  within  ten  miles  of  Fort 
Du  Quesne,  siill  utterly  regardless  of  the  situation  or  disposition  of 
the  enemy.  The  following  day,  about  noon,  as  he  was  passing  a 
swamp  between  a  lane  of  trees,  he, was  suddenly  attacked  on  both 
flanks  by  bodies  of  French  and  Indians  concealed  in  the  wood.  The 
general,  in  his  dispositions  for  resistance,  showed  the  perseverance  of 
his  obstinacy.  lie  was  advised  to  scour  the  thickets  with  grape  shot, 
or  with  Indians  and  other  light  troops;  but  he  commanded  his  forces 
to  form  in  regular  order,  as  if  they  had  been  advancing  against  an  ene- 
my in  an  open  country.  His  soldiers,  perceiving  themselves  misled 
into  an  ambuscade,  werc'^eized  with  a  panic,  and  thrown  into  confu- 
sion; whieh  was  soon  increased  by  the  fall  of  most  of  their  afficers,  at 
whom  the  dexterous  Indian  marksmen  had  chiefly  aimed.  The  ge- 
neral fought  valiantly  ;  but  receiving  a.shot,  was  carried  off  the  field, 
and  expired  in  a  few  hours  :  an  awful  instance,  how  little  mere  cou- 
rage and  forms  of  tactics,  without  judgment  and  prudence,  can  avail  a 
commander  in  chief  when  he  is  employed  on  an  important  service. 
The  provincial  troops  advancing  from  the  rear, and  engaging  the  ene- 
my, gave  the  regulars  time  to  recover  their  spirits  and  ranks,  and  thus 
preserved  them  from  total  destruction.  Notwithstanding  this  sup- 
port, more  than  half  the  troops  were  cut  to  pieces.  The  remains  of 
the  army  made  a  masterly  retreat  to  Virginia  under  colonel  Washing- 
ton, to  whose  skill  and  conduct  it  was  chicOy  owing  that  they  were 
not  overtaken  and  destroyed  ;  but  they  thus  necessarily  left  the  west- 
ern frontier  exposed  to  the  French  and  Indians. 

The  same  gencial  object  was  attempted  from  the  more  northern 
provinces  ;  thence  it  was  proposed  to  dispossess  the  French  of  liie  cor- 
don of  forts  creeled  between  and  along  the  lakes.  General  Shirley, 
who  had  succeeded  liiaddock,  ordered  the  surviving  troo[)s  to  march 
from  Virginia  to  New-York,  that  they  might  join  the  northern  forces. 
An  expedition  was  accortlingly  undertaken  against  two  of  the  princi- 
pal forts;  one  at  Niagara,  btlween  lakes  Eric  and  Ontario,  and  the 
other  at  Crown  Point,  near  lake  Chainplain.  (ieneral  William  John- 
son, who  having  long  resided  in  the  mlerior  parts  of  the  province  of 
New  York,  had  learned  the  language  and  gained  the  affections  of  the 
Indians,  was  appointed  to  command  against  Crown  Point.  On  the 
1 1th  of  August  the  general  began  his  march,  and  was  by  the  Indians 
exactly  informed  of  the  disposition  of  the  enemy.  He  found  baron 
Dieskau  proceeding  against  him  with  a  strong  body  of  troops.  Au 
advanced  party  of  Iiriti-,li  provincials  and  friendly  Indians,  being  at- 
tacked by  the  French  sufi'ercd  consitlerably  before  the  rest  of  the  ar- 
my arrived;  but  Johnson,  having  come  up  with  the  main  body, engaged, 
and  completely  defeated  the  French  forces,  of  whom  almost  one  thou- 
sand were  killed, 


1755.— OtoAP.  I.  liKICN  01-   GEOIJGK  III.  85 

[Campaign  of  1755  unfavourable  to  Britain.    Negotiations.] 

Autumn  beings  now  far  advanced,  it  was  considered  as  too  late  in 
the  season  to  attack  Crown  Point,  and  the  troops  retired  to  quarlera. 

Shirley  liiniself  headed  the  expccliiion  to  Niagara;  but  the  defeat 
of  Braddock  had  damped  the  spirits  of  the  provincials,  and  even  of 
the  Britisli  troops,  so  that  not  a  few  deserted.  It  was  the  middle  of 
August  before  he  could  collect  a  force  suHicient  for  his  purpose  ;  and 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  a  number  of  his  men  to  guard  the  fort  of  Os- 
wego, on  the  western  confines  of  New  York,  le'at  the  French  should 
seize  it,  and  intercept  his  return.  There  also  he  was  obliged  to  wait 
for  provisions  till  the  twenty-ninth  of  September.  The  autumnal 
rains  being  now  set  in,  many  of  the  Indians  deserted  the  army.  It 
was  determined  in  a  council  of  war,  that  under  all  these  disadvantages 
they  should  defer  the  projected  expedition  till  the  iollowing  season. 
Shirley,  therefore,  leaving  a  garrison  of  700  men  at  Oawego,  returned 
to  Albany. 

Thus,  in  the  campaign  1755,  tlic  general  object  was,  to  dislodge 
the  French  from  their  usurped  possessions  in  America.  This  pur- 
pose was  attempted  on  the  side  of  Nova  Scotia  wi,th  success  :  against 
the  French  chain  of  forts  v/ith  partial  advantage,  but  without  ukimatc 
or  material  eflect ;  and  against  their  encroachments  on  the  confines 
of  Virginia,  not  only  without  success,  but  with  grievous  disaster:  and, 
on  the  whole,  this  campaign  in  America  was  unfortunate  to  Britain. 
Our  losses  in  that  quarter  of  the  world,  however,  were  amply  com.- 
pcnsalcd  by  the  decisive  blow  which  was  struck  in  Europe  against 
the  trade  and  shipping  of  the  enemy. 

Meanwhile,  the  contending  parlies  were  actively  employed  in  in- 
teresting neighbouring  princes  in  their  respective  causes.  France,  in 
conformity  to  her  general  plan  of  naval  aggrandizement,  bent  her 
most  strenuous  efforts  to  inspire  Spain  with  a  jealousy  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  to  render  her  inimical  to  this  country ;  but  Spain  was  at  this 
time  peculiarly  well  afVectcd  to  Britain.  Ferdinand  VI.  was  chicily 
desirous  of  cultivating  the  arts  of  peace  ;  of  rousing  his  people  from 
the  lethargic  indolence  under  which  they  had  so  long  laboured;  of 
propagating  a  spirit  of  industry  and  encouraging  manufactures  and 
commerce.  His  ablest  and  most  confidential  adviser  in  these  pro- 
jected improvements,  was  Don  Ricardo  Wall,  a  gentleman  of  Irish  ex- 
traction, respected  for  political  ability,  and,  from  the  conclusion  of  the 
peace,  Spanish  ambassador  at  the  court  olLondon.  The  minister  be- 
stowed great  pains  in  learning  the  nature  and  processes  of  the  muiui- 
factures  and  merchandise  which  had  so  much  aggrandized  England  ; 
and  communicating  his  various  observations  to  his  master,  convinced 
the  monarch  that,  commercially  and  politieally,  an  amicable  inter- 
course with  Britain  was,  and  would  be,  most  conducive  to  the  bust 
interests  of  Spain.  These  were  sentiments  which  the  catholic  kiiig 
continued  to  cherish  ;  and  when  hostilities  broke  out,  the  I'rench  min- 
isters professed  to  Ferdinand- a  desire  of  an  accommodation,  but  in- 
sisted that  a  suspension  of  arms  in  America  should  be  a  preliminary. 
The  Spanish  king  appeared  not  averse  to  the  ofiice  of  mediator;  but 
the  British  minister  stated,  that,  however  willing  his  majesty  ifiighi 
be  to  accept  of  Spain  as  an  umpire,  he  could  not  agree  to  the  propos- 
ed preliminary,  without  hazarding  the  whole  British  interests  in  .\- 
merica.  Wall,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  real  state  of  affairs  be- 


86  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap:I— 1755. 

[Subsidiary  treaties,  discussed  in  parliament.] 

tween  the  two  powers,  seconded  these  arguments,  and  Spain  resolved 
to  observe  a  strict  impartiality  in  the  contest. 

With  other  powers  the  negotiations  of  France  were  more  success- 
ful. Overtures  were  made  to  German  princes  for  succours,  which 
implied  an  intention  of  attacking  the  electoral  dominions  of  the  king 
of  England.  Hanover  had  evidently  no  concern  in  the  disputes  be- 
tween the  belligerent  powers,  and  was,  respecting  France,  in  a  state 
of  absolute  neutrality.  The  design  of  invading  that  country  was  ob- 
viously unjust,  and  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations.  The  French,  how- 
ever, knowing  the  predilection  of  George  for  his  native  dominions, 
thought  that,  to  protect  them,  he  would  make  great  sacrifices  of  the 
British  claims  in  America.  Aware  of  their  designs,  his  Britannic 
majesty  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  landgrave  of  llesse-Cassel,  for 
the  employment  of  eight  thousand  troops  in  the  service  of  the  king 
whenever  they  might  be  wanted.  An  alliance  was  also  concluded 
with  Elizabeth  empress  of  Russia,  by  which  she  was  to  hold  fifty- 
five  thousand  men  in  readiness  for  the  service  of  his  Britannic  ma- 
jesty. 

When  these  treaties  came  before  parliament,  they  underwent  a  ve- 
ry able  discussion.  The  parlies  in  parliament  were  at  this  lime  three  ; 
the  first  consisted  of  the  Newcastle  interest  ;  the  second  was  headed 
by  Mr.  Fox,  with  powerful  connexions,  which  were  formed  and  com- 
bined by  the  solid  and  masculine  ability  of  that  statesman ;  and  the 
third  was  led  by  Mr.  Pitt,  who  rested  for  support  on  superior  genius, 
splendid  eloquence,  a  bold  and  intrepid  spirit,  and  the  exalted  cha- 
racter and  extensive  popularity  which  these  qualities  commanded. 
Ever  since  the  final  downfall  of  the  pretender's  hopes,  and  the  dis- 
comfiture of  the  Jacobites,  the  chief  offices  of  government  had  been 
bestowed  less  exclusively  upon  whigs,  than  during  the  first  thirty 
years  of  the  house  of  Brunswick.  Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Pelham, 
Mr.  Fox  had  been  secretary  of  state,  Mr.  Pitt  paymaster-general  of 
the  forces,  and  Mr.  Legge,  Mr.  Pitt's  friend,  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer ;  so  that  the  whig  connexion,  though  the  duke  of  Newcastle 
was  prime  minister,  did  not  monopolize  administration,  and  the  other 
servants  of  his  majesty  did  not  always  coincide  in  his  grace's  politi- 
cal measures.  The  treaty  with  Russia  was  very  severely  censured 
by  Pitt  and  Legge,  as  producing  an  enormous  expense,  from  which 
Britain  could  derive  no  benefit,  since  the  efforts  of  Russia  could  not 
be  employed  against  the  French  in  North  America,  where  only  they 
were  invading  our  rights  and  possessions.*  The  Newcastle  party, 
however,  argued,  that  this  danger  of  Hanover  was  incurred  from  her 
connexion  with  Britain,  without  any  act  of  her  own  :  and  that  it  was 
therefore  equitable  and  just  that  Britain  should  contribute  towards 
her  defence.  On  this  ground,  the  treaty  was  approved  by  a  great  ma- 
jority, and  Legge  and  Pitt  resigned  their  offices.  Vigorous  prepa- 
rations were  now  making  for  war.  In  France,  several  bodies  of  troops 
moved  towards  the  northern  coasts,  and  excited  in  England  an  alarm 
of  an  intended  invasion.  Ere  long  it  appeared,  that  the  sole  design 
of  P^rancc  was  to  divert  our  attention,  while  she  meditated  a  blow  in 
another  quarter. 

•  There  is  a  very  animated  description  of  this  debate  in  a  letter  from  lord  Or- 
ford.  See  Horace  Walpole  to  general  Conway,  dated  November  15,  1755.  Or- 
ford's  Works. 


175G.— Chap.  I.  KEIGN  OF  GBOUGE  III.  S7 

[French  expedition  to  Minorca.    Admiral  B-yng  declines  an  engagement] 

The  French  had  prepared  an  armament  in  the  Mediterranean  :  at 
Toulon,  twelve  ships  of  the  line  were  ready  in  April,  1756,  and  con- 
veyed an  army  of  eleven  thousand  men  to  Minorca.     Landinsjj  there 
they  invested  Fort  St.  Philip  on  the  25th  of  April.     The  ministers 
and  consuls  of  England,  residing  in  Spain  and  Italy,  had  repeatedly 
sent  intelligence  to  government  of  the  armament  preparing,  and  that 
they  apprehended  Minorca  to  be  its  object.  In  this  opinion  they  were 
confirmed,  by  certain  information  that  the  fleet  was  victualled  with' 
only  two  months'  provision,  and  consequently  could  not  be  designed 
for  Amcfica,  or  any  distant  expedition.     General  Blakeney,  governor 
of  Minorca,  under  the  same  conviction, repeatedly  represented  to  the 
British  ministers,  the  weakness  of  the  garrison  of  St.  Philip,  which 
was  the  chief  fortress  of  the  island.     No  steps,  however,  were  taken 
to  re-enforce  the  general,  until  the  French  were  about  to  invade  Minor- 
ca.    Convinced  at  length  of  the  danger,  ministry  attempted  measures 
of  defence;  which  were  neither  effectual  in  force,  nor,  as  it  after- 
wards appeared,  in  the  commander  who  was  intrusted.     The  French 
fleet  now  consisted  of  fifteen  ships  of  the  line,  well  equipped  and 
manned.     Ten  only  were  despatched  from  Britain,  and  under  the 
conduct  of  admiral  Byng,  who  had  never  acquired  a  character  suffi- 
cient to  justify  so  important  a  trust.     On  the  7th  of  April  they  sailed 
from  Spithead  for  Gibraltar,     The  admiral,  being  instructed  to  in- 
quire whether  the  French  fleet  had  passed  the   Straits,   learned  at 
Gibraltar  that  the  enemy  had  actually  descended  upon  Minorca.     He 
wrote  to  the  admiralty,  that  if  he  had  been  sent  in  time,  he  could  have 
prevented  the  French  from  effecting  a  landing.     He  complained  that 
there  were  no  magazines  in  Gibraltar  for  supplying  his  squadron  with 
necessaries;  that  the  careening  wharfs,  pits,  and  storehouses,  were 
entirely  decayed,  so  that  he  would  have  the  greatest  difficulty  in  re- 
pairing his  ships  ;  that  it  would  be  impolitic  to  attempt  the  relief  of 
St.  Philip,  as  it  could  not  be  saved  but  by  aland  force  strong  enough 
to  raise  the  siege  ;  and  that  a  small  re-enforcement  would  only  in- 
crease the  number  of  men  who  must  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
This  letter  implying  a  charge  of  culpable  negligence  against  admin- 
istration, and  also  anticipating  the  miscarriage  of  his  enterprise,  w^as 
very  unpleasing  at  home,  and  rendered  Byng  odious  to  government. 
The  admiral,  re-enforced  by  a  squadron  under  Mr.  Edgecumbe, 
left  Gibraltar  on  the  8th  of  May.*     Arriving  off  Minorca,  he  attempt- 
ed to  send  intelligence  to  general  Blakeney.     The  French  fleet  now 
appearing,  he  formed   his  line  of  battle.     In  the  evening  the  enemy 
advanced  in  order,  but  tacked  about  to  gain  the  weather-gage.     The 
next  rnorning  both  advanced  to  the  conflict.     Rear-admiral  West,  se- 
cond in  command,  attacked  the  enemy  with  such  force  as  soon  to 
drive  them  out  of  their  line ;  but  he  was  not  supported  by  admiral 
Byng's  division.  The  admiral,  though  his  own  ship  had  90  guns,  and 
was  well  manned  and  equipped,  kept  aloof.     His  captain  exhorted 
hini  to  bear  down  upon  the  enemy;  but  he  declared  his  resolution  to 
avoid  the  error  of  admiral  Matthews,  who,  in  the  preceding  war,  by 
pushing  too  far  forward,  had  broken  the  line  and  exposed  himself  to 
the  enemy's  fire.     Such  precipitation  Byng  was  determined  to  avoid  ; 
and,  indeed,  so  resolutely  did  he  adhere  to  his  cautious  plan,  that  he 

•  Sec  SmoUet,  vol.  ii. 


88  HISTORY  OF  THE  Ghap.  L     irSG. 

[Trial  and  execution  of  Byng'.     Declaration  of  war.] 

really  did  not  enp;as;c.     The  French  admiral,  not  wishing  to  compel 
a    closer  fight,  took    advantage    of   Byng's    avoidance   of  rashness, 
and  retreated.     Clalling  a  council  of  war,  Byng  stated  his  own  infe- 
riority to  the  enemy  in  wciglit  of  metal  and  number  of  men  ;  with  his 
opinion,  that  the  relief  of  Minorca  was  impracticable,  and  that  it  was 
safest  to  retire  to  Gibraltar.     The  council  having  concurred  in  these 
sentiments,  he  accordingly  did  retreat  to  Gibraltar  ;  and  Minorca  thus 
deserted,  after  a  very  gallant  defence  of  nine  weeks  by  general  Blake- 
ncy  and  his  valiant  band,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.     The  ad- 
miralty,  informed  of  this  conduct,  was  extremely  enraged   against 
liyng.     How,  they  asked,  could  he   ascertain  the  impracticability  of 
defending  Minorca,  without  trying  the  experiment  ?   Was  the  impres- 
sion made  by   West,  a  proof  of  the  inferiority  of  our  naval  force  ? 
Had  not  the  English  generally  prospered  from  adventurous  boldness  ? 
Where  was  the  danger  of  seconding,  instead  of  abandoning,  the  other 
division,  when  it  had  broken  the  enemy's  line  ?     Was  it  by  such  a- 
voidance  of  contest  that  England  had  attained  the  highest  pitch  of  na- 
val glory?     These  sentiments  extended  from  the  admiralty  over  the 
whole  nation.  A  violent  popular  rage  arose  against  Byng.     This  pre- 
dominant passion,  said  by  the  historians  of  the  time*  to  have  been 
cherished  by  ministers,  in  order  to  divert  the  public  attention  from 
their  own  supineness,  naturally  overlooked  the  circumstances  of  the 
case.     Presuming  him  guilty  without  ascertaining  the  grounds  of  the 
alleged   guilt,  the  nation,  by  anticipating,  perhaps  in   a  certain  de- 
gree produced,  the  sentence  which  he  afterwards  underwent.     Byng 
having  been  superseded,  was  brought  home  under  arrest,  and  com- 
mitted close  prisoner  to  Greenwich-hospital.     He  was  tried  for  cow- 
ardice, treachery,  and  not  having  done  his  utmost.     Acquitted  of  the 
two  first  charges,  he  was   condemned  on  the  last.     Great  interces- 
sions were  made  in  his  favour,  and  even  by  the  court  which  senten- 
ced him,  to  procure  the  royal  mercy.      The  applications,  however, 
were  unsuccessful ;  though  respited  for  a  time,   he  was  shot  on  the 
14th  of  April,  1757.     Many,  who  did  not  pretend  to  vindicate  Byng 
from  the  charge  of  misconduct,  considered   his  fall  as  a  sacrifice  to 
the  numerous,  but  now  feeble  junto,  which   supported  the  measures 
of  the  duke  of  Newcastle.     Indeed  it  is  evident,  that  whether  Byng's 
conduct  (if  he  had  a  sufficient  force)  arose  from  timidity,  profession- 
al ignorance,  or  gross  error  of  judgment,  it  was  such  as  demonstrat- 
ed him  unfit  for  the  office  with  which  he  was  intrusted,  and  conse- 
quently was  disgraceful  to  those  ministers  who  had  selected  him  for 
that  employment.     As  he  never  had  established  a  high  character  as  a 
naval  commander,  and  there  were  other  officers  who  had  attained  emi- 
nent distinction,  it  was  alleged  that  the   choice  of  Byng  arose  from 
political  connexion,  and  not  from  personal  character.     His  trial  and 
execution,  however,  if  they  for  a  time  diverted  the  public  attention, 
did  not  continue  to  abstract  it  from  the  conduct  of  administration. 

Negotiations  had  still  been  going  on  between  the  courts  of  London 
and  Versailles  ;  but  the  king  of  England,  from  the  invasion  of  Minor- 
ca, considering  France  as  determined*  to  reject  all  amicable  overtures, 
declared  war  in  May,  1756,  and  published  a  manifesto  stating  the 

*  See  Smollct,  vol.  ii. 


1756.     Chap.  I.  KElGN   OF   CKURGE   III.  §9 

[Campaign  in  America.     Affairs  of  the  continent.] 

ground  both  of  its  justice  and  necessity.      In  the  following   monthj- 
\var  wus  declared  by  France  against  Britain. 

The  transactions  in  America  in  the  campaign  of  175  5  were  neith- 
er advantageous  nor  honorable  to  England.  The  British  plan  was, 
lo  attack  the  fort  of  Niagara,  in  order  to  cut  off  the  communication- 
between  Canada  and  Ontario  ;  to  reduce  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point,  that  the  frontiers  of  New  York  might  be  delivered  from  the 
danger  of  invasion,  and  Great  Britain  might  become  master  of  lake 
Champlain  ;  to  detach  a  body  of  troops,  by  the  river  Kennebec,  to  a- 
larm  tlie  capital  of  Canada;  and  to  besiege  Fort  Du  Quesne  and  oth- 
er fortresses  on  the  Ohio.*  The  preparations,  however,  were  by  no 
means  adequate  to  such  numerous  and  extensive  objects.  There  was 
great  tardiness  in  despatching  troops  from  England.  The  earl  of 
Loudoun,  appointed  commander  in  chief,  arrived  so  late  with  his  ar- 
mament, that  it  was  useless  for  the  whole  year.  Thus  the  enemy 
were  enabled,  not  only  to  be  better  provided  against  future  attacks, 
but  even  then  to  act  on  the  offensive.  The  French  and  Indians  con- 
tinued to  molest  the  British  settlements  with  impunity.  Encouraged 
by  the  inactivity  of  the  English  forces,  they  attacked  the  fortress  of 
Oswego,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  it,  though  strongly  garri- 
soned. The  carl  of  Loudoun,  finding  himself  unable  to  act  offensive- 
ly that  year,  employed  his  time  in  preparations  for  beginning  the  fol- 
lowing campaign  early,  and  with  great  force.  No  action  of  impor- 
tance distinguished  the  naval  history  this  year.  Single  British  ships 
look  merchantmen  and  ships  of  war  belonging  to  the  enemy,  but  the 
fleets  were  not  engaged  after  our  retreat  from  Minorca.  The  most 
important  acquisitions  to  this  country  were  attained  through  priva- 
teers, which  considerably  distressed  the  enemy's  trade. 

In  the  hostilities  between  Britain  and  France,  other  countries  now 
became  involved.  His  Britannic  majesty  had,  as  we  have  seen,  form- 
ed a  treaty  with  Russia,  in  order  to  preserve  the  neutrality  of  Hano- 
ver,and  to  employ  a  great  portiop  of  the  French  forces.  Circumstan- 
ces, however,  speedily  gave  a  total  change  to  this  system  of  alliance, 
and  effected  a  confederacy  between  the  king  of  Britain  and  the  Prus- 
sian Frederick,  who  was  the  opponent  of  Russia.  These  engage- 
ments, and  their  objects,  necessarily  demand  a  short  review  of  the 
progress  and  state  of  the  Prussian  power  under  that  extraordinary 
man,  who  then  held  the  sovereignty. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  Brandenburgh  was  a  principality  of 
little  importance  in  the  politics  of  Europe.  Towards  its  close,  its 
sovereign  became  an  elector  ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  centu- 
ry, a  king.  Frederick  William,  the  second  monarch  of  Prussia,  with 
a  view  to  increase  the  power  and  importance  of  his  kingdom,  devoted 
his  attention  almost  exclusively  to  his  army.  He  established  a  mili- 
tary force  much  superior  to  any  that  had  been  on  foot  under  his  pre= 
decessors  ;  and  formed  an  army  with  the  most  perfect  discipline,  ac- 
cording to  the  existing  rules  of  tactics,  but  far  inferior  in  number  and 
strength  to  the  forces  of  the  neighbouring  potentates.  Indeed,  his 
dominions  could  not  supply,  much  less  maintain,  a  veiy  powerful  ar- 
my.    His  soil  was  unfruitful,  his  population   was  scanty,  his  people 

'  See  SmoUet,  vol.  ii, 
Vot.  VII.— 13 


MQ  HISTOKY  OF  THK  Chap.  I.— 1756. 

[Conflicting  cluiins  lo  Silesia.     Maria  Teresa.     Kaunitz] 

were  poor,  and  his  revenue  was  inconsiderable.  These  were  the  nar- 
row resources  which,  on  ihe  death  of  Frederick  William,  fell  into 
the  hands  of  his  son  and  successor,*  Frederick  II.  But  Frederick 
had,  in  his  genius  and  spirit,  resources  which  supplied  the  political 
and  |)hy5ical  wants  of  his  kingdom  :  he  was  a  man  born  to  render  a 
imall  stale  great. 

The  house  of  Brandenburg  had  ancient  claims  to  the  two  princi- 
palities of  Silesia,  almost  as  great  in  extent,  and  fully  equal  in  value, 
lo  half  its  dominions.  The  claim  was  in  itself  intricate.  Austria 
asserted  with  truth,  that  Brandenburg  had  yielded  Silesia  for  an  e- 
quivalenl ;  but  Frederick  denied  that  his  predecessor  possessed  the 
power  of  ceding  that  territory  ;  alleging  besides,  that  no  equivalent 
had  been  received  ;  and  that  the  consideration  given  was  totally  inade- 
quate. As  Austria  altogether  reprobated  this  construction  of  the  trea- 
tv,  Fiederick  had,  on  the  death  of  the  emperor  Charles  VI.,  invaded 
Silesia;  the  queen  of  Hungary,  who  was  then  engaged  with  so  many 
enemies,  and  un.ible  to  delenfl  Silesia  eHectually,  had  ceded  it  at  last, 
by  the  treaty  of  Breslaw,  to  the  Prussian  king.  Hostilities  being  again 
renewed  between  .Maria  Teresa  and  Frederick,  a  second  peace  was 
concluded  at  Dresden  in  1745,  in  which  the  king  of  Prussia  dictated 
the  terms,  and  Silesia  was  renounced  more  solemnly  than  before. 
The  empress-queen, t  considering  the  valuable  province  of  Silesia  as 
not  restored  by  her  justice,  but  extorted  from  her  weakness,  had 
scarcely  settled  tiiis  peace,  before  she  began  to  project  schemes  for 
its  recovery.  In  1746,  she  foimed,  with  the  court  of  Petcrsburgh,  a 
treaty  which  was  ostensibly  defensive,  but  really  offensive.  By  a 
secret  article  it  was  provided,  that  if  his  Prussian  majesty  should  at- 
tack the  empress-queen,  the  empress  of  Russia,  or  the  republic  of 
Poland,  the  aggression  should  be  considered  as  a  breach  of  the  treaty 
of  Dresden  ;  the  right  of  the  empress-queen  lo  Silesia,  ceded  by  that 
treaty,  should  revive  ;  and  the  contracting  parties  should  mutually 
lurnibh  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men,  lo  re-invesi  ihc  empress-queen 
with  that  duchy.  Poland,  without  actually  signing  this  treaty,  was 
understood  to  accede  to  its  conditions. 

After  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  empress-queen  had  devot- 
ed great  attention  to  the  internal  improvement  of  her  country,  espe- 
cially to  the  increase  of  her  military  strength.  This  engine  of  pow- 
er she  promoted  by  a  judicious  choice  of  oHicers,  liberal  encourage- 
ment to  her  troops,  and,  above  all,  by  her  rare  and  happy  talents  of 
exciting  in  those  who  ap[)roached  her  person,  zeal,  emulation,  exer- 
tion, and  a  resolution  to  ericounier  every  risk  in  order  lo  obtain  her 
favottr^  She  rendered  her  army  much  more  perfect  and  formidable 
than  any  force  had  before  been  under  the  house  of  Austria  :  and  while 
thus  making  preparations  at  hotiie,  she  was  not  idle  abroad,  she  em- 
ployed her  ulinosi  c (Forts  to  embroil  the  king  of  Prussia  with  the 
court  of  Petersbuigh,  and  made  rapid,  though  secret  progress  in  her 
undertaking.  The  politics  of  Maria  Teresa  were  at  this  lime  chief- 
ly directed  by  count  Kaunitz,  who  for  so  many  years  served  the  house 
of  Austria  with  distinguished  zeal  and  ability.  Kaunitz,  anxious  lo 
gratify  his  mistress  by  the  recovery  of  Silesia,  was  aware  that  the  loss 

•  Gillies's  Frederick,  p.  62. 

■f  Francis  Stephen,  her  husband,  had  been  then  just  chosen  emperor. 

i  GilLek's  Frederickj  p.  207. 


ir56.— Chap.  T.  REIGN  OF  GKOKGE  III,  9|; 

[lindeavoiirs  to  form  a  confederacy  with  France.      Alliance  between  Britain 

and  Prussia,] 

of  that  province,  and  the  aggrandizement  of  Frederick,  had  been  ma- 
terially promoted  by  the  war  between  Austria  and  France.  While 
the  courts  of  Versailles  and  Berlin  continued  connected,  it  would  be 
very  difficult  for  the  empress  queen  to  execute  her  designs  of  bum- 
bling Frederick  and  exalting  herself.  Investigating  the  history  and 
interests  of  Austria,  Kaunil?  saw  that  her  dissensions  with  Fiance, 
her  most  powerful  neighbour,  had  been  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the 
gratification  of  her  ambition.  He  knew  also  that  the  house  of  Austria 
iiad  been  the  chief  obstacle  on  the  continent  to  the  aggrindizenitnt  of 
France.  The  French  and  Austrian  sovereigns  had  been  rivals  from 
the  time  of  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V.  Kaunitz  projected  a  sacrifice 
of  ancient  rivalry  to  present  interest,  by  effecting  an  alliance  with 
France,  Having  impressed  on  the  empress  queen  the  justness  and 
force  of  his  views,  he  was  sent  as  ambassador  to  the  court  of  Versailles. 
Qualified  by  the  depth  of  his  genius  for  conducting  any  great  or  dif- 
ficult business,  he  was  by  other  qualities  as  well  as  his  ministerial  ta- 
lents, peculiarly  well  fitted  to  acquire  ascendancy  atthe  court  of  France. 
Versatile,  capable  of  accommodating  himself  to  any  characters  or  hu- 
mours which  it  suited  his  purpose  to  conciliate,  he  greatly  resembled 
a  French  courtier.  In  his  taste  and  manners  as  trifling,  as  he  was  in 
his  understanding  and  political  views  profound,  he  could  match  a 
Frenchman  in  either  his  frivolity  or  strength.  Having  established 
his  influence  at  Versailles,  he  employed  it  in  promoting  his  grand 
project  of  confederacy.  He  represented  to  tbe  French  ministers, 
'*  that  the  time  was  now  come,  when  the  French  ought  to  emancipate 
themselves  from  the  influence  of  the  kings  of  Prussia  and  Sardinia, 
and  a  number  of  petty  princes,  who  studiously  sowed  dissension  be- 
tween the  great  powers  of  Europe,  in  order  to  benefit  themselves. 
Excited  by  their  artifices,  the  courts  of  Veisailles  and  Vienna  were 
continually  contriving  schemes  hostile  to  each  other,  and  hurtful  to 
both;  whereas,  in  conformity  to  the  rules  of  just  policy,  they  ought 
rather  to  adopt  such  a  system  of  public  conduct,  as  would  remove  ev- 
ery ground  of  difference  or  jealousy,  and  lay  the  foundation  for  a  so- 
lid and  permanent  peace."*  The  novelty  of  this  plan  of  politics  at 
first  appeared  extravagant  to  the  court  of  France,  which  had  been 
long  accustomed  to  consider  the  houses  of  Austria  and  Bourbon  as 
rivals  ;  but,  on  maturely  weighing  the  propositions,  they  became 
more  disposed  for  their  reception.  Besides  the  many  continental  ad- 
vantages which  Kaunitz  from  time  to  time  slated  as  about  to  accrue 
from  this  plan,  they  would  be  able,  by  amity  with  Austria,  to  direct 
the  principal  part  of  their  force  against  Britain. 

Meanwhile,  France  urged  the  king  of  Piussia  to  assist  her  in  invad- 
ing the  electorate  of  Hanover.  King  George  applied  to  the  empress- 
queen  to  send  to  the  Low  Countries  a  certain  number  of  men  stipulated 
by  treaty,  which  she  declared  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  spare  for 
that  purpose,  as  she  was  apprehensive  of  the  designs  of  the  king  of 
Prussia.  Alarmed  for  the  safety  of  his  electorate,  our  king  proposed 
to  Prussia  a  treaty. for  preserving  the  tranquillity  of  Germany.  Fred- 
erick thought  this  proposition  more  advisable  than  a  renewal  of  the 
alliance  with  France,  which  was  then  on  the  eve  of  expiration.  A 
treaty  was  accordingly  concluded  between  Britain  and  Prussia  on  the 

•  See  Gillies's  Frederick,  p.  20?^. 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  I.— 1756. 

[Confederacy  between  France  and  Austria.    Warlike  preparations.] 

I61I1  of  January,  1756,  by  which  the  contracting  parties  bound  them- 
selves* not  to  suffer  foreign  troops  of  any  nation  to  enter  or  pass  through 
Germany,  but  to  secure  the  empire  from  the  calamities  of  war,  and  to 
maintain  lis  fundamental  laws  and  constitutions.  The  court  of  France 
appeared  to  believe  that  the  king  of  Prussia  was  a  subordinate  prince 
who  was  l)ound  to  execute  the  mandates  of  Versailles.  Informed 
of  Frederick's  treaty  with  England,  the  French  courtiers  and  mini- 
sters were  so  arrogant  and  insolent,  as  to  charge  him  with  defection 
from  his  ancient  protector. f 

Kaunitz  saw  that  this  was  the  proper  time  for  obtaining  the  desir- 
ed alliance  with  France,  and  accordingly  the  treaty  was  concluded  on 
the9tli  of  May,  1756.  Tliis  famous  confederacy,  announced  as  the 
union  of  the  great  powers,  contained  a  mutual  promise  between  the 
contracting  parties,  of  reciprocally  assisting  each  other  with  twenty- 
four  thousand  men,  in  case  either  of  them  should  be  attacked.  The 
czarina,  being  applied  to  by  the  now  allied  powers,  readily  acceded 
to  a  confederation  calculated  to  promote  the  projects  formed  between 
her  and  Maria  Teresa  in  1746.  As  the  depression  of  the  power  of 
England  was  the  object  which  France  sought  by  her  encroachments 
in  >Corih  America,  and  the  cause  of  the  war  between  these  two  nations, 
so  the  depression  of  Prussia  was  the  object  that  Austria  sought  throuf>-h 
her  alliances  with  the  other  great  empires,  which  involved  in  war 
the  whole  continent  of  Europe.  The, elector  of  Saxony,  (king  of  Po- 
land,) though  he  professed  neutrality,  really  joined  in  the  designs 
against  Prussia.  Frederick,  one  part  of  whose  policy  it  was  to  keep 
in  pay  spies  at  every  court  whose  designs  it  imported  him  to  know, 
was  accurately  informed,  not  only  of  the  objects,  but  the  plans  of 
the  allied  potentates,  and  made  vigorous  preparations  for  defending^ 
himself  and  his  kingdom. 

Maria  Teresa  collected  magazines,  and  assembled  two  armies  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia.  The  king  of  Poland  under  pretence  of  exer- 
cising his  soldiers,  drew  together  sixteen  thousand  men,  and  occu- 
pied the  strong  post  of  Pirna  in  Saxony.  The  Russians  formed  a 
camp  of  fifty  tiiovisand  men  in  Livonia.  Perceiving  these  hostile  pre- 
parations, Frederick  demanded  categorically  of  the  empress-queen 
whether  she  meant  to  keep  or  to  violate  the  peace.  If  she  meant  the 
former,  nothing  would  satisfy  him,  but  a  clear,  formal,  and  positive 
assurance,  that  she  had  no  intention  of  attacking  him  either  tliis  year 
or  the  next.  He  declared  that  he  should  deem  an  ambiguous  answer 
a  demmciation  of  war,  and  attested  heaven  that  the  empress  alone 
would,  in  that  event,  be  responsible  for  the  blood  spilt  and  all  the  dis- 
mal consequences.  To  this  demand,  requiring  so  short  and  direct 
an  answer,  a  long,  indirect,  and  evasive  reply  was  returned  by  Kau- 
nitz. The  evident  intention  was,  to  compel  Frederick  to  commence 
hostilities.!:  Seeing  war  unavoidable,  the  Prussian  hero  resolved  to 
strike  the  first  blow;  but,  before  he  proceeded,  intimated  to  Maria 
Teresa,  that  he  considered  Kaunitz's  answer  as  a  declaration  of  war- 
To  cover  Brandenburgii,  and  carry  the  war  into  Bohemia,  it  was 
necessary  to  secure  the  command  of  Saxony ;  because,  unless  he  be- 

•  Paper  Office,  ml.  i.  p.  39. 

f  King  of  Pnnsia''*  History  oTthe  Seven  Years  War. 

*  See  Gillies'i  Frederick,  p  31ft 


1756.— Cnip.  I.  KKIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  93 

[Frederick  Invades  Saiony.     Discontents  in  Britain] 

caine  master  of  that  electorate,  its  sovereign  might  intercept  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Elbe,  cut  off  his  intercourse  with  his  own  dominions, 
and  discomfit  his  expediiion.  Frederick  accordingly,  in  August,  en- 
tered Upper  Saxony,  and  took  possession  of  Dresden  the  capital.  He 
had  already  through  his  spies,  procured  copies  of  the  negotiations  be- 
tween the  king  of  Poland  and  the  two  imperial  powers  ;  but,  wishing 
to  manifest  their  designs  to  the  world,  and  aware  that  they  would 
declare  the  alleged  papers  to  be  forgeries,  he  was  particularly  anx- 
ious to  find  the  originals.  For  that  purpose,  he  carefully  ransacked 
the  Saxon  archives,  and  at  length  found  the  desired  documents.* 
Having  thus  procured  the  most  authentic  evidence  of  the  intended 
partition  of  his  dominions,  Frederick  published  them  to  the  world,  to 
expose  the  designs  of  his  enemies,  and  justify  his  own  conduct.  The 
Saxon  army  being  so  strongly  posted  at  Pirna  that  Frederick  saw  it 
would  be  impossible  to  force  their  lines,  he  blocked  them  up  with 
one  division  of  his  army,  and  with  another  marched  against  the  Aus- 
trians,  who  were  advancing  to  their  relief  under  general  Braun.  He 
attacked  them  on  the  first  of  October,  though  greatly  superior  in  num- 
ber, at  Lowosilz  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Elbe;  and,  completely  defeat- 
ing them,  forced  them  to  abandon  all  hopes  of  succouring  the  Sax- 
ons. Frederick,  with  his  victorious  troops,  returned  to  the  blockade 
of  Pirna.  The  Saxons  being  in  great  distress  for  want  of  provisions.; 
and  now  deprived  of  all  hopes  of  assistance,  resolved  to  attempt  their 
escape  ;  but  in  making  the  experiment,  being  surrounded  by  the 
Prussians,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  force  their  way  through  the 
enemy,  they  were  compelled  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  surrender 
themselves  prisoners  of  war.  Having  thus  defeated  the  intentions  of 
the  enemy  for  this  campaign,  and  the  season  being  far  advanced,  Fre- 
derick placed  his  troops  in  winter  quarters. 

In  Great  Britain,  the  people  were  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the 
campaign  1756.  The  loss  of  Minorca,  followed  by  the  inactivity  in 
America,  excited  general  indignation.  Addresses  praying  a  strict 
inquiry  into  the  causes  of  our  misfortunes,  were  presented  to  parlia- 
ment from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Ministers  were  loudly  accused, 
as  being, by  their  incapacity  and  disunion,  the  sources  of  our  disgraces 
and  disasters.  It  was  certain  that  great  discord  prevailed  in  the  cabi- 
net. Though  the  duke  of  Newcastle  found  it  necessary  to  have  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  Fox's  abilities,  he  by  no  means  regarded  him  with 
confidence  and  favour.  Mr.  Fox  on  the  other  hand,  far  from  approv- 
ing the  particular  measures,  and  farther  still  the  general  conduct,  of 
his  colleagues,  disdained  to  continue  the  tool  of  so  feeble  a  junto,  antl 
resigned  his  employment.  The  public  loudly  called  for  sacrificing 
an  inefficient  combination  to  the  highest  individual  genius,  and  for 
bringing  Mr.  Pitt  into  office.  The  duke  of  Newcastle  resigned.  Mr. 
Pitt,  in  November,  1756,  was  appointed  principal  secretary  of  state  ; 
Mr.  Legge,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer;  and  the  duke  of  Devon- 
shire, first  lord  of  the  treasury. 

•  It  was  here  that  Frederick  found  th?  secret  articles  of  the  treafy  of  Peters- 
burgh,  which  I  have  already  mentioned  as  concluded  between  Austria  and  Rus- 
sia against  Prussia,  soon  after  the  peace  of  Dresden  ;  with  a  reference  to  a  parti- 
tion treaty  made  between  the  powers  before  that  peace  ;  wiiich  treaty  of  Peters- 
burgh  was  in  effect  acceded  to  by  the  king  of  Poland. 


94  IIISTOIIY  OF  THE  Chap.  I.— 1757. 

[Mr.  Pitt  appointed  minister.    Dissensions  in  the  cabinet.] 

His  majesty  desirous  of  making  great  efforts  in  Germany,  in  his 
speech  to  the  house  took  notice  of  tlic  unnatural  union  between  France 
and  Austria,  which  he  considered  as  threatening  the  subversion  of 
the  empire,  and  the  destruction  of  the  protestant  interest  on  the  con- 
tinent, lie  called  on  parliament  to  enable  him  to  use  effectual  efforts 
against  such  pernicious  designs.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Pitt  delivered  a 
message  to  the  house,  of  which  the  substance  was,  "  that,  as  the  for- 
midable preparations  and  vindictive  designs  of  France  were  evidently 
bent  against  his  majesty's  electoral  dominions,  and  the  territories  of 
his  good  ally  the  king  of  Prussia,  his  majesty  confided  in  the  zeal 
and  affection  of  his  faithful  commons,  to  assist  him  in  forming  and 
maintaining  an  army  of  observation  for  the  just  and  necessary  defence 
of  ihe  same,  and  to  enable  him  to  fulfil  his  engagements  with  his 
Prussian  majesty,  for  the  security  of  the  empire  and  the  support  of 
their  common  interests."  In  the  house  of  commons,  when  the  mes- 
sage was  discussed,  strong  objections  were  made  to  an  interference 
in  continental  politics.  It  was  asserted,  that  it  was  neither  the  duty 
nor  interest  of  England,  to  exhaust  its  blood  and  treasure  in  defence 
of  Hanover  ;  and  that  Austria  herself,  notwithstanding  her  recent  al- 
liance with  France,  would  not  suffer  that  power  to  acquire  a  perma- 
nent footing  in  Germany.  Mr.  Pitt,  viewing  the  course  of  French 
policy,  showed  that  the  main  object  of  France  had  long  been  the  de- 
pression of  England.  Perceiving  distant  as  well  as  immediate  con- 
sequences, he  contended  that  continental  acquisitions,  by  increasing 
her  power  and  revenue,  would  ultimately  render  her  more  dangerous 
to  this  country.  He  had  disapproved  of  various  treaties  and  subsi- 
dies that  had  been  formed  and  granted  in  the  present  reign  on  ac- 
count of  Hanover  solely,  and  without  any  advantage  to  Great  Britain; 
but  the  treaty  with  the  king  of  Prussia  had  for  its  object  the  balance 
of  power,  now  endangered  by  the  confederacy  between  France  and 
the  two  empresses.  Adherence  to  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
security  of  lingland.  Hanover  was  endangered  on  account  of  Britain  ; 
it  was  therefore  just  that  from  Britain  she  should  receive  protection. 
Besides  by  employing  the  forces  of  France  in  Europe,  we  weakened 
her  exertions  in  America.  Such  was  the  reasoning  by  which  Mr. 
Pitt  supported  the  request  of  the  message;  it  was  received  by  the 
majority  of  the  house  with  great  approbation,  and  suitable  supplies 
were  voted. 

Though  parliament  had  shown  itself  eager  for  the  vigorous  pro-  - 
secuiion  of  the  war,  and  had  in  its  votes  made  very  liberal  provisions 
for  the  year ;  yet  there  was  still  a  want  of  harmony  in  his  majesty's 
councils.  The  whig  confederacy  sought  an  exclusive  direction  in 
the  administration  of  aflairs.  Mr.  Pitt  would  not  sacrifice  his  own 
opinions  and  measures  to  those  of  the  party.  The  Newcastle  combi- 
nation was  most  agreeable  to  the  king,  and  willing  to  go  the  greatest  ' 
lengths  in  gratifying  his  electoral  partialities.  Mr.  Pitt,  in  his  prin- 
ciples and  system  of  continental  interference,  considered  the  dignity 
and  interest  of  the  British  crown  and  nation,*  and  not  the  preposses- 
sions of  the  elector  of  Hanover. f     He  did  not  at  that  time  conceive 

•  Smollct,  vol.  ii. 

t  This  is  a  difTcrence  very  evident  between  the  conlincntal  engagements  ad- 
vised by  Mr.  Pitt,  and  miiny  of  those  encouraged,  oral  least  agreed  to,  by  former 


175r.— Chip.  I.  REIGN  OF  GKOUGE  III.  f)5 

[Dismission  and  re  appointment  of  Mr.  Pitt.     Operations  in  America.] 

that  so  great  a  force  was  necessaJ'y  to  act  in  Germany,  as  the  king 
and  the  Newcastle  interest  thought  requisite.  Being  inflexible  on 
this  sul)jcct,  he  and  his  friend  and  supporter  Mr.  Leggc,  were  dis- 
missed from  their  odices.  During  several  months  there  was  no  re- 
gular administration.  A  coalition  was  proposed  between  Mr.  Fox 
and  ilic  Newcastle  party;  but  in  the  present'statc  of  public  opinion  it 
would  be  evidently  ineffectual.  The  Newcastle  adherents  saw,  that 
they  could  now  only  possess  a  share  of  the  government  by  suffering 
the  chief  direction  of  affairs  to  be  vested  in  superior  ability.  Num- 
berless addresses  were  presented  to  his  majesty,  beseeching  him  to 
reinstate  Mr.  Pitt.  Party  spirit  appeared  extinguished  ;  all  voices, 
without  one  dissonant  murmur,  were  united  in  his  praise.  Mr.  Fox, 
in  this  state  of  circumstances,  knowing  it  would  be  vain  for  him  to 
contend  with  the  general  voice  of  the  people  which  was  eagerly  and 
loudly  soliciting  the  sovereign  to  place  Pitt  at  the  head  of  his  councils, 
with  much  prudence  and  judgment  advised  the  king  to  comply  with 
the  public  desire.  Mr.  Pitt  was  again  made  principal  secretary  of 
state,  and  now  became  prime  minister  of  England.  This  appoint- 
ment of  a  chief  minister  is  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Brunswick 
administration  of  Britain.  From  the  accession  of  the  houseof  Hano- 
ver, the  highest  offices  of  state  had  been  uniformly  held  by  members 
of  the  whig  party.  Mr.  Pitt,  a  friend  to  the  constitution  of  his  coun- 
try, and  favourable  to  the  genuine  principles  of  original  whigs,  was 
not  a  member  of  any  confederacy,  and  owed  his  promotion  to  himself 
only.  He  commanded  party.  His  elevation  manifested  the  power 
which  the  people  never  fail  to  posesss  in  a  free  and  well  constituted 
government.  Personally  disagreeable  to  the  king,  unsupported  by 
any  aristocratical  confederacy,  he  was  called  by  the  unanimous  voice 
of  the  people  in  a  situation  of  great  danger  and  difficulty  to  be  the 
chief*  manager  of  British  affairs.  His  appointmeet  was  also  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  the  war;  as  from  the  time  that  he  was  firmly  estab- 
lished in  office,  and  his  plans  were  put  into  execution,  instead  of  dis- 
aster and  disgrace,  success  and  glory  followed  the  British  arms. 

In  the  campaign  of  1757,  however,  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  Mr. 
Pitt  were  employed  too  late  to  operate  effectually.  This  summer  the 
earlof  Loudoun,  instead  of  attacking  Crown  Point,  as  had  been  ex- 
pected, undertook  an  expedition  to  Cape  Breton  against  Louisbourg. 
Admiral  Holbourne  arrived  at  Halifax  on  the  9th  of  July,  with  a  squa- 
dron of  transports  for  conveying  the  troops  consisting  oCabout  twelve 
thousand  men.  Small  vessels,  which  had  been  sent  to  examine  the 
condition  of  the  enemy  before  the  armament  sailed,  brought  the  un- 
welcome intelligence,  that  ten  thousand  land  forces,  of  which  six 
thousand  were  regulars,  were  stationed  at  Louisbourg  ;  that  seven- 
ministers,  botli  of  George  II.  and  liis  father.  The  earl  of  Sunderland,  sir  Kobert 
AValpoIe,  earl  Granville,  and  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  concluded  treaties,  the  ex- 
elusive  objects  of  which  were,  German  politics,  and  the  security  of  Hanover. 
Mr.  Pitt's  policy,  though  it  embraced  Hanover  in  its  compass,  yet  had  for  its  ob- 
ject the  humiliation  of  France,  and  the  prosperity  of  England. 

•  Mr.  Legge  was  restored  to  his  office  of  chancellor  of  the  exchequer;  the  duke 
of  Newcastle  was  again  made  first  lord  of  the  treasury  ;  lord  Anson  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  admiralty  ;  sir  Robert  Henley  was  made  keeper  of  the  great 
seal,  in  the  room  of  Lord  Hardwicke  ;  and  Mr.  Fox  was  appointed  to  the  subor- 
dinate, but  lucrative  office,  of  paymaster  general  of  the  army. 


96  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  I— ir57. 

[Afiairs  of  Germany.     Proceedings  of  the  duke  of  Cumberland.] 

teen  ships  of  the  line  were  moored  in  the  harbour;  and  that  the  for- 
tress was  plentifully  supplied  with  provisions  and  military  stores.  In- 
formed of  these  particulars,  lord  Loudoun  resolved  to  postpone  the 
expedition  ;  so  that  in  fact  nothing;  was  either  effected,  or  even  at- 
tempted, that  year,  by  the  army  under  his  lordship's  command. 

While  Loudoun  was  absent  at  Halifax,  Montcalm,  the  French  com- 
aiander  in  chief,  extended  the  enemy's  possessions  in  the  back  set- 
tlements, which  it  had  been  their  principal  object  to  increase.  He 
attacked  and  captured  Fort  William  iienry  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Lake  George ;  and  by  this  accession  to  their  former  advantages,  the 
French  acquired  the  entire  command  of  the  extensive  chain  of  lakes 
that  connects  the  two  great  rivers  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi,  and 
that  forms  a  grand  line  both  of  communication  and  division  between 
the  northern  and  southein  parts  of  this  vast  continent.  Thus,  in 
1757,  the  interests  of  Great  Britain  in  North  America  continued  to 
decline. 

Admiral  Holbourne,  with  fifteen  sail  of  the  line,  appeared  off  Lou- 
isbourg;  and,  being  re-enforced  with  four  more,  attempted  to  draw 
the  French  to  battle ;  but  the  enemy  were  too  cautious  to  venture  an 
engagement.  The  English  fleet,  after  cruising  in  those  seas  till  the 
middle  of  September,  was  overtaken  by  a  storm,  which  wrecked  one 
of  the  ships,  and  damaged  the  greater  number;  and  they  returned  to 
England  in  a  very  shattered  stale. 

The  king  of  Prussia,  having  wintered  at  Dresden,  published  amani- 
fcsta,  selling  forth  the  conduct  and  cjesigns  of  the  imperial  powers 
and  of  Saxony,  and  asserting  that  he  himself  had  proceeded  on  princi- 
ples of  self-defence.  Meanwhile  the  combined  powers  were  making 
great  preparations  ;  and  France  by  a  subsidy  prevailed  on  the  Swedes 
to  join  in  the  confederacy.  Maria  Teresa  exerted  herself  with  great 
zeal  and  success;  she  persuaded  the  empress  of  Russia,  that  the  in- 
vasion of  Saxony,  a  country  guaranteed  by  Elizabeth,  was  an  insult  to 
her  dignity.  Besides  addressing  the  czarina's  pride,  she  tempted  her 
avarice  by  a  subsidy  of  two  millions  of  crowns,  anc^  added  considera- 
ble bribes  to  her  ministers.  With  the  Germanic  body  her  exertions 
and  success  were  similar  ;  and  it  was  proposed,  that  the  electors  of 
Brandenburgh  and  Hanover  should  be  put  to  the  ban  of  the  empire. 
The  king  of  Piussia  in  these  circumstances  had  recourse  to  his  only 
powerful  ally  George  H.  and  proposed  a  plan  of  co-operation  more 
extensive  th^n  the  British  sovereign  deemed  necessary.  George  con- 
fined his  plan  to  the  defence  of  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Weser,  while 
Frederick  wished  that  of  the  Rhine  to  be  the  principal  station,  as  from 
the  depih  and  rapidity  of  the  river,  it  was  much  more  tenable  than  the 
Wescr,  which  was  fordable  in  many  places.  An  army  of  Germans 
in  British  pay  was  formed  on  the  plan  of  king  George,  and  the  com- 
mand intrusted  to  the  duke  of  Cumberland.  In  July,  1757,  his  royal 
highness  took  the  field  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Weser.  The 
French  commanded  by  marshal  d'Estrees,  as  Frederick  had  foreseen, 
easily  pas:ed  that  river,  and  proceeded  to  Munster.  On  the  25th  of 
July  they  attacked  the  duke  in  his  intrenchments  at  Hastenback,  and 
seized  one  of  his  batteries.  The  hereditary  prince  of  Brunswick,* 
then  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  regained  the  battery  sword  in  hand  ; 

•  Now  duke  of  Uiunswick, 


1757.— CiiAr.  I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  97 

[Convention  of  Cloister-seven.     Expedition  to  the  coast  of  France.] 

and  to  use  the  words  of  a  respectable  historian,  "proved,  in  the  first 
exploit,  that  nature  had  formed  him  for  a  hero."*  At  the  same  time, 
a  Hanoverian  colonel,  with  a  few  battalions,  penetrating  through  a 
wood,  attacked  the  French  in  the  rear,  put  them  to  flight,  and  took 
their  cannon  and  colours.  The  main  body  of  the  enemy,  however, 
being  in  possession  of  an  eminence  that  commanded  and  flanked  both 
the  lines  of  the  infantry  and  the  battery  of  the  allies,  the  duke  of 
Cumberland  thought  it  impossible  to  dislodge  them  from  their  posts; 
and  commanded  his  forces  to  retire  towards  Hamalen.  Marshal 
d'Estrees  had  formed  so  very  different  an  opinion  of  the  issue  of  the 
contest,  that  he  was  actually  ordering  a  retreat  himself,  when  he  per- 
ceived, to  his  great  astonishment,  the  allied  army  withdrawing  f 
The  duke  having  evacuated  Hamalen,  retreated  to  Nienbergh,  then 
to  Verden,  and  at  last  to  Siaden  ;  and  thus  abandoned  the  whole  coun- 
try to  the  French,  without  any  farther  contest.  The  duke  of  Riche- 
lieu, successor  to  d'Estrees,  pursued  his  highness,  and  reduced  him  to 
a  distressing  dilemma  ;  before  him  was  the  ocean,  on  the  right  the 
Elbe,  on  the  left  the  Weser,  become  deeper  as  it  approached  the  sea; 
behind  was  the  cnen^.y.  Nothing  remained,  but  either  to  fight  their 
way  through  the  hostile  force,  which  they  considered  as  impossible, 
or  to  surrender  themselves  prisoners  of  war.  Accordingly  the  duke 
capitulated  with  his  whole  army,  and  concluded  the  noted  convention 
of  Cloister-seven,  in  September,  1757.  By  this  treaty  the  troops  of 
Hesse  and  Brunswick  were  to  return  to  their  respective  countries  ; 
the  Hanoverians  were  to  remain  at  Staden,  in  a  district  assigned 
them,  and  no  mention  was  made  of  the  electorate,  which  was  occupied 
by  the  French.  This  unfortunate  event  was  imputed  to  tv;o  errors  ; 
one  in  the  original  plan  of  the  campaign,  in  choosing  a  weak  line  of 
defence  on  the  Weser,  instead  of  a  strong  line  on  the  Rhine;  another 
in  the  execution,  by  the  order  for  retreat  when  there  was  a  probable 
chance  of  victory.  It  was  also  said,  that  if  the  allied  army  instead  of 
retiring  to  a  narrow  angle,  had  proceeded  towards  Prussia,  they  might 
have  been  ea^ly  covered  by  the  Prussian  forces.  His  royal  highness 
having  retui'ned  to  England,  and  not  finding  his  conduct  received  with 
that  approbation  which  he  expected,  resigned  all  his  military  employ- 
ments. The  kingdom  being  now  under  the  administration  of  Pitt,  in 
order  to  cause  a  diversion  of  the  French  force  favourable  to  the  allies 
in  Germany,  he  planned  an  expedition  to  the  coast  of  France  ;  and  a 
formidable  armament  was  equipped  with  surprising  despatch4  The 
fleet  was  commanded  by  sir  Edward  Hawke,  and  the  army  by  sir  John 
Mordaunt. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  the  fleet  anchored  off"  the  river  Charente, 
and  took  the  Isle  of  Aix,  with  its  garrison.  It  was  proposed  to  attack 
Rochefort.  Sir  Edward  Hawke  was  eager  for  this  measure,  but  sir 
John  Mordaunt  deemed  it  too  dangerous  an  attempt.  After  coniinu- 

•  See  Gillies's  Frederick,  p. "247.  f  Gillles's  Frederick,  p.  247. 

+  The  equipment  iilibrds  an  instance  of  ihe  vigorous  boldness  and  decision  of 
the  minister's  character.  When  he  ordered  the  fleet  to  be  equipped,  and  appoint- 
ed the  time  and  place  of  its  rendezvous,  lord  Anson  said  it  would  be  impossible 
to  have  it  prepared  so  soon.  "  It  may  (said  Mr.  Pitt)  be  done  ;  and  if  the  ships 
are  not  ready  at  the  time  specified,!  shall  signify  your  lordship's  neglect  to  the 
king,  and  impeach  you  in  the  house  of  commons."  This  intimation  produced  the 
desired  effect :  the  ships  were  ready.  lielsham's  Goorere  11.  p.  428. 
Vol.  VII.— 13  ^         ' 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  1—1757. 

[Operations  of  the  king  of  Prussia.    Defeat  of  the  French  at  Rosbach.] 

ing  in  the  river,  and  reconnoitring  the  coasts  for  many  days,  it  was 
resolved  in  a  council  of  war  that  they  should  return  to  England, 
The  nation  was  disappointed  and  enraged  at  the  failure  of  this  expe- 
dition. All  were  sensible  that  the  niinister  had  done  every  thing  in 
his  power,  and  were  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  admi- 
ral. The  blame  was  thrown  upon  the  general.  He  was  tried  by  a 
court  martial  and  acquitted.  His  exculpatory  sentence,  however,  did 
not  alter  the  public  opinion. 

During  these  disasters  of  his  ally,  the  king  of  Prussia  having  to 
contend  against  five  great  powers,  was  in  the  most  perilous  circum- 
stances, which  only  served  to  display  the  exliaordinary  vigour  of  his 
genius,  the  wisdom  of  his  councils,  and  the  magnanimity  of  his  dis- 
position. From  his  winter  quarters  at  Prague,  he  in  the  beginning 
of  April  took  the  field.  Pretending  to  design  only  a  defensive  war,  ^ 
he  fortified  his  camp  at  Dresden,  and  made  some  feeble  incursions 
into  Bohemia.  The  Austrian  general,  conceiving  him  to  intend  noth- 
ing beyond  these  petty  enterprises,  was  lulled  into  security.  Frede- 
rick ordered  his  troops  to  assemble  by  ditferent  routes  at  Prague  on 
the  5ihof  May,  where  general  Brown  was  posted  with  a  considerable 
force.  The  king,  knowing  that  his  enemies  expected  a  great  re- 
enforcement,  determined  to  bring  them  to  battle  before  fresh  troops 
ihould  arrive.  He  attacked  them  without  delay,  forced  their  intrench- 
menis,  and  gained  a  complete  victory.*  The  Austrians  took  refuge 
in  Prague.  Frederick  summoned  that  city  to  surrender ;  but  mar- 
shal Daun,  hastening  to  its  relief,  encamped  at  Kolin  upon  the  Elbe. 
The  king  of  Prussia,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1757,  having  attacked  his 
entrenchments,  was  repulsed  and  defeated  with  great  loss  ;  and  in 
consequence  of  this  disaster,  raised  the  siege  of  Prague.  If  marshal 
Daun  had  been  as  active  in  pursuing,  as  he  was  skilful  in  obtaining 
his  victory,  he  might  have  prevented  Frederick  from  retreating  with 
the  remains  of  his  troops.  From  Prague,  the  king  retired  into  Sax- 
ony. The  Austrians  recovered  the  whole  country  of  Bohemia,  and 
advanced  in  pursuit  of  Frederick.  Meanwhile  the  Russians  ravaged 
Prussia,  and  the  Swedes  entered  Ponierania.  To  increase  the  multi- 
plied dangers  of  the  Prussian  monarch,  the  convention  of  Cloister- 
seven  had  deprived  him  of  his  only  ally  ;  and  the  French  forces  were 
now  at  liberty  lo  direct  against  him  their  whole  efforts. f  This  hero 
was  always  more  energetic  and  formidable  than  ever,  after  a  defeat. 
Instead  of  yielding  to  difTicullics,  he  was  the  more  strongly  incited 
to  extraordinary  exertions.  With  a  small  body  of  men  he  marched 
against  the  French  and  the  troops  of  the  Circles,  posted  at  Rosbach, 
near  Leipsic,  in  upper  Saxony.  He  di.ew  up  his  forces  (November 
5lh,  1757)  with  such  skill,  that  he  overcame  a  great  army.  Ten 
thousand  of  the  enemy  were  killed  and  wounded,  and  seven  thousand 

•  Nineteen  thousand  were  killed,  and  five  thousand  taken  prisoners.  The 
loss  of  the  conqiK-rors  was  also  very   considcraliPe. 

f  At  lliis  time  Hie  king  of  I'nissia  llius  expressed  himself  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  carl  Marcsclial:  "  Wliat  say  you  of  ihis  league,  wljicli  has  only  the  mar- 
quis of  llran<leiiburj;li  for  ila  oljjuct  ?  Tiie  great  elector  would  be  .surprised  to 
see  his  great-grandson  at  war  Willi  tlic  Uushians,  the  Swedes,  the  Austrians,  al- 
most all  (iermany,  and  a  Imndied  thousand  French  auxiliaries.  I  know  not 
wliciher  it  will  be  disgrace  in  me  lo  submit ;  but  I  am  sure  there  will  be  no  glo- 
ry  ill  vanquishing  me." 


1758.— CiiAP.  I.  RE[GN  OF  GEORGE  III.  99 

[Glorious  result  of  the  campaign.    Noitli  America.] 

taken  prisoners.  Having  thus  overcome  the  French,  he  marched 
•with  the  utmost  expedition  against  the  Austrian  army,  now  assembled 
in  Silesia.  The  Prussians  had  lost  almost  all  the  towns  of  that  coun- 
try, and  at  last  Bieslaw  itself,  the  capital.  Frederick,  in  the  end  of 
November  arrived  in  Silesia  with  an  army  of  thirty-three  thousaiul 
men.  He  found  the  Austrians  posted  at  Louther,  being  sixty  thou- 
sand in  number,  under  marshal  Daun.  By  the  mere  force  of  military 
genius,  he  gained  a  complete  and  decisive  victory,  having  killed  or 
taken  twenty-one  thousand  men.*  Frederick,  who  knew  how  to  use 
as  well  as  to  gain  a  victory,  retook  Breslaw,  and  recovered  Silesia. 
In  the  midst  of  such  numerous  and  complicated  operations,  Frede- 
rick's genius  exerted  itself  in  policy  as  well  as  in  arms.  The  Russians 
were  so  powerful  in  Prussia,  that  his  troops  contended  against  them 
in  vain.  Frederick,  by  his  emissaries,  entertained  a  secret  corre- 
spondence with  Peter  the  Great,  duke  and  heir  apparent  to  the  throne 
of  Russia,  who  was  well  affected  towards  the  Prussian  king.  The 
chancellor  Bestuchew,  prime-minister,  in  order  to  gratify  Peter,  like- 
ly soon  to  be  his  master,  gave  orders  to  the  Russian  troops  to  retire 
towards  Poland.  Marshal  Lehwald,  who  had  commanded  against  the 
Russians,  freed  from  their  formidable  army,  marched  against  the 
Swedes  in  Pomerania,  defeated  them  and  drove  them  out  of  that  pro- 
vince. Frederick,  before  he  went  into  winter  quarters,  reduced 
Leibnitz,  the  only  fort  in  Silesia,  and  so  recovered  from  the  Austrians 
the  whole  of  that  province,  on  account  of  which  they  had  begun  the 
war.  Thus  did  this  extraordinary  man,  deserted  by  every  ally,  with 
a  comparatively  small  number  of  forces,  make  head  against  tiie  most 
formidable  combination  recorded  in  the  annals  of  Europe  ;  defeat  their 
several  armies,  distinguished  for  valour  and  discipline,  and  cominund- 
eA  by  the  most  skilful  generals  ;  dispossess  them  of  all  their  acqui- 
sitions;  and,  though  lighting  against  almost  the  whole  continental 
force  of  Europe,  evince  his  superiority  overall  his  enemies. 

The  principal  object  of  British  preparations,  and  the  chief  theatre 
of  war  in  1758,  was  North  America.  The  earl  of  Loudoun  being  re- 
called after  the  unsuccessful  campaign  of  1757,  the  chief  comnjaud 
devolved  on  general  Abercrombie.  Next  in  authority  was  major- 
general  Amherst.  Admiral  Boscawen  having  arrived  early  in  the 
year,  the  forces,  including  provincials  as  well  as  regulars,  amounted 
to  no  less  than  fifty  thousand  men.  The  generals  and  admiral  con- 
certed the  plan  of  the  campaign  ;  the  objects  of  which  were,  the  re- 
duction of  Louisbourg,  and  the  capture  of  the  French  line  of  forts. 
General  Amherst,  sailing  with  ten  thousand  men  under  convoy  of 
Boscawen's  fleet  to  cape  Breton,  anchored  on  the  2d  of  June  in  sight 
of  Louisbourg  fortress,  which  a  few  days  alter  was  regularly  invested. 
After  standing  a  siege  of  seven  weeks,  it  was  compelled  to  surrender 
on  the  27th  of  July.     Besides  the  conquest  of  the  whole  island,  six 

•  Dr.  Gillies,  who  displays  great  military  science  in  his  account  of  the  en.ijage- 
mcnts  of  Frederick,  shows,  that  in  this  battle  lie  adopted  hoUi  (he  disposition  and 
movements  of  Epaniinondas  at  the  baltie  of  l.eiicira.  lie  directed  lus  main  at- 
tack against  one  part  (the  left  wing)  of  the  enemy's  troops,  and  by  worsting  liiem, 
threw  the  rest  into  confusion.  One  of  his  evolutions  was  by  marshal  Daiiii  mis- 
taken for  a  retreat ;  wiiich  secured  the  victory  to  the  I'rustians,  as  a  similar  mis- 
apprehension of  the  enemy  had  done  to  the  'Ihebuu  hero.  Gilhes's  Frede- 
rick, p.  262. 


100  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  I.— 1758. 

[Attempt  on  Ticonderoga.     Expedition  to  Canada.] 

ships  of  the  line  and  five  frigates  were  either  taken  oi'  destroyed  by  the 
Enj^lish. 

General  Abcrcrombie  himself,  with  the  main  body  of  the  army, 
undertook  tlic  expedition  against  the  forts.  His  first  attempt  was 
against  Ticonderoga,  a  fort  situated  between  lakes  George  and 
ChampUiin,  surrounded  on  three  sides  with  water,  and  in  front  secur- 
ed by  a  morass.  It  was  defended  by  a  breastwork  and  intrenchment, 
and  garrisoned  by  five  thousand  men.*  The  badness  of  the  roads  had 
prevented  the  artillery  from  keeping  pace  with  the  army,  and  it  was 
not  yet  arrived.  Notwithstanding  this  material  want,  the  general  de- 
termined to  attack  the  fort ;  but,  though  the  troops  behaved  with  great 
gallantry,  they  were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss  ;  two  thousand 
being  killed  or  taken  prisoners,  and  the  number  of  the  latter  was  com- 
paratively few.  The  general  made  a  hasty  retreat  to  a  camp  on  the 
southern  banks  of  lake  George.  Notwithstanding  his  loss,  being  still 
superior  in  force  to  the  enemy,  his  retreat  was  censured  by  military 
men  as  precipitate.  It  was  alleged  that  he  ought  to  have  waited  for 
the  arrival  of  his  artillery,  and  being  so  supplied,  to  have  proceeded 
in  his  operations  against  the  fort.  Abercrombie  detached  a  consider- 
able corps  under  colonel  Bradslreet,  against  Fort  Frontignac,  situated 
at  the  entrance  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence  from  lake  Ontario  ;  and  an- 
other body  of  troops  against  Fort  Uu  Quesne  under  general  Forbes. 
Both  these  expeditions  were  successful.  Fort  Du  Quesne  being  now 
a  British  possession,  was  called  by  a  British  name,  and  thenceforward 
denominated  Fort  Pitt. 

In  consequence  of  these  advantages  gained  by  the  British  troops, 
the  Indian  nations  between  liie  lakes  and  the  Ohio  very  readily  enter- 
ed into  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain.  Tims,  notwithstanding  the  repulse 
at  Ticonderoga,  the  campaign  of  1758  in  America  was  very  advan- 
tageous to  the  British  interest,  and  very  honourable  to  the  British  na- 
tion ;  as  Louisbourg  liad  been  reduced,  the  fortified  line  of  commu- 
nication in  ilie  buck  settlements  broken,  the  Indians  in  consequence 
reconciled,  the  British  territories  freed  from  the  danger  of  invasion, 
and  the  French  obliged  to  confine  themselves  to  a  defensive  plan,  while 
this  country  could  now  project  offensive  operations. 

Amliersl,  encouraged  by  his  own  successes,  and  the  general  supe- 
riority of  the  British  arms,  projected  the  entire  conquest  of  Canada  in 
one  campaign.  lie  proposed,  as  soon  as  the  season  should  admit,  with 
the  principal  army  to  reduce  the  forts  from  the  river  St.  Lawrence 
along  the  lakes  still  in  the  possession  of  France;  to  send  a  large  body 
of  land  forces,  and  a  strong  squadron  of  ships  of  war,  to  undertake  the 
siege  of  Quebec,  the  capital  of  French  Atnerica  ;  that  he  himself,  after 
reducing  the  forts,  should  besiege  Montreal,  sail  down  the  river,  and 
join  the  besiegers  of  Quebec.  In  July,  1759,  he  arrived  at  Ticonde- 
roga, which,  strong  as  it  wajS,  the  enemy  abandoned,  and  retired  to 
Crown  Point.  This  post  they  also  evacuated,  and  the  fort  of  Niagara 
was  captured.  The  projected  siege  of  Montreal  was  for  this  year 
obliged  to  be  postponed. 

The  command  of  the  forces  sent  to  Quebec  was  intrusted  to  briga- 
dier-general Wolfe,  an  officer   who,  though   young,  had  acquired  a 

•  In  a  skirmish  which  took  place  on  their  marcii,  the  liritisli  army  and  peer- 
age suffered  a  }<rear.  Iosk  by  tlic  fall  of  lord  Howe,  a  yaung  nobleman  of  the  high- 
est promise.     He  was  elder  brother  to  the  late  earl  Howe. 


1759.— CUAP.  I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  Ilf.  101 

[Action  near  Quebec  and  repulse  of  the  British.] 

high  reputation,  and  had  distinguished  himself  particularly  at  the  cap- 
ture of  Louisbourg.  The  conquest  of  Cape  Breton,  by  giving  us  the 
command  of  the  entrance  to  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  enabled  us  to 
have  the  co-operation  of  ships  of  the  line  up  to  the  very  walls  of  Que- 
bec. A  fleet,  consisting  of  seventeen  ships  of  the  line  with  frigates, 
accompanied  by  an  army  of  eight  thousand  men,  sailed  up  the  river. 
The  fleet  was  commanded  by  admiral  Saunders,  with  admiral  Holmes 
second  in  command.  The  next  in  military  authority  to  general  Wolfe 
were  brigadiers  Monckton  and  Townshend,  elder  son  to  the  lord  of 
that  name,*  and  brigadier  Murray,  brother  to  lord  Elibank. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  the  armament  prepared  against  Canada  arrir- 
ed  at  the  island  of  Orleans,  formed  by  the  river  St.  Lawrence  very 
near  its  northern  bank,  and  extending  to  the  mouth  of  Quebec  har- 
bour. The  town  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  St.  Law- 
rence and  St.  Charles.  It  consists  of  an  upper  and  lower  town.  The 
lower  town  is  situated  upon  a  plain  along  the  banks  of  the  river;  the 
upper  on  a  bold  and  lofty  eminence,  that  runs  westward  behind  the 
plain,  and  parallel  to  the  river.  On  the  east  is  the  river  St.  Charles, 
and  on  the  north  were  deep  woods.  The  French  army,  under  the 
marquis  of  Montcalm,  was  posted  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  St. 
Charles,  extending  to  the  Montmorenci,  with  thick  woods  to  the 
north..  From  the  strong  situation  of  the  city,  the  English  general 
was  aware  that  nothing  but  a  decisive  victory  would  procure  him  suc- 
cess. He  endeavoured,  therefore,  to  induce  the  French  to  come  to 
battle.  Montcalm,  able  and  cautious,  would  not  relinquish  his  advan- 
tageous post.  Wolfe,  therefore,  determined  to  attack  him  in  his  in- 
trenchments.  On  the  31st  of  July  he  landed  his  forces,  under  cover 
of  the  cannon  of  his  fleet,  near  the  western  banks  of  the  Montmoren- 
ci, and  gave  orders  to  his  troops  not  to  advance  till  the  whole  army- 
was  formed.  The  British  grenadiers,  notwithstanding  these  orders, 
rushed  on  to  the  attack,  but  were  soon  thrown  into  confusion  by  the 
enemy's  fire  and  compelled  to  retreat.  The  general  advanced  with 
the  rest  of  the  army  ;  but  the  disorder  occasioned  by  the  retreat  of  the 
grenadiers  entirely  disconcerted  the  plan  of  the  attack,  and  general 
Wolfe  was  obliged  to  repass  the  river  to  the  isle  of  St  Orleans.  Our 
gallant  general  had,  as  we  have  already  said,  expected  the  co-opera- 
tion of  Amherst ;  but  the  career  of  that  great  officer,  though  success- 
ful, had  not  been  so  rapid  as  to  enable  him  to  proceed  to  Quebec; 
General  Wolfe,  in  his  despatches  to  England,  manifested  that  he 
knew  and  ielt  the  difficulties  of  his  situation.  "  We  have  (said  he) 
almost  the  whole  force  of  Canada  to  oppose.  In^  such  a  choice  of 
difficulties,  I  own  myself  at  a  loss  how  to  determine.  The  affairs  of 
Great  Britain  I  know  to  require  the  most  vigorous  measures  ;  but  the 
courage  of  a  handful  of  brave  men  should  be  exerted  only  where 
there  is  some  hope  of  a  favourable  event."  The  repulse  at  Montmo- 
renci made  a  deep  impression  on  the  English  general.  Mo  had  a  very 
high  sense  of  honour,  and  an  ardent  desire  of  military  fame ;  he  was 
aware  that  men  judge  of  conduct  from  the  event,  much  oftener  than 
from  the  circumstances,  intentions,  and  plans  of  the  agent.  Inferior 
as  his  force  was,  destitute  of  the  expected  aid,  great  as  was  the 
nrcngth  of  the  enemy  and  of  the  country  with  -tvhich  he  had  to  con- 

•  Now  marquis  Townshend, 


102  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  1.-1759. 

[Victory  and  death  of  Wolfe.] 

tend,  he  well  knew  that  if  unsuccessful,  he  should  incur  censure  and 
reproach.  These  considerations  operated  so  powerfully  on  the  sus- 
ceptible mind  of  Wolfe,  that  it  affected  his  constitution,  naturally  deli- 
cate and  irritable,  and  produced  a  fever  and  dysentery.  Feeble  and  dis- 
tempered as  he  was,  he  determined  either  to  effect  his  enterprise,  or 
die  in  the  attempt.  He  formed  a  design  manifesting  great  boldness  of 
•conception :  this  was,  to  land  his  troops  above  the  city  on  the  north- 
ern banks  of  the  river,  at  the  base  of  the  heights  of  Abraham  which 
covered  the  town,  to  scale  those  precipices,  and  gain  possession  of 
the  eminence,  in  reliance  on  which  the  city  was  on  that  side  but  slight- 
ly fortified.  Having  communicated  this  scheme  to  admiral  Saunders, 
it  was  concerted  that  they  should  sail  up  the  river,  and  proceed  se- 
veral leagues  farther  up  than  the  spot  where  they  intended  to  land, 
with  a  design  of  returning  down  during  the  night.  They  fell  down 
soon  after  it  was  dark  (Sept.  18th,)  and  accomplished  their  disembar- 
kation in  secresy  and  silence.  Captain  Cook,  afterwards  so  famous 
as  a  circumnavigator,  commanded  the  boats  that  were  employed  to 
land  the  troops.  They  proceeded  to  the  precipice  ;  colonel  Howe,* 
irith  the  light  infantry  and  Highlanders,!  ascended  the  rocks  with  ad- 
mirable courage  and  activity,  made  themselves  ;masters  of  a  defile, 
and  dislodged  a  guard  that  defended  a  small  intrenched  narrow  path, 
by  which  alone  our  forces  could  reach  the  summit.  The  hereic  ge- 
neral, regardless  of  the  distemper  which  preyed  on  him,  led  up  his 
troops,  and  arrayed  them  on  the  heights.  With  such  despatch  was 
all  this  achieved,  that  the  besieged  were  ignorant  of  the  attempt  until 
it  was  completely  effected.  Montcalm  being  informed  that  the  ene- 
my had  possessed  these  commanding  heights,  determined  to  hazard 
a  battle,  by  which  only  he  concluded  the  town  could  now  be  saved. 
He  passed  the  river  St.  Charles,  and  advanced  intrepidly  to  meet  the 
English.  General  Wolfe,  perceiving  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
formed  his  line  of  battle.  Montcalm  attempted  to  flank  the  left  of 
the  English,  but  was  prevented  by  the  skill  and  activity  of  brigadier 
Townshend,  who  presented  a  double  front  to  the  enemy.  A  very 
"Warm  engagement  took  place.  General  Wolfe,  standing  in  the  front 
of  his  line,  inspired  and  directed  his  valiant  soldiers.  At  this  time 
the  French  had  begun  their  fire  at  too  great  a  distance  to  do  much 
execution.  The  British  forces  reserved  their  shot  until  the  enemy 
were  very  near,  and  then  discharged  with  the  most  terrible  effect. 
The  whole  army,  and  each  individual  corps,  exerted  themselves  with 
the  greatest  intrepidity,  activity,  and  skill.  They  had  just  succeed- 
ed in  making  an  impression  on  the  centre  of  the  enemy,  when  their 
heroic  general  received  a  wound  in  the  wrist.  Pretending  not  to  no- 
tice this,  he  wrapped  his  handkerchief  round  it,  and  proceeded  with 
his  orders,  without  the  smallest  emotion.  Advancing  at  the  head  of 
his  grenadiers,  where  the  charge  was  thickest,  a  ball  pierced  his 
breast.  Being  obliged  to  retire  to  a  little  distance,  when  his  sur- 
rounding friends  were  in  the  utmost  anxiety  about  his  wound,  his 
sole  concern  was  about  the  fate  of  the  battle.  A  messenger  arriving, 
he  asked,  "  how  arc  our  troops?"  "  The  enemy  are  visibly  broken." 
Almost  faint,  he  reclined  his  head  on  the  arm  of  an  officer,  when  his 
faculties  were  aroused  by  the  distant  sound  of  "  They  fly  1  "    Siart- 

•  Afterwards  sir  ^Villiam.  f  'I'ht  loily-sccoiid  regiment. 


1760.— Chap.  1.  IIEIGN  OF  GEOTtGE  III.  103 

[IneflTectual  efforts  of  the  French  to  recover  Quehec] 

ing  up  he  called,  "  Who  fly  ?"— "  The  French."— "What !  (said  he, 
with  exultation)  do  they  fly  already  ?  then  I  die  happy."  So  saying, 
he  expired  in  the  arms  of  victory.*  Generals  Monckton  and  Town- 
slicnd,  after  the  death  of  the  commander  in  chief,  continued  the  bat- 
tle with  unremitting  ardour.  Monckton  being  wounded,  the  com- 
mand devolved  upon  Townshend.  Though  the  English  were  great- 
ly superior,  the  battle  was  still  not  completely  gained.  The  British 
troops  being  somewhat  disordered  in  their  successful  pursuit,  the 
general  marshalled  them  with  great  expedition.  Montcalm  having 
exerted  every  means  that  could  be  employed  by  a  skilful  general  and 
valiant  soldier  to  rally  and  animate  his  troops,  was  mortally  wounded. 
The  French  fled  on  all  sides,  and  the  British  victory  was  complete. 
Quebec  capitulated  to  general  Townshend. 

Some  writers  have  endeavoured  to  attribute  the  success  of  this 
celebrated  enterprize,  in  a  considerable  degree,  to  accident.  There 
"were,  said  they,  sentinels  disposed  along  the  river,  who  might  have  dis- 
covered the  approach  of  the  British  troops  to  the  precipice  of  Abra- 
ham, and  if  they  had  made  the  discovery,  could  have  given  the  alarm  in 
time  to  prevent  success.  The  amount  of  this  reasoning  is  that  when 
a  purpose  is  to  be  effected  by  despatch,  secresy,  and  surprise,  if  these 
be  not  employed,  the  attempt  will  not  be  successful.  The  success 
of  this  design  was  owing  to  its  probable  impracticability.  The  enemy 
were  not  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  a  post  which  they  deemed  impreg- 
nable. The  sagacity  of  our  general  penetrated  into  their  sentiments, 
and  he  formed  his  project  on  the  moral  certainty  of  their  secure  inat- 
tention to  that  quarter.  His  reasoning  was  fair  and  just,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case  :  the  design  originated  in  military  genius  :  it 
was  a  very  bold,  and  even  hazardous  undertaking;  but  such  attempts, 
the  general  history  of  wars,  and  of  British  wars  in  particular,  would 
teach  us  to  encourage  ;  because,  on  the  whole,  they  have  been  oftener 
successful  than  otherwise. 

The  news  of  this  glorious  victory  and  important  acquisition  excit- 
ed the  most  lively  joy  in  England.  Every  honour  was  bestowed  on 
the  memory  of  the  hero  who  had  achieved  the  conquest,  and  the 
warmest  thanks  were  given  to  the  generals  and  admirals  who  had 
been  instrumental  to  its  execution. 

By  the  great  and  rapid  successes  of  1759,  joined  with  and  proceed- 
ing from  the  advantages  of  1758,  France  had  not  only  been  driven 
from  her  encroachments  in  North  America,  but  deprived  of  her  most 
valuable  original  possessions.  Montreal  and  the  rest  of  Canada  still 
remained  under  her  power,  after  the  capture  of  Quebec. 

In  the  following  campaign,  the  efforts  of  the  French  in  that  quar- 
ter of  the  globe  were  directed  to  the  recapture  of  Quebec,  which  they 
determined  to  attempt  early  in  the  season,  before  the  river  should  be 
open  for  the  admission  of  the  re-enforcements  about  to  arrive  from 
England.  General  Murray,  then  governor  of  that  city,  took  every 
precaution  to  maintain  so  important  an  acquisition.     As  the  French 

•  The  circumstances  of  his  deatli,  so  picturesque  and  glorious,  naturally  sug- 
gests to  the  historical  reader  a  comparison  witli  the  death  of  Epaminondas  at 
Mantinea,  and  of  Gustavus  Adolphus;  and  produced  some  pretty  affecting  po- 
ems in  the  Enghsh  and  Latin  languages,  both  on  the  death  of  Wolfe,  and  its  re- 
semblance to  that  of  the  other  heroes. 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE  .     Cuap.  1.-1760. 

[Conquest  of  Canada.    Expedition  to  the  coast  of  Normandy.] 

approached,  being  advantageously  posted  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Quebec,  he  determined,  though  inferior  in  number,  to  risk  an  en- 
gagement ;  hoping,  through  the  bravery  of  his  troops,  for  a  success 
which  would  damp  tlie  spirits  of  the  enemy ;  and  knowing  that,  if 
disappointed,  he  could  securely  shelter  himself  in  Quebec.  Being 
unsuccessful,  he  retreated  to  that  city,  which  was  immediately  invest- 
ed by  the  enemy. 

It  being  now  the  month  of  May,  and  the  river  open,  intelligence 
arrived  that  the  British  fleet  and  troops  were  sailing  up  to  Que- 
bec. The  French  raised  the  siege  with  great  precipitation,  leav- 
ing their  provisions,  stores,  and  artillery,  in  the  hands  of  the  Bri- 
tish. The  governor-general  of  Canada  now  centered  all  his  hopes 
in  the  defence  of  Montreal;  which,  concluding  that  it  would  be 
attacked  by  general  Amherst,  he  strengthened  with  new  fortifica- 
tions ;  at  the  same  time  raising  new  levies  of  troops,  and  collect- 
ing large  magazines  of  military  stores.  The  English  general,  as 
the  French  governor  apprehended,  undertook  the  siege  of  Montreal; 
and,  to  facilitate  his  operations,  reduced  several  small  posts  up  the 
river.  Having  arrived  at  Montreal,  he  was  soon  joined  by  general 
Murray  from  Quebec,  and  invested  the  place  in  September  1760. 
The  French  governor,  despairing  of  relief,  capitulated  ;  and  all  Ca- 
nada surrendered  to  the  British  arms.  Thus  did  the  ambition  of 
France,  after  compelling  this  country  to  go  to  war  by  its  unjust  ag- 
gressions in  North  America,  during  the  first  years  of  hostilities,  while 
the  convulsions  of  our  councils  prevented  effectual  measures  on  our 
part  for  its  suppression,  prove  successful ;  but  when  dissension  yield- 
ed to  unanimity,  when  incapacity  gave  way  to  genius,  when  wise 
counsel  selected  for  the  execution  of  its  plans  the  ablest  agents,  and 
prompt  and  decisive  vigour  afforded  the  most  effectual  means  of  ex- 
ecution, the  ambitious  enemy  was  not  only  checked,  but  overthrown ; 
France  was  deprived  of  her  unjust  acquisitions,  and  bereft  of  her  most 
valuable  ancient  territories,  which  but  for  her  own  aggression,  she 
might  have  enjoyed  unmolested.  Such  was  the  change  effected  du- 
ring the  three  years  that  Mr.  Pitt  had  presided  at  the  helm  of  affairs  ; 
and  such  was  our  situation  in  America  in  October,  1760. 

In  Europe,  though  the  first  operations  projected  by  Pitt  had  been 
unsuccessful,  the  disappointment  was  by  all  acknowledged  not  to 
have  been  owing  to  the  want  of  adequate  preparation,  and  the  suc- 
ceeding plans  were  attended  with  no  less  success  than  in  America. 
Early  in  1758,  a  new  expedition  was  projected  against  the  coast 
of  France,  the  object  of  which  was  to  destroy  the  maritime  power  of 
the  enemy.  By  the  latter  end  of  May,  two  squadrons  were  ready; 
one  consisting  of  eleven  ships  of  the  line,  under  lord  Anson  and  sir 
Edward  Hawke,  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  Brest  fleet;  the  other 
consisting  of  four  ships  of  the  line  with  seven  frigates,  commanded  by 
commodore  Richard  Howe,  to  convoy  the  transports  that  carried  the 
land  forces,  consisting  of  sixteen  battalions,  and  nine  troops  of  light 
horse,  destined  for  tlic  coast  of  Normandy,  under  the  command  of 
Charles  duke  of  Marlborough.  They  sailed  from  Portsmouth  on  the 
1  St  of  June,*  and  landed  on  the  5th  in  Castle  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Brit- 

•  A  day,  thirty-six  years  after,  so  auspicious  to  the  naval  glory  of  England  and 
Howe. 


ireO.— Chip.  I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  105 

[Naval  transaction.    Victory  of  admiral  Hoscawen.] 

tany  ;  thence  they  marched  to  St.  Maloes,  the  principal  harbour  on  the 
channel  for  privateers,  and  which  {greatly  distressed  the  English  trade. 
Finding  that  place  too  strong  to  be  taken  by  assault,  they  conteiued 
themselves  with  setting  fire  to  about  a  bundled  sale  of  shipping,  'lie 
greater  number  of  them  privateers,  and  to  several  magazines  filled 
with  naval  stores.  From  the  coast  of  Brittany  they  sailed  across  the 
bay  towards  Normandy,  but  were  prevented  by  a  violent  storm  Irom 
effecting  a  landing.  Tiiey  returned  to  St.  Helen's  to  lefit ;  and  the 
duke  of  Marlborough  being  called  to  another  service,  general  Bligh 
was  appointed  to  command  the  land  forces.  In  August,  the  arma- 
ment again  sailed  to  the  coast  of  Normandy,  and  anchored  beloie  Cher- 
burg.  This  place,  in  the  midst  of  the  channel,  well  situated  for  pro- 
tecting the  commerce  of  !■" ranee,  for  annoying  that  of  England,  and 
even  for  facilitating  an  invasion,  had  been  strongly  fortified.  The 
English  armament  attacked  and  captured  the  town,  destroyed  the  har- 
bour and  basin,  (a  work  of  much  ingenuity,  charge,  and  labour,)  razed 
the  fortiti cations,  and  took  considerable  quantities  of  ordnance,  and 
naval  and  mifitary  stores.  Again  attempting  St.  Maloes,  the  English 
army  met  with  a  check  at  St.  Cas,  on  which  they  returned  to  England. 

The  naval  operations  in  Europe  in  1758  were  not  decisively  import- 
ant,  though  Britain  had  a  manifest  superiority.  Sir  Edward  Havvke 
and  lord  Anson  almost  annihilated  the  French  trade  on  the  western 
coasts.  In  the  Mediterranean,  admiral  Osborn  dispersed  the  F^rench 
fleet  off"  Carthagena,  and  established  the  superiority  of  the  Englisli  in 
that  part  of  the  world.  This  year  the  English  navy  was  also  success- 
ful in  Africa.  Mr.  Cumming,  an  African  merchant,  of  the  sect  of 
Quakers,  presented  to  the  minister  a  plan  for  the  reduction  of  Fort 
Louis  on  the  river  Senegal.  This  project  being  approved,  a  small 
squadron  was  equipped  under  the  command  of  commodore  Marsh. 
Mr.  Cumming*  went  on  board  that  officer's  ship,  in  order  to  forward 
and  guide  the  expedition.  Some  armed  vessels  that  opposed  the 
British  at  their  entrance  into  the  river,  dispersed ;  and  the  fort  and 
adjoining  factory  surrendered.  In  the  latter  end  of  the  year,  a  Bri- 
tish squadron,  commanded  by  commodore  Keppel,  made  an  attack 
on  the  island  of  Goice,  situated  southward  of  the  Senegal,  and  com- 
pelled it  to  surrender,  notwithstanding  its  being  defended  by  two  forts, 
and  batteries  amounting  to  above  a  hundred  pieces  of  cannon.  Dur- 
ing the  attack,  the  African  shores  were  covered  by  multitudes  of  the 
natives,  who  expressed  by  loud  clamours,  and  uncouth  gesticulations, 
their  astonishment  at  the  terrible  effects  of  European  artillery. 

In  1759,  greater  naval  preparations  were  made  than  in  the  former 
year.  Admiral  Boscawen,  being  now  returned  from  America,  was 
appointed  to  command  a  British  fleet  in  the  Mediterranean.  The 
French  had  prepared  powerful  armaments  both  at  Toulon  and  Brest. 
Boscawen  blocked  up  the  enemy's  fleet  at  Toulon  ;  but  being  obliged 
to  return  to  Gibraltar  to  refit,  the  French  took  the  opportunity  of  put- 
ting to  sea,  hoping  to  pass  the  Straits,  and  join  the  Brest  fleet.  Ad- 
miral Boscawen,  having  now  refitted  his  damaged  ships,  prepared  to 
meet  the  enemy.     On  the  1 8th  of  August,  having  come  up  with  them 

•  Mr.  Cumming'  defended  his  conduct  as  perfectly  consonant  to  his  religious 
principles,  affirming  himself  to  have  been  previously  persuaded  that  it  would 
prove  a  bloodless  conquest. 

Vol.  VII.— 14 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  l.—176i. 

[Admiral  Hawke  (lePeats  the  French  fleet  ia  Quiberon  bay.] 

off  Cape  Lagos  in  Portugal,  he  entirely  defeated  the  hostile  fleet ;  and 
four  ships  of  the  line  surrendered  to  the  British. 

The  French  were  making  great  preparations,  with  an  intention  as 
it  was  thought  of  invading  either  Britain  or  Ireland.  Intelligence 
being  received  that  a  number  of  flat-bottomed  boats  were  ready  at 
Havre  de  Grace,  for  the  purpose,  as  it  was  conceived,  of  landing  their 
troops,  admiral  Rodney  was  sent,  in  the  beginning  of  July,  with  a 
squadron  of  ships  and  bombs  to  the  coast  of  Normandy.  Anchoring 
in  the  road  of  Havre,  he  commenced  the  bombardment,  burnt  a  consi- 
derable part  of  the  town,  destroyed  many  of  their  boats,  and  consumed 
a  quantity  of  their  stores. 

The  principal  preparations,  however,  were  making  at  Brest,  where 
a  formidable  fleet  was  equipped  under  admiral  Conflans.  Against 
that  force  the  chief  fleet  of  England  was  directed,  under  sir  Edward 
Hawke;  who  arrived  on  the  coast  of  France  before  the  Brest  fleet 
had  left  the  harbour,  and  blocking  them  up,  long  prevented  them 
from  sailing.  ^ 

In  the  beginning  of  November,  the  British  fleet  was  by  stress  jof 
weather  driven  from  the  coast  of  France,  and  compelled  to  anchor  at 
Torbay.  The  French  admiral  seized  the  opportunity  of  sailing  from 
Breot,  with  twenty-one  sbips  of  the  line  and  four  frigates.  Informed 
of  'heir  departure,  Hawke  sailed  in  pursuit  of  them,  and  arrived  in 
Quiberon  B.\y,  v.hich  the  enemy  had  then  reached.  The  French  ad- 
miral retired  close  to  shore,  with  a  view  to  draw  the  English  squa- 
dron among  the  shoals  and  islands,  on  which  he  expected  they  would 
be  wrecked;  while  he  himself  and  his  ofiicers,  perfectly  acquainted 
with  the  navigation  of  the  place,  could  cither  stay  and  take  advantage 
of  the  disisier,  or,  if  necessary,  retire  through  channels  unknown  to 
the  British  pilots  The  days  were  now  very  short,  the  weather  was 
extremely  tempestuous,  and  there  was  the  farther  disadvantage  of  a 
lee  shore.  Admiral  Hawke,  not  deterred  by  a  lee-shore  even  during 
the  storms  of  winter,  pursued,  and  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  attacked 
the  enemy  with  that  adventuious  boldness  which  has  generally 
marked  British  warriors,  and  been  so  often  productive  of  British  suc- 
cess. Sir  Edward,  in  the  Royal  George,  ordered  the  master  to  bring 
him  along  side  ot^lhe  French  admiral  who  commanded  on  board  the 
Soleil  R' yal.  The  pilot  rcmonsLrated  on  the  danger  of  obeying  the 
command,  as  there  was  a  great  probability  that  they  would  run  upon 
a  shoal.  "  You  have  done  your  duty  (replied  the  admiral)  in  showing 
the  danger;  now  you  are  to  comply  with  orders,  and  lay  me  along 
side  of  the  Soleil  Royal."  The  command  was  obeyed,  and  the  battle 
became  general.  Four  of  the  French  ships  were  burnt  or  sunk  du- 
ring the  action,  and  one  was  taken  ;  the  intervention  of  night  only 
prevented  the  destruction  of  the  whole  Frencii  fleet  The  next  day 
unolher  ship  being  sti^nded  on  the  shoals,  was  burnt.  This  victory 
gave  a  finishing  blow  to  the  naval  power  of  the  enemy,  and  prevent- 
ed them  from  making  any  important  attempt  during  the  remainder 
of  the  war.* 

•  The  English,  from  the  bcgiiinitig  of  llie  war,  had  already  taken  and  destroy- 
ed twenty-seven  French  ships  of  the  line,  a:id  thirty-one  frigates;  and  two.of  their 
great  ships  with  four  frigates,  periihcd  ;  so  that  their  whole  Joss,  in  this  particu- 
lar, amour.tefl  to  iixty-four  ,  whereas  the  loss  of  Great  Britain  did  not  exceed 
seven  sail  of  the  line  and  five  frigates. 


I^oO.— CUAP.I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  UI.  107 

[Exploits  and  death  of  Tharot.] 

In  1760,  admirals  Hawke  and  Boscawen  were  alternately  stationed 
in  Quiberon  Bay  and  the  adjacent  coasts,  thereby  employing  a  great 
Ixjdy  of  French  forces,  under  the  idea  that  an  invasion  was  intended  j 
and  several  advantages  were  gained.  Admiral  Rodney  destroyed  a 
considerable  quantity  of  shipping,  both  mercantile  and  warlike;  but 
as  the  enemy  had  only  an  inconsiderable  fleet,  no  important  exploit 
was  achieved  in  those  seas.  The  most  noted  enterprises  in  the  channel, 
or  adjacent  oceans,  in  the  year  1760,  were  those  in  which  the  famous 
Thurot  headed  the  army.  This  bold  and  enterprising  adventurer,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  had  been  master  of  a  Dunkirk  privateer. 
In  1758,  he  had  with  his  ship*  done  great  execution  in  the  north  seas; 
had  taken  numbers  of  merchantntien  ;  and  had  once  maintained  an  ob- 
stinate engagement  against  two  English  frigates, and  compelled  them 
to  desist  from  their  attack.  Becoming  known  to  the  court  of  Ver- 
sailles, he  was,  in  1759,  employed  to  command  a  small  armament,  fit- 
ting-out  in  the  harbour  of  Dunkirk.  Toward  the  end  of  that  year  he 
sailed,  designing  to  invade  Scotland  or  Ireland,  as  opportunity  might 
serve.  Commodore  Boys  pursued  him  to  the  north  seas,  but  was 
obliged  to  put  into  Leith  for  a  supply  of  provisions,  during  which  time 
Thurot  escaped  his  reach.  Being  overtaken  by  a  storm,  he  parted 
company  with  one  of  his  thirty  gun  ships,  and  was  driven  into  Bergen, 
where  he  was  detained  by  stress  of  weather  nineteen  days;  after 
which  time  he  sailed  for  the  western  islands  of  Scotland,  with  a  view 
to  proceed  to  the  north  of  Ireland.  The  weather,  however,  again  be- 
coming stormy,  he  parted  from  his  twenty-four  gun  ship  ;  and  being 
entreated  by  his  officers  to  return  with  his  now  diminished  force,  de- 
clared that  he  would  not  again  show  himself  in  France  until  he  had 
struck  some  blow  for  the  service  of  his  country.  Landing  in  the  island 
of  Isla,  one  of  the  Hebrides,  he  behaved  with  much  moderation  and 
generosity,  paying  a  fair  price  for  cattle  and  other  provisions  which 
he  found  there.  Meanwhile  this  adventurer  had  alarmed  all  the  coasts 
of  Britain  and  Ireland.  Regular  troops  and  militia  were  posted  in 
various  places,  where  it  was  thought  that  he  would  most  probably  at- 
tempt a  landing.  Commodore  Boys  pursued  him  round  the  Orkneys, 
while  ships  of  war  were  ordered  to  scour  St.  George's  Channel,  in 
order  to  intercept  his  return.  In  February,  1760,  sailing  from  Isla, 
he  proceeded  to  the  bay  of  Carrickfergus.  On  the  2 1st  of  that  month, 
he  effected  a  landing,  and  attacked  the  town,  which  colonel  Jennings, 
with  a  force  greatly  inferior,  defended  with  intrepidity  and  skill,  and 
made  an  obstinate  resistance  ;  and  even  after  the  enemy  had  taken 
one  part  of  the  town,  continued  to  defend  the  remainder,!  but  was  at 
last  obliged  to  yield  to  the  force  of  the  enemy.  He  surrendered  by 
capitulation,  by  which  he  preserved  the  castle  from  attack.     Mean- 

•  Called  the  Belleisle,  and  carrying  forty  four  guns. 

f  The  following  note,  which  1  transcribe  from  Smollet's  history,  will,  I  doubt 
not,  be  acceptable  to  my  readers,  as  a  striking  instance  of  the  union  of  courage 
and  humanity.  "  While  the  French  and  English  were  hotly  engaged  in  one  of 
the  streets.a  little  child  ran  playfully  between  them,  having  no  idea  of  the  danger 
to  whieh  it  was  exposed ;  a  common  soldier  of  the  enemy,  perceiving  the  life  of 
this  poor  innocent  at  stake,  grounded  his  piece,  advanced  deliberately  between 
the  lines  of  the  fire,  took  up  the  child  in  his  arms,  and  conveyed  it  to  a  place  of 
safety ;  then,  returning  to  his  place,  resumed  his  musket,  and  renewed  his  hos- 
tility." 


XQS  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  I.— ir60. 

[Operations  in  the  West  and  East  Indies.] 

while  the  militia  assembling  from  all  the  neighbouring  districts,  Thu- 
rot  found  it  neccssury  to  depart. 

At  this  lime,  cantam  John  Elliot,  a  young  officer  who  had  already 
greatly  distins^uished  himself  by  acts  of  valour,  huviiitj  sailed  from 
Kinsale  with  three  fria;ales,  was  on  iiis  way  to  meet  Thurot  On  the 
2Sih  of  February  he  descried  him  off  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  imniedi- 
etely  gave  signal  for  battle,  in  which  Thurot  very  readily  engaged. 
Both  si 'es  foBght  very  valiantly,  but  the  Britons  carried  the  day. 
The  adventurous  hero  was  killed,  and  his  ship  surrendered  themselves 
to  the  conquerors.  The  name  of  Thurot  had  become  so  terrible  to 
merchants,  that  the  defeat  and  captu'  e  of  his  squadron  were  celebrated 
%vith  as  hearty  rejoicings  as  the  most  important  victory  could  have 
produced- 

The  West  Indies,  at  the  commencement  of  thb  war,  had  been  but 
little  attended  to  by  ;vI^  administration,  equally  narrow  in  its  views  as 
feeble  in  its  resolutions.  Commodore  Frankland  had  been  sent,  in 
17  5,  with  four  ships  of  the  line ;  and  admiral  Coates  had,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  1757,  taken  the  command;  but  nothing  material  had  been 
done.  Toward  the  end  of  1757,  a  British  squadron,  much  inferior  to 
the  French  in  point  of  force,  engaged  them  off  Cape  Francois,  and 
forced  them  to  retreat  in  a  scattered  condition.  Several  other  actions 
took  place,  but  these  were  unimportant  in  the  result. 

The  comprehensive  genius  of  Mr.  Pitt  was  directed  Avith  vigour, 
and  effect,  not  to  a  part,  but  to  the  whole  interests  of  his  country.  He 
attacked  the  enemy  in  every  quarter  where  they  could  be  annoyed  by 
attack.  He  proposed,  in  1758,  to  send  an  expedition  against  the  French 
settlements  in  the  West  Indies,  and  a  strong  armament  was  equipped 
under  general  Hobson  and  commodore  Moore,  who  commanded  the 
land  and  sea  forces.  They  arrived  in  the  West  Indies  at  the  latter 
end  of  1758.  Mariinico  was  the  first  object  of  their  destination  ;  but, 
finding  that  island  very  strongly  defended,  they  proceeded  to  Guada- 
loupe,  thirty  leagues  to  the  westward.  Arriving  there  on  the  23d  of 
January,  they  made  a  general  attack  upon  the  citadel,  the  town,  and 
the  various  batteries  by  which  it  was  defended.  The  enemy  made  an 
obstiujitc  resistance;  but  their  cannon  being  at  last  silenced,  the 
IJiitish  troops  were  enabled  to  land  ;  on  which  the  French  abandoned 
tiie  town  and  its  fortifications.  In  the  interior  parts  of  Guudaloupe,  a 
vigorous  resistance  was  made,  but  at  length  proved  ineffectual.  The 
whole  island  was  concniered,  and  the  neighbouring  islands  of  Dcseada 
and  Mcii  igahuue  surrendered  themselves  to  the  Bi  itish  arms.  Though, 
in  1760,  the  operations  of  Britain  in  the  West  Indies  were  not  so 
splendid  as  in  the  preceding  year,  they  were  far  from  being  unim- 
portant. A  dangerous  insurrection  took  place  among  the  slaves  in 
Jamaica,  which  was  suppressed,  not  without  great  difhculty.  The 
Biitish  completely  protected  the  trade  of  their  country, annoyed  that 
of  the  enemy,  and  destroyed  or  took  numbers  of  French  privateers, 
and  several  ships  of  war  On  the  whole,  they  had  in  that  quarter 
gained  valuable  acquisitions  from  the  enemy,  and  so  completely  es- 
tabiibhcd  their  superiority,  as  to  have  pavetl  the  way  for  future  con- 
quest. 

The  same  general  policy  which  directed  France  to  her  encroach- 
metits  in  America,  had  also  extended  to  India;  but,  that  we  may  have 
%  clear  view  of  the  operations  and  events  in  that  quarter,  it  is  ncces* 


ireO.—Cuxv.l.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI  ]09 

[Designs  and  proceedings  of  tlie  French  in  the  East  Indies.] 

sary  lo  consider  tlie  state  of  our  settlements  and  those  of  the  French 
at  the  lime  when  our  narrative  bct;;ins.  Immense  have  been  the  ac- 
cessions to  British  power  and  influence  in  that  country,  during  the 
period  ol  which  our  history  treats;  but  of  both  progress  and  results 
we  can  judge  only  by  first  taking  a  view  of  the  outset. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  possessions 
of  the  English  in  India  were  merely  commcicial  factories,  guarded  by 
forts  near  the  sea  coast,  or  on  the  great  navigable  rivers.  They  had 
penetrated  very  little  into  the  interior  parts  of  the  country,  except  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ganges.  At  this  time,  England  had,  on  ihe  Malabar, 
or  western  coast  of  the  peninsula,  possessed  Sural,  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  mouth  of  the  Indus,  and  the  most  northern  settlement 
on  that  coasjt.  Proceeding  southward,  their  next  factory  was  Bombay, 
situated  on  a  small  island.  After  that  came  Tillicherry  fifteen  leagues 
from  which  was  Calicut,  The  last  and  most  southern  settlement 
which  they  possessed  on  the  Malabar  coast,  was  Anjengo.  Doublings 
Cape  Comorin,  and  coming  to  the  coast  of  Coromitndcl,  the  first  En- 
glish establishment  that  met  the  sailor,  was  Fort  St  David's.  Far- 
ther to  the  northward,  was  the  principal  possession  on  the  eastern 
coast,  Fort  St  Geori;e,  called  Madras,  from  its  contiguity  to  that  city, 
which,  with  several  villages  in  the  vicinity,  was  purchased  in  the  last 
century,  by  the  East  India  company  from  the  king  of  Golconda.  Still 
farther  to  the  northward,  was  the  chief  British  settlement  in  India, 
Fort  William,  close  to  the  town  of  Calcutta,  situated  in  the  kingdom 
of  Bengal,  on  the  Hoogley,  a  branch  of  the  Ganges.  Besides  these 
settlements,  the  English  had  several  interior  iacloiies  for  the  pur- 
poses of  trade,  which  were  secured  by  forts.  They  had  also  settle- 
ments at  Bencoolen,  and  other  parts  of  India  beyond  the  Ganges. 

Tlie  principal  French  possession  was  the  city  of  Pondicherry,  on 
the  Coromaiitiel  coast,  betvi  een  Forts  St.  David  and  St.  George.  This 
was  a  large  and  populous  town.  On  the  Malabar  c:iast  tliey  had  also 
established  factories  at  Suiat  and  C'alicut,  and  at  llajapore.  On  the 
Ganges  they  had  a  factory  at  Chandernagore,  above  Calcutta. 

When  peace  was  concluded  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  M.  Ditpleixwas  the 
French  governor-general  in  India.  He  Avas  a  man  of  great  ability  and 
soaring  ambition,  who  projected  the  establishment  of  the  empire  of 
France  in  Hindostan.  For  that  purpose  he  embraced  the  same  policy 
which  had  been  adopted  by  his  countrymen  in  America,  of  stirring  up 
the  natives  against  tlie  British  settlers.  All  the  provinces  and  king- 
doms of  Hindostan  had  belonged  to  the  empire  of  the  mogul;  but  his 
power  had  been  so  much  reduced  by  Kouli  Khan,  that  he  was  not  able 
to  assert  his  former  authority  over  sucli  extensive  dominions.  The 
princes  that  had  been  tributary,  and  even  the  subuhs  and  nabobs,  who 
had  been  governors  appointed  by  him,  his  own  officers  and  servants, 
now  refused  to  acknowledge  his  superiority,  and  asserted  their  indepen- 
dent supremacy  over  their  respective  territories.  These  princes  or  chief- 
tains very  often  quarrelled  with  otte  anotlier,  and  naturally  solicited  the 
assistance  of  European  settlers  in  their  neighbouihood;  while  the  Eu- 
ropeans, on  the  other  hand,  endeavoured  to  interest  the  native  princes 
in  their  contests.  Dupleix  seeing  that  they  might  be  useful  tools  in 
the  execution  of  his  project,  paid  great  court  to  these  chiefs,  especially 
such  of  them  as  showed  themselves  bold  and  unprincipled  adventurers. 
Nizam  Amuluck,  the  subah  or  viceroy  of  Decan,  having  officially  the 


110  IllSTOUY  Of   THE  Chap.  I.— 1760.- 

[Colotiel  Clive.     Capture  of  Calcutta.     Black  Hole  prison] 

anpouitmcnt  of  a  nabob  or  governor  of  Arcot,  had.  nominated  Anaverdi 
kliaii  to  tluit  office.  The  viceroy  dying,  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Na7.ir/,ing,  uhoni  the  mogul  confirmed.  Between  the  subah  and  the 
English  at  Fort  St.  George,  there  was  an  amicable  intercourse.  Du- 
pleix  supported  a  pretender  to  the  office,  Muza  Pherzing,  cousin  to  the 
other:  and  found  means  to  engage  Chunda  Salb,  an  enterprising  ad- 
venturer, in  favour  of  tlie  pretender,  against  the  legally  constituted  vice- 
roy.^ A  body  of  Englisli  troops  advanced;  the  French,  afraid  of  an 
engagement,  retired.  The  pretender,  abandoned  by  his  own  army, 
threw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  his  cousin,  who  spared  his  life,  but  for 
his  own  security  kept  him  in  confinement.  Dupleix,  disappointed  in 
Ills  project  of  raising  by  his  own  force  an  usurper  who  would  be  stibservi- 
ent  to  his  designs,  formed  a  couj^jjiracy  against  the  viceroy's  life.  ,  The 
chief  conspirators  were  his  prime  minister  and  two  of  his  nabobs.  En- 
couraged and  stimulated  by  the  Frenchman,  they  murdered  tlteir  master^ 
and. releasing  the  cousin,  proclaimed  him  viceroy  of  Decan.  The  usurper 
associated  M.  Dupleix  with  himself  in  the  government.  In  the  tents  of 
the  murdered  viceroy  they  found  an  immense  treasure,  of  which  a  great 
share  fell  to  Dupleix,  the  promoter  of  the  crime.  The  usurping  col- 
leagues in  the  viceroyalty  attacked  the  nabob  of  Arcot,  who  was  le- 
gally appointed  by  the  royal  viceroy,  and  under  the  protection  of  the 
English  presidency  at  Madras.  They  dispossessed  him  of  his  govern- 
ment, and  appointed  Chunda  Saib,  their  own  agent,  nabob  of  Arcot. 
The  Ensilish,  considering  these  proceedings  as  an  aggression  on  their 
ally,  and  as  tending  to  raise  the  French  influence  to  a  very  dangerous 
height,  sent  a  considerable  force  to  repel  the  usurper  and  his  French 
auxiliaries.  The  British  troops  were  commanded  by  the  celebrated 
Clive.  This  gentleman  had  entered  into  the  service  of  the  East  India 
comjjaiiy  as  a  writer;  but  lieing  formed  for  more  arduous  situations, 
and  desirous  of  a  militar}  life,  lie  had  offered  his  services  in  that  capa- 
city, and  was  employed  to  command  in  this  expedition.  With  such 
i-eso1utiou,  secresy,  and  despatch,did  he  proceed,  that  the  enemy  knew 
nolhing  of  his. approach  until  he  was  actually  before  their  capital;  and 
the  capture  of  Arcot,  an  important  acquisition  to  tlie  British  interest, 
was  farther  memorable,  fioni  being  the  lir.st  occasion  in  which  Clive 
displayed  his  extraordinary  talent'^.  Meanwhile,  the  usurper  of  the 
Decan  having  been  murdered,  Sallabah  Sing,  the  younger  of  the  two 
brothers  of  the  former  viceroy,  was  proclaimed  by  M.  Dupleix,  in  op- 
position to  the  elder,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  mogul,  and  sup- 
ported by  the  English.  The  usurper,  hndingmeansto  ctit  oft"  his  broth- 
er by  poison,  and.  considering  himself  as  undoubted  viceroy,  made  a  grant 
toM.  Dupleix,  of  all  the  t*lnglish  possessions  north  from  Pondicherry, 
cons('f|uently  including  Madras.  Dupleix  was,  in  1753,  preparing  to 
avail  himself  of  this  grant,  when  he  was  recalled  to  Europe,  and  a  suc- 
cessor appointed.  Sieur  Godeheu,  the  new  French  governor,  being  of 
a  le3>;  daring  character  than  Dupleix,  did  not  venture  to  carry  his  de- 
signs into  execution,  but  proceeded  more  secretly  against  the  English 
interest,  by  stimulating  the  native  princes  to  hostilities.  While  he  was 
pursuing  these  measures,  he  professed  the  most  pacific  intentions,  and 
even  concluded  a  provincial  treaty  with  the  presidency  of  Madras. 
War,  however,  soon  commenced  in  the  Carnatic;  and  there  the  English, 
commanded  by  general  Stringer  Lawrence,  were  on  the  whole  success- 

•  See  SmoUet's  Continuation,  vol.  ii. 


/ 


1760.— Ciur.  I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  lU.  HI 

[Colonel  Clive  restores  the  British  interest.] 

ful.  But  a  severe  blow  was  struck  against  them  in  another  quarter  of 
India,  a  blow  wliich  may  be  traced  to  the  artifices  and  intiigues  of  tlie 
Fronch.  Alii  Verdi  Khan,  subah  of  Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Orissa,  a  man 
of  great  abilities,  having  died  in  April,  1756,  was  succeeded  by  liis 
adopted  son,  Sou  Rajali  Dowla,  a  young  man  weak  in  his  understanding, 
violent  in  his  passions,  and  profligate  in  his  morals.  The  old  vi<eroy 
on  his  death-bed  had  exhorted  Dowla  to  bend  his  principal  attention 
to  the  reduction  of  the  English.  Impressed  with  tliese  ideas,  the  young 
subah,  soon  after  his  accession,  marched  to  Calcutta,  and  sunnnoned 
the  fort  and  city  to  surrender.  Mr.  Ilolwell,  the  governor,  with  a 
lew  officers,  and  a  very  feeble  garrison,  maintained  the  city  and  fort 
with  uncommon  resolution  and  courage,  against  several  attacks,  until 
he  was  overpowered  by  numl)ers,  and  the  enemy  had  forced  their  way 
into  the  castle.  He  then  subnutted,  the  subah  having  promised,  on  the 
word  of  a  soldier,  that  no  injury  should  be  done  to  him  or  his  garrison. 
Nevertheless,  they  were  all  driven,  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  and 
forty -six  persons  of  both  sexes,  into  a  place  called  the  Black  Hole  pri- 
son, a  cube  of  about  eighteen  feet,  in  which  there  was  hardly  any  cur- 
rent of  air.  Here  they  were  exposed  to  a  scene  of  as  cruel  distress  as 
can  be  conceived;  most  of  them  died  in  tlie  greatest  agony,  but  INlr. 
Ilolwell  and  a  few  others  came  out  alive. 

Colonel  Clive  was  at  this  time  employed  in  the  comp^^ny's  service 
in  another  part  of  India.  On  the  Malabar  coast,  he  and  admiral  Wat- 
son reduced  Angria,  a  piratical  prince,  who  had  been  extremely  formi- 
dable to  all  those  countries.  Returning  in  triumph  to  Madras,  they 
concerted  measures  for  the  restoration  of  the  British  affairs  in  Bengal. 
On  the  fifstof  January,  1757,  the  company's  armament  arrived  o8"  Cal- 
cutta. The  admiral  with  two  ships,  attacked  the  town,  and  though 
opposed  by  the  enemy's  batteries,  in  two  hours  silenced  their  guns;  on 
which,  as  fast  as  possible,  they  abandoned  the  place  and  fort.  Colonel 
Clive  attacked  the  town  in  another  quarter,  and  by  his  intrepid  conduct 
facilitated  the  reduction  of  the  settlement.  Soon  after  he  attacked  and 
took  Hoogley,  a  city  of  ^-eat  trade,  and  containing  immense  stores, 
magazines,  and  riches,  belonging  to  the  subah.  The  viceroy  of  Bengal 
advanced  with  an  army  of  20,000  horse  and  15,000  foot,  being  resolved 
to  expel  the  English  out  of  his  dominions.  On  the  2d  of  February,  he 
arrived  opposite  the  English  camp,  within  a  mile  of  Calcutta.  Clive, 
being  re-enforced  from  the  fleet,  drew  up  his  army  and  attacked  the 
enemy  so  vigorously,  that  the  viceroy  retreated  with  the  loss  of  a  thou- 
sand men  kdled  or  taken  prisoners,  and  a  great  number  of  horses  with 
all  their  spoils.  Intimidated  by  his  defeat,  the  viceroy,  on  the  9th  of 
February,  made  a  peace,  the  general  principle  of  which  was,  that  the 
factories  and  possessions  taken  from  the  English  company  should  be 
restored;  that  their  losses  should  be  completely  compensated;  that  m  hat- 
ever  rights  and  privileges  had  in  any  former  time  been  granted  by  the 
mogul,  should  be  confirmed  and  established  for  the  future;  and  that 
the  English  should  have  the  liberty  to  fortify  Calcutta  in  any  man- 
ner which  they  should  judge  expedient.  Having  concluded  this  treaty 
■with  the  viceroy,  colonel  Clive  and  admiral  Watson  turned  their  vic- 
torious arms  against  the  French,  and  attacked  their  fortress  and  fac- 
tory at  Chandernagore,  situated  farther  up  the  Ganges  than  Calcutta, 
strongly  fortified,  and  the  most  important  settlement  of  the  French  at 
Bengal.     It  was  garrisoned  by  five  hundred  Europeans  and  twelve 


llJi  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHAr.  I.— 1760, 

[Treachery  of  the  viceroy.    He  is  defeated  at  Plassey.] 

hundred  natives.  Clive,  now  re-enforced  by  troops  from  Bombay,  in- 
vested the  place  on  the  land  side;  admirals  Watson  and  Pococke  at- 
tacked it  on  the  Ganges:  their  united  efforts  "soon  compelled  the  enemy 
to  subunit,  and  the  place  was  surrendered.  The  ammunition,  stores, 
effects,  and  money  found  in  Chandernagore,  were  very  considerable;  but 
the  chief  advantage  of  the  con(iupst  arose  from  depriving  tlie  enemy  of 
their  principal  settlement  on  the  Ganges,  which  had  greatly  interfered 
with  the  English  commerce  on  that  river.  The  viceroy  was  far  from 
being  pleased  with  the  ])rogress  of  the  English.  lie  indeed  discovered 
a  great  partiality  towards  the  French,  and  evidently  showed  an  inten- 
tion of  joining  them  as  soon  as  he  should  be  prepared  for  hostilities. 
He  evaded  ihe  performance  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty  which  he 
had  so  lately  sif^ned,  and  concerted  with  French  agents  to  attack  the 
English,  while  they  promised  him  the  assistance  of  such  a  body  of 
European  troops  as  would  enable  him  to  diive  th<^m  out  of  his  vici- 
nity. Mr.  Walts,  a  man  of  ability,  was  then  English  resident  at  the 
viceroy's  court,  and  possessed  considerable  influence  with  the  subah's 
ministers.  He  not  only  learned,  and,  was  able  to  communicate  to  the 
council  of  Calcutta,  the  intentions  of  ihe  subah,  but  found  means  to 
fo :m  a  party  against  iiim  in  his  own  country.  The  subah,  by  all  the 
arrogant  insolence  of  a  mean  and  despicable  mind  in  high  power,  had 
provoked  the  enmity  of  the  chief  men  in  his  court  and  army  A  plan 
was  concerted  for  depriving  him  of  his  power,  and  conducted  by 
Mcer  Jaffier  Alii  Khan,  his  near  ally  by  n\arriage,  prime  minister  and 
chief  commander  of  the  army.  The  project  being  communicated  to 
Mr.  Watts,  he  sent  intelligence  of  it  to  the  company,  and  by  the  com- 
pany's authority  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  ma. contents  for  depriving 
Dowhih  of  a  power  which  he  was  trying  to  render  destructive  to  the 
English  interest.  Colonel  Clive,  strongly  urged  by  Jaffier,  took  the 
field  to  assist  the  malcontents.  The  English  commander,  with  a  hand- 
ful of  troops,  began  his  march.  Crossing  the  Ganges,  he  advanced 
to  Plassey,  within  one  day's  march  of  Moorshedahad,  the  capital  of 
Bengal.  There  he  found  the  viceroy  encamped  with  seventy  thou- 
sand men,  in  ail  the  feeble  magnificence  which  eastern  effemin.icy  has 
in  all  ages  brought  against  European  hardiness,  courage,  and  resour- 
ces ofintellect.  The  elephants,  with  their  scarlet  housings,  the  rich 
and  variegated  embroidery  of  their  tents  and  standardb,  the  glitter- 
ing parade  and  costly  decorations  of  their  cavalry,  their  gilded  cano- 
pies, equalled  any  of  the  pageantry  which  a  Persian  satrap  or  kinj, 
ever  brought  against  the  wisdom,  strength,  or  valour,  of  Greece  or 
Macedon  The  subah,  as  weak  and  timid  in  difficulty  and  danger, as 
insolent  and  overbearing  in  safety  and  prosperity,  now  courted  the 
forgiveness  and  friendship  of  Meer  Jaffier  ;  and  believing  that  he  had 
prevailed,  gave  him  the  command  of  his  left  wing.  Colonel  Clive, 
with  about  three  thousand  two  hundred  men,  advanced  against  more 
than  twenty  times  that  number.  Jaffier  took  no  part  whatever  in  the 
action  ;  the  rest  of  the  Indian  troops  were  completely  defeated  with 
the  loss  on  the  side  of  the  conquerors  of  only  seventy  men.  Colonel 
Clive,  with  wise  policy,  forbearing  to  express  any  resentment  against 
the  part  which  Jaffier  from  indecision  and  double  treachery  had  acted, 
saw  that  he  woidd  be  a  useful  tool  in  the  hands  of  England.  He  salut- 
ed him  subah  of  the  three  provinces,  and  exhorted  him  to  pursue  his 
march  to  Moorshedabad,  engaging  to  follow  him  immediately  with 


1760.— CuAP.  I.  liElGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  ]-l3 

[Revolution  In  Bengal.     Operations  of  M.  Lally.] 

his  army.  Arriving  at  the  capital,  colonel  Clive  deposed  Surajah 
Dowlah,  and  with  great  solemnity  substituted  in  his  place  Jaffier,  who 
was  publicly  acknowledged  by  the  people  as  viceroy  of  the  provinces 
ot"  Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Orissa.  Jaffier  put  to  death  his  predecessor, 
and  granted  to  his  allies  and  suppoiters,  the  English,  all  the  condi- 
tions on  compliance  with  which  they  granted  his  vice-royalty.  He 
paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  company,  a  crore  of  rupees,*  as  an  in- 
demnification for  their  losses  at  Calcutta,  and  ceded  to  them  a  consi- 
derable territory,  in  the  vicinity  of  that  city.  Thus,  in  the  space  of 
fourteen  days,  a  great  revolution  was  effected,  and  the  command  of  a 
country  superior  in  extent,  fruilfulness,  riches,  and  population,  to 
most  European  kingdoms,,  was,  by  a  handful  of  troops,  who  were 
headed  by  an  officer  bred  to  a  civil  profession  and  not  instructed  in 
the  art  of  war,  transferred  to  a  company  of  merchants  residing  in  one 
of  the  most  remote  corners  of  the  globe.  Thus  ended  the  war  with 
Surajah  Dowlah,  in  which  the  viceroy  of  Bengal  was  not  only  the 
aggressor,  but  had  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  power,  perpetrated  the 
most  atrocious  cruelties.  The  subsequent  conduct  of  Clive  was  ne- 
cessary to  procure  justice  to  his  injured  country.  After  the  subah 
had  concluded  a  peace,  which  restored  to  the  English  their  rights, 
and  indemnified  them  for  their  wrongs,  he  immediately  entered  into 
a  concert  with  their  enemies  for  violating  the  peace,  and  depriving 
them  of  their  long  established  possessions  and  privileges  ;  but  being 
as  weak  as  wicked,  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  his  own  ill  conducted  villany. 

While  the  northern  provinces  of  India  engrossed  the  principal  atten- 
tion of  the  company's  council  and  officers,  the  French  took  advantage 
of  the  temporary  absence  of  their  forces  from  the  coast  of  Coroman- 
del,  and  attacked  Ingeram,  Vizagapatam,  and  other  settlements  in 
that  quarter. 

In  1758,large  re-enforcements  arrived  under  M.  Lally,  with  a  strong 
squadron  under  M.  d'Apche,  and  the  enemy  projected  the  entire  con- 
(juest  of  the  English  possessions  on  that  coast.  They  invested  Fort 
St.  David's  in  the  south  part  of  the  Carnatic,  and,  before  an  English 
force  could  arrive  to  its  assistance,  compelled  it  to  surrender.  Lallv 
also  attacked  Tanjore,  because  the  rajah  had  distinguished  himself  as 
the  zealous  and  faithful  ally  of  the  English.  The  French  gener?^  de- 
manded of  him  a  sum  of  money  which  would  have  amounted  to  8  J0,000/. 
Being  refused,  he  invested  the  city  ;  but  the  rajah's  native  iroops,  as- 
sisted by  British  engineers,  made  so  vigorous  a  defepce,  that  the 
French  general  was  repulsed  with  loss,  and  obliged  to^aisethe  siege. 
Retreating  northwards  from  Tanjore,  he  took  possession  of  the  city 
of  Arcot,  and  made  preparations  for  the  siege  of  Madras.  The  En- 
glish were  at  this  time  so  much  surpassed  w  land  force,  that  during 
the  remainder  of  the  campaign  they  acte-i  on  the  defensive. 

The  same  year  admiral  Pococke  su-ceeded  to  the  command  of  the 
British  fleets  in  India,  on  the  death ->fadmi»'al  Watson.  On  the  26th 
of  March,  he  came  up  with  the  e-iemy's  ships  in  the  road  of  Fort  St. 
David's,  and  attacked  them  in  t^e  afternoon.  D'Apche  having  fought 
warmly  for  two  hours,  in  the  evening  retreated.     The  misbehaviour 

•  A  rupee  is  about  2*.  6</.<  a  lack  13  100,000  rupees,  that  is  about  12,500/. :  a 
crore  is  a  hundred  lacks:  consequently,  1,250,000/. 

Vol.  VII.— 15 


^  1 4  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap,  I.— 17G0. 

[Naval  cngngcment.     M.  Lally  tlefeated  by  colonel  Coote.] 

of  three  of  his  captains*  prevented  Pocockc  from  a  successful  pursuit. 
Tiic  next  clay  he  learned,  that  the  enemy  had  lost  a  ship  of  the  line, 
■which  had  been  damaged  in  the  engagement.  About  five  hundred  of 
the  enemy  vere  killed  or  wounded,  and  scarcely  one  hundred  of  the 
English.  This  was  the  first  action  ever  fought  between  a  British 
and  French  fleet  in  the  Indian  seas;  and,  notwithstanding  the  disad- 
vantages under  which  admiral  Pococke  laboured,  it  was  auspicious  to 
England. 

Admiral  Pococke  having  gone  into  harbour,  to  repair  the  damage 
incurred  by  his  fleet,  as  soon  as  he  was  refitted,  set  sail  again  in 
quest  of  the  enemy.  Having  cruised  for  several  weeks,  he  found  them 
on  the  27lh  of  July  at  anchor  in  Pondichcrry  road.  On  descrying  the 
English  fleet,  the  French  unmoored  and  fled,  Pococke  closely  pur- 
suing tlie  enemy,  could  not  come  up  with  theni  (ill  the  ;5d  of  August, 
when  having  obtained  the  weather-gage,  he  bore  down  on  them  in  or- 
der of  battle.  The  engngoment  began  with  great  fury  on  both  sides  ; 
but  in  a  short  time  the  French  retreated  toward  Pondicherry.  Night 
intervening,  they  escaped;  but  their  ships  were  SO  much  damaged, 
that  they  were  obliged  to  sail  to  the  Mauritius  to  refit,  and  thus  leave 
to  Fngland  the  sovereignly  of  the  Indian  seas. 

But  the  completion  of  British  victory  over  the  French  in  India  was 
reserved  for  the  glorious  1759.  In  the  month  of  December,  1758, 
Lally  began  his  march  towards  Madras,  and  in  the  beginning  of  Janu- 
ary commenced  liie  investment  of  that  important  fortress.  The  be- 
sieged, though  inferior  to  him  in  strength,  made  a  gallant  defence. 
The  event  was  for  some  weeks  doubtful ;  but  a  considerable  re-en- 
forcement of  troops  and  stores  arriving,  conducted  by  captain  Kem- 
penfelt,  M.  Lally  raised  the  siege,  and  retreated  to  Arcot,  extremely- 
chagrined  at  his  ill  success. 

About  the  same  lime  a  detachment  under  colonel  Ford  dispossess- 
ed the  French  of  Vizagapatam,  and  Masulipatam.  Thesubah  of  the 
Decan,  who  had  been  favourable  to  the  French  as  long  as  they  appear- 
ed superior,  finding  the  iMiglish  now  so  powerful  in  his  neighborhood, 
proposed  a  treaty  to  the  government  of  Madras.  An  alliance  was  ac- 
co.'dingly  concluded,  by  which  he  renounced  all  connexion  with 
Fran-.c,  and  ceded  the  entire  circar  of  Masulipatam  to  the  company; 
who  oi.  tlieir  part,  engaged  not  to  assist  or  countenance  the  subah's 
enemies. 

Colonel  Coote  now  commanded  the  English  forces  in  the  Carnatic, 
and,  being  ablt  to  act  on  the  offensive,  proceeded  against  Lally.  Hav- 
ing gained  scverd  advantages  over  the  enemy,  he  endeavoured  to 
bring  him  to  a  genern,]  engagement,  which  he  effected  at  Wandwalsh. 
In  this  battlet  the  English  gained  agreatand  important  victory,  which 
decided  the  fate  of  French  India  on  the  Coromandel  coast.  Lally, 
with  the  remainder  of  his  irooj>s,  retired  to  Pondicherry,  The  Bri- 
tish general  recovered  Arcot ;  ar.d,  except  Pondicherry,  the  French 
had  no  settlement  of  any  importance  in  the  Carnatic. 

•  Twoof  the  Enpllbh  captains  being  tried,  vere  dismissed  the  service;  and 
the  third  was  deprived  of  liis  rank  as  post  captain  for  one  year. 

f  From  the  detail  of  this  engagement,  to  be  found  in  SmoIIet,  it  appears,  that 
great  valour  was  displayed  on  both  sides;  but  that  the  French  general  was  rasli 
and  impetuous;  and  that  the  victory  of  the  English  was  owing  to  colonel  Coolc'a 
superior  skill. 


1760.~CuAp.  I.  UKKiN  OF  (;K()U(iR  Ilf.  115 

[Transaclions  in  Europe.     Operations  of  prince  Ferdinand.] 

The  conquest  of  Arcot  finished  the  campaign.*  Admiral  Pocockc, 
during  the  sume  campaign,  again  defeated  the  French  and  compelled 
them  to  leave  those  seas.  On  tlie  Malabar  coast,  a  squadron  of  En- 
glisii,  under  captain  Richard  Muilland,  made  themselves  masters  of 
the  factory  of  Surat. 

Thus  we  have  seen  French  aggression,  after  being  for  a  time  suc- 
cessful, rousing  British  energy,  and  producing  Britisli  victory;  wc 
have  seen  her  attempts  to  exalt  herself  by  humbling  England,  lead 
to  her  own  humiliation,  and  the  aggrandizement  of  her  rival;  and  wc 
have  seen  her  unjust  and  unwarrantable  ambition  discomfilcd-  Such 
was  the  state  of  atlairs  where  Britain  was  engaged  for  hcrscU  solely; 
we  must  now  follow  her  to  her  co-opcratixin  with  allies.  We  left 
Frederick  in  winter  quarters,  after  the  campaign  of  1757,  that  glori- 
ous era  in  his  history.  In  England,  the  king  of  Prussia,  since  the 
dissolution  of  his  political  connexion  with  France,  and  his  alliance 
with  this  country,  had  become  a  very  popular  character.  This  pre- 
dilection rose  to  enthusiasm,  on  his  gaining  the  victory  at  llosebach 
over  the  ancient  enemy  of  Britain.  The  union  of  the  two  catholic 
powers  was  by  many  considered  as  a  confederacy  to  oppress  and  sul>- 
vert  the  protestant  interest  of  Germany.  The  English  applauded 
and  extolled  Frederick  as  the  protestant  hero,  and  anxious  for  his 
success,  were  willing  to  contribute  towards  his  support  and  defence. 
Mr.  Pitt,  having  taken  a  view  of  the  state  of  afiairs  on  the  continent, 
as  well  as  the  whole  operations  of  the  year,  saw  that  the  strenuous 
eflbrls  of  Britain  were  necessary  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power; 
and  that  exertions  in  Germany,  by  employing  the  strength  of  France 
in  that  quarter,  would  weaken  her  operations  in  America.  lie  there- 
fore proposed,  that  a  strong  army  should  co-operate  with  the  king  of 
Prussia  in  Germany  in  the  ensuing  campaign.  A  subsidiary  treaty 
was  concluded,  by  which  the  king,xif  England  stipulated  to  pay  into 
the  hands  of  his  Prussian  majesty,  the  annual  sum  of  670,000/.  to  be 
employed  at  his  discretion  for  the  good  of  the  common  cause  ;  and 
parliament  cheerfully  voted  the  necessary  supplies  for  that  object, 
and  other  purposes  of  the  war. 

The  convention  of  Cloister-seven  was  considered  as  a  disgrace  to 
the  nation,  and  also  as  infringed  by  the  subsequent  conduct  of  the 
French  in  Hanover.  The  army,  v/hich  had  been  dispersed  by  that 
treaty,  was  re-assembled  in  British  pay,  and  the  counnand,  by  the  ad- 
vice of  Mr.  Pitt,  bestowed  on  prince  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick  ;  whose 
object  in  the  campaign  of  1758  was  to  drive  eighty  thousand  Frencli 
troops  from  Lower  Saxony  and  ^Veslphalia.  His  own  forces  at  the 
beginning  of  the  campaign  consisted  of  only  thirty  thousand  Hano- 
verians, but  they  were  afterwards  joined  by  the  troops  of  Hesse-Cas- 
sel  and  Brunswick,  whom  England  engaged  by  subsidies  to  assist  in 
the  deliverance  of  Germany.  The  plan  of  operations  concerted  with 
Frederick  was,  to  compel  the  enemy  to  evacuate  Brunswick  and  Han- 
over, through  the  fear  of  having  their  communication  with  the  Rhine 
intercepted.  For  these  purposes  he  sent  in  March  two  detachments 
to  the  Weser,  of  which  one  gained  possession  of  Verden,  the  other, 
under  the  command  of  his  nephew,  ilie  hereditary  prince,  took  pos- 

•  The  campaign  somewhat  exceeded  the  boundaries  of  1759,  Arcot  being  taken 
in  tiie  beginning  of  February,  1760. 


116  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  I —1760 

[Battle  of  Crevelt.     Exploits  of  Frederick.] 

session  of  the  strong  and  important  post  of  Floyer.  In  April,  prince 
Ferdinand  himself,  crossing  the  Aller,  advanced  south  towards  Bruns- 
■\vick,  assisted  by  a  detachment  of  Prussian  troops  under  prince  Hen- 
ry, the  king's  brother.  M.  Clermont,  who  had  succeeded  Richelieu 
in  the  command  of  the  French  forces,  apprehensive  of  being  cut  off 
from  his  intercourse  with  the  Rhine  evacuated  Brunswick,  Wolfen- 
buttel,  and  Hanover,  and  marched  to  Westphalia.  Crossing  the  We- 
ser,  Ferdinand  besieged  Minden,  and  took  it  in  sight  of  the  enemy's 
army.  Count  Clermont  now  retreated  towards  the  Rhine  ;  repassed 
it  at  Wesel  in  INIay  ;  and  stationed  the  army  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  after  having  lost  a  number  of  his  troops,  which  were  taken  in 
the  retreat.  Ferdinand  would  not  suffer  them  to  remain  undisturbed 
■within  the  boundaries  of  Germany.  In  June,  he  attacked  them  at 
Crevelt  near  Cleves,  and  gained  a  victory  more  glorious  to  his  mili- 
tary character  than  decisive  in  its  consequences.  The  prince  of  Sou- 
bise,  who  commanded  a  considerable  body  of  French,  having  defeated 
a  detachment  of  Hessians,  Ferdinand  was  obliged  to  act  on  the  defen- 
sive, and  the  affairs  of  France  began  to  wear  a  more  favourable  as- 
pect. In  July,  twelve  thousand  British  troops  arriving  from  England 
under  the  command  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough  to  re-enforce  the  al- 
lies, Ferdinand  now  resumed  his  offensive  operations.  Through  his 
judicious,  well  planned,  and  well  executed  movements,  he  com- 
pletely effected  the  object  of  the  campaign,  by  driving  the  French  out 
of  Lower  Saxony  and  Westphalia.* 

The  king  of  Prussia  now  endeavored  to  make  the  utmost  advan- 
tage of  the  victories  which  he  had  gained  at  the  close  of  the  preced- 
ing campaign.  Of  Silesia,  the  fortress  of  Schweidnitz  alone  remain- 
ed in  the  hands  of  Austria.  This  place,  which  was  blockaded  during 
■winter,  on  the  return  of  spring  he  attacked  by  a  regular  siege.  Com- 
mencing his  works  on  the  2d  of  A^pril,  he  on  the  15th  carried  the  gar- 
rison by  assault.  Having  thus  completely  recovered  Silesia,  he  in- 
vaded Moravia,  and  besieged  Olmutz  its  capital  ;  but  having  opened 
the  trenches  at  too  great  a  distance  from  the  town,  he  spent  his  time 
and  ammunition  uselessly  ;  and  count  Daun  arriving,  obliged  him  to 
raise  the  siege.  Meanwhile  the  Russians  and  Cossacks  had  invaded 
Brandenburgh,  and  were  committing  the  most  barbarous  ravages. 
Their  army  being  divided  into  two  parts,  it  was  Frederick's  object  to 
come  between  them,  so  as  to  cut  off  their  communication  with  each 
other.  In  this  design  he  succeeded ;  and  was  able  to  bring  Roman- 
zow,  with  the  principal  division,  to  battle  at  Kustrin.f  The  ready  ge- 
nius of  the  Prussian  king,  on  perceiving  the  disposition  of  the  Rus- 
sian troops,  formed  his  men  in  such  a  way,  as  to  bear  with  his  artille- 
ry on  their  thick  mass,  and  prevent  the  parts  of  their  army  from  sup- 
porting each  other.  Success  followed  his  attempt;  he  gained  a  most 
decisive  victory;  and  the  loss  of  the  enemy  amounted  to  17,000  men, 
with  a  great  quantity  of  cannon  and  stores :  the  loss  on  the  side  of 
the  Prussians  amounted  to  about  twelve  hundred  men.  Having  thus 
freed  his  country  from  the  danger  of  the  Russians,  he  hastened  a- 
gainstthe  Auatrians  under  marshal  Daun.  On  the  14th  of  October, 
he  was  surprised  by  that  general  at  Hochkirchin  ;|  suffered  a  defeat, 

•  Smollet,  vol.  ii.  f     Giles.  t  Smollet. 


1760.— Chap.  I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III,  117 

[Defeat  of  the  French  at  Minden.    Losses  of  the  king  of  Prussia.] 

but  not  decisive  ;  acted  with  such  ability,  as  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  deriving  any  material  advantage  from  a  victory;  and  ultimately 
compelled  Daun  to  retire  into  Bohemia.  The  Russians  and  Swedes 
were  also  obliged  to  withdraw  to  Stralsund. 

In  1759,  prince  Ferdinand  took  the  field  against  the  French,  who 
had  again  invaded  Westphalia  in  great  force,  \inder  Messrs.  De  Con- 
tades  and  Broglio.  Prince  Ferdinand,  in  July,  found  them  posted  at 
Minden.  The  prince  thinking  the  enemy  too  strongly  posted  to 
render  an  attack  by  him  wise,  took  a  position  at  some  distance,  hop- 
ing to  provoke  them  to  commence  an  assault,  which  he  was  well  pre- 
pared to  resist.  The  French  generals  very  imprudently  left  their 
own  strong  posts- to  attack  prince  Ferdinand.  The  battle  began  at 
dawn,  and  was  fought  with  great  impetuosity  on  both  sides  till  noon; 
when  the  vigour,  firmness,  and  courage  of  the  English  infantry 
determined  the  fate  of  the  day,  and  gained  a  complete  victory.  The 
British  cavalry,  commanded  by  lord  George  Sackville,  were  ordered 
to  advance,  and  bear  down  upon  the  enemy  when  routed  and  flying. 
They  did  not  advance^  and  were  of  no  service  in  the  battle,*  The 
same  day,  the  hereditary  prince  of  Brunswick,  who  was  fast  rising  to 
military  eminence,  having  been  sent  by  his  uncle  against  a  detach- 
ment of  French  at  Gofeldt  with  six  thousand  men,  defeated  twice  that 
number  of  the  enemy,  killed  three  thousand  and  took  as  many  prison- 
ers. These  successes  enabled  Ferdinand  to  drive  the  French  a  se- 
cond time  out  of  Germany,  and  to  leave  the  allies  in  possession  of 
every  province  and  town  which  belonged  to  them  at  the  declaration 
of  war. 

The  campaign  of  1759  was  far  from  being  equally  prosperous  to 
the  Prussian  monarch.  Besides  the  formidable  enemies  that  he  had 
to  encounter  abroad,  he  was  distracted  at  home  by  dissensions  among 
his  generals.  It  was  the  object  of  the  Austrians  and  Russians,  who 
had  before  fought  separately,  to  form  a  junction  this  campaign. 
'Frederick's  first  purpose  was,  to  prevent  this  junction,  and  to  attack 
one  division  before  they  could  be  supported  by  another;  but  the  dis- 
orders among  the  generals  prevented  them  from  acting  with  their 
usual  skill  and  alacrity.  The  Prussians  were  defeated,  on  the  23d  of 
June,  at  Kay,  on  the  Oder,  with  the  loss  of  more  than  four  thousand 
men.  This  disaster  disconcerted  the  king's  measures,  and  was  the 
prelude  to  a  much  greater  defeat.  The  Austriunsand  Russians,  soon 
after  this  battle,  joined  their  forces  and  encamped  at  Kundersdorf, 
near  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  On  the  12th  of  August,  the  king  of 
Prussia  attacked  the  enemy,  and  had  almost  succeeded  in  defeating 
the  Russians,  when  the  intervention  of  marshal  Loudohn  and  the  Aus- 
trian army  gave  a  fatal  turn  to  affairs.  Notwithstanding  the  extra- 
ordinary efforts  of  the  king,  who  exposed  himself  in  the  most  danger- 
ous parts  of  the  field,  had  two  horses  shot  under  him,  and  his  clothes 
rent  by  musket  balls,  the  Prussians  were  completely  defeated  and 
dispersed  ;  the  approach  of  night  saved  their  army  from  total  ruin.f 

•  His  lordship's  conduct  on  this  occasion  underwent  an  inquiry  and  a  trial. 
He  alleged  in  his  defence,  that  contradictory  orders  had  been  sent.  This  allega- 
tion, however,  was  not  made  out  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court;  the  issue  was, 
that  he  was  declared  unfit  for  serving  his  majesty  in  a  iniUtary  capacity. 

f  The  king  finding  the  defeat  inevitable,  sent  a  letter  to  the  queen  in  these 


lis  msTOUY  or  the  Cuap.  r.— i?'6o. 

[French  invade  Germany.    Masterly  policy  of  Trederick.] 

The  pressure  of  calamity  served  only  to  increase  the  elastic  force  of 
rredcrick's  genius,  lie  recruited  his  army  with  indefatigable  dili- 
gence, replaced  his  artillery  from  the  arsenal  of  Berlin,  and  soon 
found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  body  of  ti  oops.  But  the 
jealousies  between  the  Russians  and  Austrians  concurred  with  the 
active  ability  of  Frederick.  When  Daun  proposed  to  pursue  the  ene- 
my, the  Russian  general  would  not  consent ;  and  the  time  was  wast- 
ed without  any  important  eBbrt,  until  winter  gave  the  Prussian  mon- 
arch some  respite  for  restoring  his  aflairs. 

In  1760,  the  court  of  Versailles  made  great  preparations  for  re- 
covering their  footing  in  Westphalia.  The  hereditary  prince,  in 
April,  having  assailed  the  count  de  Germain  too  adventurously,  was 
repulsed;  but  afterwards,  on  the  16th  of  July,  attacked  a  numerous 
body  of  the  enemy  at  Exdorf,  and  gained  a  brilliant  victory ;  five  bat- 
talions were  taken  prisoners,  with  their  arms,  baggage  and  artillery.* 
On  the  3 1st  of  the  same  month,  prince  Ferdinand,  with  the  main  ar- 
my, had  an  engagement  with  the  French  near  Cassel,  in  which  the 
enemy  were  compelled  to  retreat.  The  hereditary  prince  was  after- 
wards defeated  near  Campen,  but  by  a  masterly  retreat  was  able  to 
rejoin  the  main  array.  The  successes  of  that  campaign  towards  the 
close  were  very  various,  but  on  the  whole  it  was  not  favourable  to  the 
allies,  as  the  French  had  again  got  possession  of  agreat  partof  West- 
phalia, and  the  whole  principality  of  Hesse. 

The  king  of  Prussia  strained  every  nerve  to  compensate  the  losses 
of  the  preceding  year,  and  so  distributed  his  forces  as  to  oppose  the 
Russians,  Swedes  and  Austrians,  in  separate  divisions;  while  the 
Russians,  on  the  other  hand,  attempted  to  join  the  Austrians  in  Sile- 
sia. Frederick  used  every  art  to  animate  and  inspire  his  troops;  he 
addressed  himself  to  their  superstition,  credulity,  and  every  other 
principle  by  which  wise  policy  could  operate  upon  vulgar  minds : 
thus  inspired,  they  took  the  field.  The  king  found  means  to  com- 
bine attack  and  defence.  W^hile  protecting  Silesia,  he  invested  Dres- 
den ;  but  the  approach  of  Marshal  Daun  obliged  him  to  raise  the 
siege  of  that  city;  and  the  enemy  also  took  Glatz,  in  Silesia.  The 
king  found  it  necessary  now  to  resort  to  Silesia  in  person,  to  main- 
tain his  interest  in  that  long  contested  province  ;  with  his  usual  dex- 
terity, he  separated  two  divisions  of  the  Austrian  army,  and  kept  such 
positions  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  surround  his  forces,  lie 
changed  his  movements  and  posts  so  often,  that  he  kept  the  enemy  al- 
ways on  the  watch  ;  and  determined  to  attack  them  himself,  as  soon 
as  he  should,  by  marches  and  countermarches,  draw  the  one  division 
to  too  great  a  distance  from  the  other  to  receive  from  it  any  support. 
Jicfore  him  was  marshal  Daun  with  one  army  ;  behind  him,Loudohii 
with  another ;  and  he  was  informed  by  his  spies,  that  a  third  army  of 
Russians  had  crossed  the  Oder  and  joined  Daun.  Daun  being  re- 
cnforced  by  the  Russians,  on  the  evening  of  the  14th  of  August  pre- 
pared to  give  the  king  of  Prussia  battle.  Next  day  his  majesty  de- 
terms  :  "  Remove  from  nerlin  with  the  royal  family ;  let  the  archives  be  carried 
tol'otsdam  :  the  town  mny  make  conditions  with  llie  enemy." — Gillies. 

•  F.lliot's  rcg'imeiit  of  lij^ht  In^rse  a|ii)carc<l  lor  the  lirst  lime  in  the  field  upon 
this  occasion  :  and,  to  the  .istonishnicnl  of  tlic  veteran  ti<M)|>s,  cliaij^cd  five  dif- 
ferent times,  and  broke  through  the  enemy  at  every  charge.  Sec  lielshum's 
History  of  Great  Britain,  vol.  ii.  p.  478. 


irGfJ.-CuAr.I.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  119 

[Successive  defeats  of  the  Austrians,    Retreat  of  the  Russians.] 

camped  at  nij^ht  with  his  army,  and  crossed  the  Oder  towards  general 
Lrtudohn.     Frederick  took  possession  of  an    advantageous  ground, 
which  lie  justly  concluded  Loudohn  would  wish  to  occupy.       Lou- 
dohn  advancing,  and  perceiving  that  there  were  troops  posted  there, 
supposed  that  it  was  but  a  small  detachment,  and  that  the  main  army 
of  Prussia  was  in  camp  at  Lignitz.     Proceeding  to  dislodge  the  fan- 
cied detachment,  he  suddenly  found  himself   attacked  by  the  whole 
Prussian  army.     The  darkness  of  the  night,  and  the  surprise,  render- 
ed the  defeat  inevitable  and  complete  :    10,000  Austrians  were   slain, 
and  6,000  taken  prisoners.      In  the  camp  at  Lignitz,  Frederick  had 
left  some  hussars,  who  imitated  the  noise  of  patroles  and  sentinels. 
Daun,  not  doubling  that  he  should  in  the  morning  find  the  Prussians 
where  they  had  been  in  the  evening,  marched  towards  the  camp  ;  but 
to  his  utter  surprise,  he  found  it  entirely  empty.     The  wind  had  been 
so  boisterous  and  adverse,  that  Daun  had  not  heard  the  report  of  two 
hundred  pieces  of  cannon  at  half  a  mile's  distance  ;  and  knew  nothing 
of  the  enemy,  till  he  saw  them  arrayed  in  order  of  battle  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  river.     Daun  was  evidently  undetermined  whether  he 
ought  to  attack  the  enemy  or  retreat.     Frederick  ordered  his  troops 
to  fire,  in  demonstration  of  joy  for  victory  ;  a  dexterous  manoiiuvre, 
which  completely  dispirited  the  Austrians,  and  precipitated  their  re- 
treat,    lie  dispersed  the   Russians  by  a  stratagem  not  unlike  that 
which  Themistocles  employed  towards    Xerxes.     He  sent  a  peasant 
with  a  letter  to  his  brother  Henry,  telling  him  that  he  was  advancing 
as  fast  as  he  could  after  his  victory  over  the  Austrians,  to  attack  the 
Russians,  and  he  hoped  with  equal  success.     The  peasant  purposely 
throwing  himself  in  the  way  of  the  enemy  was  taken  ;  the  letter  was 
found  on  him  ;  and,  on  being  read,  they  repassed  the  Oder,  and  de- 
stroyed the  bridge  ;  and  thus,  in  order  to  avoid  the  pretended  pursuit 
of  Frederick,  they  cut  off  their  own  communication   with  the  allied 
army.     Frederick,  meanwhile,  instead  of  following  them  endeavour- 
ed to  make  the  best  of  his  victory  by  driving  the  Austrians  out  of  Si- 
lesia. Daun,  regretting  that  he  had  been  so  completely  oui-generaled 
by  Frederick,  employed  every  means  to  prevail  on  the  Russians  to 
repass  the  Oder,  and  invade  Brandenburgh.     He  at  last  prevailed  ; 
and  in  October,  the  Russians  entered  the   electorate,  and  invested 
Berlin.     The  number  of  Prussians  that  had  been  left  to   guard  the 
capital,  was  less  than  half  that  of  the  Austrians  and  Russians.     The 
combined  armies  entered  the  capital,  and  behaved  with  savage  fero- 
city ;  but  the  king  hastening  from  Silesia,  the  enemy  on  his  approach 
thought  it  expedient  to  retire.     Having  delivered  his  country  from 
the  combined  troops,  he  returned  to  oppose  marshal  Daun,  drew  him 
into  a  battle  in  a  disadvantageous  situation,  and  gained  at  Torgan  a 
victory  still  more  decisive  than  that  which  he  had  obtained  over  mar- 
shal.Loudohn.     The  Russians,  on  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  their  ally, 
retired  into  Poland ;  and  thus   Frederick  became  again  superior  to 
all  his  enemies.     They  might  invade  his  country,  take  his  towns,  de- 
feat his  armies,  exhaust  many  of  his  resources  ;  but  he  had  in  his  ge- 
nius one  resource,  which  they  could  not  exhaust:  with  his  transcen- 
dent abilities  he  ultimately  predominated  over  all  their  force,  experi- 
ence and  skill.    Such  was  the  state  of  our  principal  ally  in  war,  in 
October  1760. 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  I.v1760. 

[Discussions  between  Britain  and  Holland.] 

The  war  gave  occasion  to'discussions  between  Britain  and  Holland, 
viiich  involved  general  questions  concerning  the  rights  and  conduct  of 
neutral  states,  when  neigiibouring  powers  are  engaged  in  hostilities.  By 
the  barrier  treaty  it  had  been  expressly  declared,  tnat  no  fortress, town, 
or  territory  of  the  Austrian  Low  Countries  should  be  ceded  or  transfer- 
red to  the  crown  of  France  on  any  pretext  whatever.  Notwithstanding 
this  treaty,  tlie  states-general  liad  acquiesced  in  the  surrender  of  Ostend 
and  Nieuport  to  the  French.  They  had  also  given  permission  for  the 
free  passage  of  warlike  stores  through  tlieir  territories,  for  the  use  of  the 
French  army.  A  memorial,  bv  order  of  the  Britisli  king,  was  presented 
to  the  states.  They  answerecf,  that  they  could  not  prevent  the  infrac- 
tions of  treaties.  The  Dutch  for  several  years  had  been  supplying  the 
French  with  all  sorts  of  warlike  stores,  and  transporting  the  produce  of 
tlie  French  sugar  colonies  to  Europe,  as  carriers  hired  by  the  proprie- 
tors; and  were  at  this  time  very  active  in  carrying  contraband  goods  to 
France.  The  supineness  and  inefficiency  of  the  Newcastle  administra- 
tiimhad  sufttjred  such  violations  of  neutrality  to  escape  with  impunity; 
but  with  the  energy  of  Pitt,  the  case  was  changed.  The  court  of  Great 
Britain  having  complained  of  this  violation  of  neutrality  without  obtain- 
ing redress,  took  the  most  eft'ectual  step  for  redressing  themselves. 
They  issued  orders  to  arrest  all  ships  of  neutral  powers,  that  should 
have  French  property  on  board.  These  necessary  orders  were  strictly 
and  vigorouslv  executed.  A  number  of  Dutch  ships  with  French  car- 
goes were  seized  and  confiscated;  a  great  fern»ent  arose  among  the 
Dutch:  they  remonstrated,  and  they  complained.  The  British  govern- 
ment assured  them,  that  we  were  desirous  of  remaining  in  amity  with 
them,  but  that  we  never  could  connive  at  sucii  a  deviation  from  neu- 
trality; and  that  we  should  continue  to  capture  ships  caught  in  such  acts 
of  violation.  Towards  the  close  of  1758,  they  began  to  make  some  pre- 
parations for  hostilities.  The  princess  dowager  of  Orange,  daughter  of 
George  II. ,  by  her  judicious  management  prevented  the  two  nations  frorix 
a  quarrel,  which  it  was  so  much  the  interest  of  both  to  avoid.  English 
privateers  having  frequently,  without  any  authority,  rifled  Dutch 
ships,  the  masters  were  punished  as  pirates;  but  by  our  ships  of  war, 
autnorised  for  the  purpose,  the  aggressors  of  the  law  of  nations  continu- 
ed to  be  captured.  The  princess  dying, the  conduct  of  the  states  threat- 
ened the  dissolution  of  peace;  and  they  persisted  in  supplying  the  French 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  the  East  had  manifested  a  hostile  disposition 
to  the  English  interest.  A  second  memorial  was  presented  by  sir  Jo- 
seph Yorke.  They  endeavoured  to  justify  themselves;  but  as  the  at- 
tempt was  evasive  and  unsatisfactory,  the  British  minister  instructed 
tlie  ambassador  to  reply  in  more  peremptory  terms.  The  Dutch  aware 
that  Pitt  never  threatened  in  vain,  promised*  to  abstain  from  every  kind 
of  traffic  that  gave  umbraj^e  to  Great  Britain,  and  to  inflict  exemplary 
punisliment  on  any  of  their  subjects  or  servants  who  should  give  offence 
to  England.  • 

Ferdinand,  king  of  Spain,  died  in  1759,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
brother  Charles.  This  prince  was  very  far  from  adopting  the  senti- 
ments and  policy  of  his  predecessor  respecting  England.  Hitherto, 
however,  the  diflerence  did  not  manifest  itself. 

During  the  contest  which  was  carried  on  by  Britain  and  her  allies, 
overtures  were  made  by  George  and  Frederick  towards  the  termination 

•  See  Smollet,  vol.  ii. 


•.  d 


ireo— Chap.  I,  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  in.  i21 

[Negotiations  for  peace  broken  off.     General  state  of  affairs] 

of  war.  In  the  winter  which  followed  the  campaign  1759,  immediately 
after  the  capture  of  Quebec  and  admiral  Hawke's  victory,  Mr.  Pitt, 
awaie  that  the  day  of  success  is  the  time  for  offering  peace,  proposed 
that  the  allied  kings  should  intimate  their  willingness  to  open  a  ne- 
gotiation.    Frederick  consented,  and    a  memorial  was   delivered  to 
the  French,  imperial,  and  Russian  ambassadors,  signifying  that  their 
Britannic  and  Prussian  majesties  were  ready  to  send  plenipotentia- 
ries to  any  proper  place  that  should  be  appointed,  in  order  to  receive 
overtures  for  a  general  peace.     A  preliminary  article  proposed  was, 
that  the  dominions  of  the  king  of  Prussia  should  be  preserved  en- 
tire.    This  proposal  being   communicated  to  the  court  of  Versailles, 
France  replied,  that  she  had  no  other  wish  but  to  make  peace  with 
England;  but  that  not  being  at  war  with  Prussia,  she  could  not  con- 
found the  interests  of  that  nation  witli  those  of  Britain.     France  had 
been  completely  discomfited  in  every  quarter  in  which  England  and  she 
had  to  cope,  apart  from  tlieir  mutual  allies.     She  was  entirely  subdued 
in  North  America,  the  East  and  West  Indies:  and  had  been  also  de- 
feated in  Germany.     The  inferiority  of  her  naval  power  obliged  her  t« 
despair  of  success  in  any  maritime  efforts;  but  in  Germany,  tliough  de- 
feated, her  case  was  by  no  means  so  desperate.  From  the  exhausted  state 
of  the  king  of  Prussia,  and  the  enormous  expenses  of  the  war  to  England, 
slie  was  in  hopes  that  she  and  her  allies  might  in  that  country  obtain 
advantages,  which  would  procure  more  favourable  terms  than  she  could 
expect  from  the  events  in  those  quarters  in  which  she  and  England  had 
been  singly  engaged.     The  preservation  of  the  balance  of  power,  by 
supporting  the  king  of  Prussia  against  the  great  confederacy,  had  been 
the  principal  object  of  the  war  in  Germany.     Had  France  ratified  the 
proposed  preliminary  there  would  have  remained  little  which  she  could 
set  against  the  conditions  that  Britain  was  empowered  by  her  victories 
to  demand.     She  therefore  determined  at  present  to  reject  a  proposal 
with  such  a  preface.     The  empress-queen,  though  hitherto  frequently 
baffled,  trusted  to  the  resources  of  the  combination,  for  the  ultimate  at- 
tainment of  those  objects  which  she  sought  by  the  war,  and  woui^i  by 
no  means  enter  into  a  negotiation,  the  preliminary  article  of  w!ii-h  was 
the  abandonment  of  her  views  on  the  Prussian  dominions.     Trie  over- 
tures were  rejected  by  both  France  and  Austria,  in  the  belief  that  at  a 
future  period  they  could  procure  conditions  more  compat^'e  with  the 
views  with  which  "they  had  respectively  commenced  thei'"  aggressions. 
Such  was  the  state  of  Britain  respecting  war,  negotiation,  allies,  and 
neutral  powers,  in  October,  1 760.    The  condition  of  tus  country  in  her 
various  relations  had,  from  Julv,  1757,  to  October,  ^60,  in  three  years 
and  a  quarter,  been  raised  fom  depression  and  r^sgrace  to  exaltation 
and  ^lory.     This  cliange,  under  Divine  Provideive,  had  been'principal- 
ly  effected  by  the  force  of  genius,  which  overbo)^  all  private  juntos  and 
party  distinctions,  fonnedthe  wisest  and  most  vigorous  plants,  selected 
the  fittest  instruments  of  execution,  and  by  tie  combination  of  wisdom, 
firmness,  and  judicious  choice,  produced '-""e  most  signal  and  import- 
ant success.     On  two  individuals,  thou5<^  of  different  ranks,  yet  who 
had  each  risen  to  a  mucli  higlier  elevatijn  than  that  in  which  he  was 
born,  depended  the  fortune  of  Europe,  and  other  quarters  of  the  world. 
In  their  different  situations,  Williaci  Pitt,  and  Frederick  of  Prussia, 
overbore  confederacy  by  intellectual  pre-eminence  and  moral  energy. 
An  event  now  took  place,  in  itself  of  great  importance,  and  which  led 
'«>the  commencement  of  a  reign  in  ajl  its  history,  connexions,  and  rela>^ 
VcL.  VII.~16 


122  HISTOnV  OF  THE  Chap,  1,-1760 • 

[Death,  character  and  policy  of  George  IL] 

tions:  in  the  events,  clmnges,  ami  vlc'ussitudes,  that  it  has  witnessed;  in 
the  difhculties  \\  liich  it  has  luul  to  encounter,  and  in  the  dispiays  o  hu- 
man NATi  RK  which  it  lias  exhibited,  the  most  momentous  that  is  re- 
corded in  the  annals  of  mankind. 

On  Saturday  mornini^  the  ^•'ith  of  October,  17G0,  king  Georg-  II.  of 
Great  Britain,  then  near  seventy-seven  years  of  age.  being  at  Kensing- 
ton pahace,  rose  at  his  usual  Itour,  called  his  page,  drank  Ids  choco- 
late. a!id  inquired  about  the  wind,  as  he  was  anxious  for  the  ariival  of 
the  mails;  observing,  that  as  it  was  a  fine  day,  he  projwsed  to  walk  in 
the  garden.  A  few  minutes  after  this  declaration,  his  page,  who  liad 
left  tlve  room,  heard  a  noise,  as  of  son\othing  falling.  He  returned  h'istily 
into  the  apartment  with  other  attendants,  and  found  the  kitig  weltering 
on  the  tloori  being  lifted  on  abed,  he  in  a  faint  voice  desired  they  would 
call  Amelia,  but  before  the  princess  could  ^each  his  apartment,  he 
breathed  his  last. 

George  II.,  with  abilities  not  exceeding  mediocri ty, possessed  amiable 
and  estimable  qualities:  he  was  just,  open,  sincere,  brave,  and  though 
in  his  temper  prone  to  anger,  yet  placable,  and  in  his  <lisposit'ons  mild 
and  humane.  His  government  was  ecjuitable  and  constitutional,  as  far 
as  depended  on  himself,  but  varied  in  vigour  and  wisdom  according  to 
the  characters  of  his  ministers.  The  chief  defects  of  his  politics  arose 
from  his  predilection  for  his  native  dtnninions,  which  involved  Bt-itain 
in  alliances,  subsidies,  and  hostilities,  that,  being  unnecessary, were  per- 
nicious, in  proportion  to  tlieir  magnitude.  His  j)r(>fereiKe  of  oneparty  of 
his  British  subjects,  during  a  great  part  of  his  reign,  though  neither  ve- 
ry liberal  nor  wise,  was  the  natural  c(msequenre  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed,  operating  on  his  liujited  capacity.  The  last  years 
of  his  life  proved  to  him  that  connexion  with  a  certain  confederacy 
was  not  necessary  to  the  highest  ministerial  ability.  In  the  first  part 
of  his  reign,  a  minister  of  considerable  talents,  and  in  many  respects 
beneficial  to  his  country^  established  systematic  corruption  as  an  engine 
ot  ';xecut!ve  government;  and  for  many  years  this  engine  was  believed 
indi?4jensable.  In  the  last  period  of  his  reign,  a  minister  demonstrated, 
that  c()rruption  was  not  necessary  to  superior  genius,  magnanimity,  and 
•  energy;  but  that  talents  and  virtue,  promptly,  directly,  and  decisively 
exerted  f«a-  patriotic  purposes,  overbore  all  opposition,  and  procured, 
with  the  api^lause  of  the  people,  every  resource  which  was  wanted  for 
British  securry  and  glory.  The  pacific  policy  of  sir  Robert  Walpole, 
and  the  persevo-jng  attention  of  Mr.  Pelham,  had  a  share  in  promoting 
the  manufacture^. and  commerce  of  this  country:  but  their  astonishing 
rise  under  this  kin^  xvas  chiefly  ow  ing  to  a  more  general  cause  of  Bri- 
tish greatness — the  jrogressive  spirit  of  industry  and  enterprise  which 
freedom  fosters. 

From  the  .same  sourc,  flowed  literature  and  science;  and  in  the  va- 
rious departments  of  l(;^•ning,  Britain  was  eminently  distinguished. 
Swift,  Pope,  and  BoliiigIr<,ke,  began  the  literary  gl'orv  of  George's 
reign;  Thomson  graceil  its  >niddle  stage;  Johnson  and  Hume  adorned 
Its  later  periods.  Having  b»fore  rivalled,  and  at  this  time  rivalling 
the  ancients,  in  the  various  spe';ies  and  degrees  of  poetry  and  philoso- 
pliy,  liiitain  now  IV.r  the  first  tiue  contested  the  palm  of  history,  and 
brought  her  Robertson  and  her  Hume,  to  match  the  Livy  and  Herodo- 
tus, the  Tacitus  and  Tlmcydides,  of  ^he  Romans  and  Greeks.  Theolo- 
gy, investigated  by  the  inquirinjj  und  philosophical  tphit  of  free  and  en- 
lightened Englishmen,  produced  valuable  accessions  to  theoretical  and 


;76a-~CitAP.  I.  IlEIGN  OF  GEORGE  IH.  123 

{Literature,     Fine  arts.     Manners] 

practical  knowledge,  in  the  works  of  Warburton,   HunJ,   Sherlock, 
Houdley,  and  Seeker.     The  dissenters  also  contributed  a  considerable 
share  to  the  iearnimrand  piety  (d'the  times.     While  Foster.  Watts,  and 
Doddndjre,  inculcated  relii;;ious  conduct,  by  expoundine^aiid  iniprcssiiin; 
in  detail  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  the  learned  and  loj!;icai  Leiand 
defended  with  force  an<l  success  the  whole  cliristian  reli2;ion  ajrainst 
tlic  attacks  of  the  deists.     Not  rational  piety  only,  howc\er,  mark  the 
theoloffical  ettbrts  of  this  period;  ingenious  adventurers  in  fanaticism 
frameil  a  new  species  of  superstitiim,  which  both  at  that  time  and  sii.ce, 
has  produced  very  important  elfects  on  ti\e  sentiments,  character,  and 
manners  of  numbers  of  peo|)le  in  all  ranks.     Whitefield  and  Wesley, 
having  perceived  that  not  a  few  of  the  establislied  clergy  had  relaxetl  in 
the  performance  of  their  ofiicial  duties,  formed  a  project  of  supplying, 
in  their  own  persons,  this  deficiency  of  spiritual  instruction;  and,  in 
order  to  establish  sufficient  influence,  professed  superior  sanctity,  and 
pretended  divine  illumiiiation.     Being  botli  men  of  dexterity  and  ad- 
dress, they  played  successfully  on  the  fancies  and  passions,  and  made  a 
multitude  of  converts  to  their  respective  kinds  of  enthusiasm.     They 
ceitainly  were  the  means  of  rousing  the  clergy  to  a  more  vigorous  dis- 
charge of  their  professional  occupation;  and  it  is  probable  that  they  may 
have  also  made  some  of  their  votaries,  by  working  on  theii*  fears  and 
fancies,  pious  and  charitable,  whom  reason  and  conscience  might  not 
have  influenced.     So  far  their  efforts  may  have  been  salutary  :  but 
the  first  principle  of  their  theory,  divine  illumination,  superseding  the 
necessity  of  human  discipline  and  learning,  has  opened  the  way  to  ma- 
ny illiterate  and  ignorant  undertakers,  who,  either  circulating  or  sta- 
tionary, have  inculcated  and  impressed  their  absurd  and  often  perni- 
cious doctrines  on  the  weak  and  credulous;  so  that  frequently  profli- 
gacy, and  not  rarely  insanity  and  suicide  have  flowed  from  such  spiritual 
instructions.     In  the  lighter  species  of  composition,  England  showed 
that  she  could  excel,  as  well  as  in  the  graver  and  deeper.     If  Spain  and 
France  could  respectively  boast  of  Cervantes  and  Le  Sage,  Britain 
could  boast  of  Smollet  and  Fielding,     But  now  they  were  not  onlv,  as 
in  the  time  of  Anne,  a  few  illustrious  in  the  different  provinces  oi  ge- 
nius; there  were  many  respectable.     The  precepts,  and  much  more 
the  example,  of  the  great  writers  of  that  age,  had  diffused  taste  and  the 
study  of  composition;  and  many  more  had  obtained  a  competent  share 
of  useful  and  elegant  erudition,  than  at  any  former  period  of  English 
history.     In  no  age  or  country  had  learning  been  more  widely  spread 
than  in  Britain  in  the  year  1760. 

In  the  fine  arts,  England  was  beginning  to  attain  distinction.  The 
encouragement  bestowed  on  the  sublime  compositions  of  Handel,  had 
stimulated  the  natives  to  musical  effort,  Hogarth  showed  that  Eng- 
land could  use  the  pencil  as  well  as  the  pen  ;  and  with  the  bold  origin- 
ality of  genius,  he  pursued  a  path  hitherto  untrodden.  Reynolds  also 
laid  the  foundation  of  that  fame,  which  he  since  rtused  to  so  great  a 
height.  In  architecture,  improvements  were  made  by  the  taste  and 
genius  of  a  Burlington  ;  still,  however,  a  relish  continued  for  the 
ponderous  structures  of  Vanburgh. 

The  manners  of  that  age,  though  abounding  in  parade  and  form, 
were  in  many  respects  dignified  and  imptessivc.  They  certainly 
contained  a  much  greater  degree  of  pomp,  and  state,  and  ceremony, 
than  was  necessary  for  social  parties  in  common  life.     Mingled  with 


.,^.1^*  J    !< 


124  HISTOHY  OF  THE  Ciup.  I.— 1760. 

[Kducation  and  character  of  the  prince  of  Wale?.] 

this  stiffness  and  precision,  there  was,  in  conversation  and  in  familiar 
writing,  an  indelicacy,  less  indeed  than  in  the  preceding  age  of  George 
I.,  but  still  tar  short  of  just  taste  and  moral  refinement.  This  was 
probably  encouraged  by  the  practice  of  tlie  court,  to  which  modesty 
and  reputation  were  not  then  necessary  passports.  The  king's  mis- 
tresses still  continued  to  mix  in  all  fashionable  parties,  and  even  to  be 
companions  to  the  princesses  ■*  The  signal  successes  which  adorned 
the  last  years  of  George  II.,  the  exaltation  of  England,  and  the  depres- 
sion of  her  enemies,  raised  his  m-ijesty  to  a  degree  of  popularity  which 
he  had  never  before  enjoyed.  The  warm  fancies  of  his  admirers  re- 
presented him  as  equal  in  wisdom  and  heroism  to  any,  or  all  the  prin- 
ces that  ever  sat  on  the  English  throne  ;  and  we  may  safely  concur 
with  the  historian  of  his  reign,t  that  no  prince  was  ever  more  popular 
at  the  lime  of  his  decease. 

George  in  his  person  was  somewhat  lower  than  the  middle  size, 
well  formed,  with  prominent  eyes,  a  high  nose,  good  features,  and  a 
fair  complcxiori'^  He  was  born  in  November,  1683,  and  in  1705  mar- 
ried princess  Caroline  of  Anspach,by  whom  he  had  six  children,  who 
came  to  maturity,  besides  several  others  who  died  young  :  two  sons, 
Frederick,  born  in  1707,  who  on  his  father's  accession  to  the  throne, 
was  prince  of  Wales,  and  William,  duke  of  Cumberland  ;  and  four 
daughters,  the  princess  of  Orange,  princess  Amelia,  the  princess  of 
Hesse,  and  the  queen  of  Denmark.  Frederick  married  in  1736  the 
princess  Augusta  of  Saxe-Gotha  By  her  he  had  five  sons  and  three 
daughters,  who  came  to  maturity  ;  George,  born  May  24lh,  O  S. 
1738,  now  our  gracious  sovereign  ;  Edward,  late  duke  of  York  ;  Wil- 
liam Henry,  late  duke  of  Gloucester;  Henry  Frederick,  late  duke  of 
Cumberland;  Frederick  William,  deceased;  Augusta  duchess  of 
Brunswick;  Louisa,  deceased;  and  Matilda,  late  queen  of  Denmark. 
His  highness  the  prince  of  Wales  dying  in  his  father's  life-time,  in 
1751,  his  eldest  son  George  became  prince  of  Wales,  and  heir  of  his 
grandfather's  crown  As  Frederick  himself  had  not  confined  his  pre- 
ference to  whigs,  but  desired  to  be  king  of  Great  Britain,  and  not  of  a 
party,  he  endeavoured  to  instil  the  same  sentiments  into  his  heir. 

The  tuition  of  prince  George  was  committed  to  John  Stuart,  earl 
of  Bute,  who  was  a  nobleman  of  respectable  talents  and  erudition,  and 
particularly  distinguished  for  decency  and  propriety  of  conduct.  Du- 
ring the  life  of  his  grandfather,  his  highness  had  been  brought  up  in 
a  state  of  retirement,  and  was  totally  free  from  juvenile  excesses.  A 
Warm,  affectionate,  and  benevolent  heart  was  unalloyed  by  vicious  ha- 
bits ;  on  the  other  hand  a  sound  and  acute  understanding  was  not  fur- 
nished with  the  actual  experience  and  discernment  into  characters, 
which  a  more  enlarged  intercourse  with  mankind,  in  such  a  mind, 
must  have  produced.  The  filial,  fraternal,  and  other  affections  of  the 
prince  were  very  strong.  Those  whom  he  loved,  he  loved  fervently ; 
in  that  number  was  his  tutor,  the  earl  of  Bute ;  whom  his  judgment 
readily  discovered  to  be  a  man  of  merit.  It  must  be  the  coldness  of 
experienced  age,  after  frequent  deceptions  correcting  its  errors,  not 
the  generous  credulity  of  unsuspecting  youth,  that  will  accurately 
scan  the  talents  of  those  whom  it  loves.     Even  in  age  itself,  wisdom 

*  See  lord  Orfotd,  pasiim.  f  See  Smollet,  vol  ii. 


1760.— Chap.  1.  JJEICN  OF  GEOUGE  fll.  l^^) 

[His  attachment  to  the  earl  of  Uute  ] 

is  often  lost  in  affection  It  cannot  therefore  be  siirpribint^,  that  the 
attachment  of  a  youth  of  twenty  years  ot  age  should  exiig^erate  the 
merits  of  its  object.  His  highness's  regard  fnr  the  earl  of  Bute  was 
very  great ;  and  his  lordship  being  zealously  attached  to  the  church  of 
England  and  his  religious  duties,  studiously  and  svicrcssfully  infused 
these  piinciplesand  sentiments  into  the  mind  of  his  royal  pupil.  Be- 
ing a  man  of  irreproachable  morals,  he  saw  it  necessary,  from  the  state 
of  the  court  and  its  influence  on  the  public  to  instil  such  sentiments 
into  the  heir  of  the  crown  as  might  induce  him  to  patronize  decency 
and  modesty,  and  give  a  change  to  the  prevailing  manners.  The  prince 
so  educated,  although  he  did  not  much  appear  in  public,  was,  from  the 
general  report  of  his  character,  very  popular.  He  was  besides,  a  native 
of  England,  and  presumed  to  possess  the  scniimenls  of  an  English- 
man— to  be  more  attached  to  his  own  country,  than  to  the  foreign  ter- 
ritories of  his  family.  A  lace  both  elegant  and  manly,  combining  the 
blooming  freshness  of  youth  with  firmness  and  vigour  ;  a  countenance 
expressing  the  open  frankness,  benevolence  and  boldness  of  the  En- 
glish character;  a  stature  above  the  middle  size;  a  figure  uniiinq: 
strength  and  comeliness  ;  with  unassuming  and  liberal  manners  ;  co 
operated  with  the  general  opinion  of  his  head  and  heart,  and  his  situa- 
tion, in  rendering  him  a  fa\onrite  with  the  nation. 

The  total  discomfiture  of  the  jacobite  party  in  prince  George's  very 
early  youth,  by  taking  away  the  only  plausible  pretext  for  the  exclu- 
sive encouragement  of  whigs,  facilitated  the  road  to  a  more  liberal 
choice  of  counsellors.  Thus  the  change  of  circumstances  concurred 
with  the  sentiments  of  his  parents  and  the  education  of  the  prince,  in 
forming  him  to  be  king  of  a  country,  and  not  of  a  party. — .Such  was 
our  present  sovereign,  in  character  and  estimation,  at  the  death  of  his 
grandfather.  -s 


126  ifciriSTORY  OF  TliK  Chap.  II.— 1760. 


I 


CHAP.  11. 


Accession  of  George  111. — State  and  resources  of  the  oountry. — First  council  of 
ihe  kinj^. — Prince  i:>i\vard  andionl  IJute  made  privy-caiirisellors. — Meeting  of 
parliament. — Ilis  majesty's  first  spcccli  — Expresses  his  satisfaction  at  the  ces- 
sation of  party  dissensions — his  resolution  to  adhere  to  the  enpagements  of  his 
gi-andfathcr.  —Is  universally  popidar. — General  principle  of  the  young  king  in 
the  choice  of  counsellors. — (Jnaniniity  of  parliament,  and  liberal  supplies. — The 
king  recommends  measures  for  securing  the  independence  of  the  judges. — An 
act  passed  for  that  purpose. — Recompense  bestowed  on  Mr.  Arthur  Onslow. — 
Parliament  dissolved— Partial  changes  in  administration. — Lord  Bute  made 
secretary  of  state. — Campaign  1761. — British  operations. — Attack  and  capture 
of  Belleisle. — America. — East  Indies  ;  siege  and  reduction  of  Fondicherry. — 
I'owerfid  army  sent  by  France  to  Hesse-Cassel. — Prince  Ferdinand  disconcerts 
their  projects. — Military  ability  of  the  hereditary  prince. — Marquis  of  (iranby, 
— Kinjj  of  Prussia  acts  chiefly  on  the  defensive. — Baffles  the  attempts  of  his  com- 
bined enemies — Negotiations.-.ProfTeredintervention  of  Spain  indignantly  re- 
jected by  Mr  Pitt.— He  discovers  the  hostile  compact  of  the  House  of  Bourbon. 
— Bold  and  decisive  scheme  for  compelling  Spain  to  declare  her  intentions,— 
opposed  by  lord  Bute,  atid  overruled  by  a  majority. --Mr.  Pitt  resigns  his  office. 
—Character  of  his  administration.— Marriage  of  the  king  to  the  princess  Char- 
lotte of  Mecklenburg  Strelitz.— Lord  Bute,  chief  director  of  affairs.— Prejudi- 
ces  rigainst.--  F- vent  justifies  the  foresight  of  Mr.  Pitt. — Hostile  avowals  of  Spain, 
-.-Britain  declares  war  against  that  kingdom. 

No  sooner  was  the  dea'h  of  George  II.  known,  than  the  prince  of 
Wales  was  proclaimed  king,  by  the  title  of  George  III.  On  his  ac- 
cession, all  ranks  of  men  ardently  and  sincerely  testified  their  satis- 
faction. The  whigs  were  attached  to  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Bruns- 
•\vick,  and  the  lories  rejoiced  that  they  were  to  be  governed  by  a  so- 
vereign free  from  pyarty  prejudices.  Those  who  were  neither  whigs  nor 
lories  were  delighted  with  a  king  acquainted  with  our  laws  and  consti- 
tution, a  native  of  Britain,  fond  of  this  country,  and  who  was  expected 
to  employ  talents  and  virtue  wherever  they  were  to  be  found.  All 
regarded  their  young  king  with  affection,  predicted,  from  his  charac- 
ter and  the  circumstances  of  the  country,  an  auspicious  reign,  and 
were  happy  in  the  prospect  afforded  by  his  age  and  state  of  health 
that  it  would  also  be  long. 

The  resources  of  the  country  which  his  majesty  was  now  called  to 
govern,  were,  increased  beyond  all  former  computation.  War,  which 
is  60  pernicious  an  obstacle  to  other  mercantile  nations,  had  opened 
new  channeis  to  the  traders  of  Great  Britain.  The  superiority  of  her 
marine  force  had  crushed  the  navigation  of  France,  her  great  rival  in 
commerce.  She  now  supplied,  on  her  own  terms,  all  those  foreign 
market,,  at  which,  in  time  of  peace,  she  was  undersold  by  that  dan- 
gerous competitor.  Revenue  and  national  credit  were  proportiona- 
bly  great ;  the  im'Dcnse  sums  required  for  the  manifold  services  of  the 
war,  wcic  furtliconting  on  demand.  The  sum  total  granted  for  that 
year  cmounted  to  nearly  sixteen  millions  sterling.  The  British  army  in 
various  parlb  of  the  world  consisted  of  ninety-seven  regiments  of  foot, 
and  thirty-one  of  horse  and  dragoons,  amounting  to  about  a  hundred  and 


1760.— Chap.  U.  liEIGN  OF  GEORGE  Hi.  127 

[Proclamation  of  the  king.    First  speech  to  parliament.] 

ten  thousand;  the  German  auxiliaries  in  British  pay  were  sixty  thou- 
sand ;  the  ships  of  the  line,  including  fifties,  were  a  luindredand  twenty- 
om:  ;  the  frigates  and  sloops  proportionably  numerous  ;  and  the  sea- 
men in  actual  service  amounted  to  70,000.  The  ordnance  establishment 
Was  in  proportion  to  those  of  the  army  and  navy.        This  force   was 
commanded  by  officers  selected  by  the  penetration  of  the  minister; 
who,  in  his  choice  of  agents,  considered  merely  the  object  of  the  re- 
spective trusts;  and  disregarding  family  connexion,  or  any  other  ad- 
ventitious ground  of  preference,  appointed  instruments  the   most  fit- 
ted for  effecting  the  destined  purpose.     The  recent  establishment  of 
a  national  militia,  answering  most  of  the  ends  of  internal  defence,  per- 
mitted the  executive  power  to  employ  the  regular  troops   if  necessa- 
ry, out  of  the  kingdom.     Notwithstanding  the  expensive  war,  the 
means  of  internal  security,  as  well  as  of  influence  and  dignity  at  home 
and  abroad,  were   under  the  command  of  the  executive  government, 
•which  employed   so  very  energetic  a  minister  as  Mr.  Secretary  Pitt, 
On  the  27th  of  October  the  king  held  his  first  council,  in  which 
he  declared  his  resolution  to  prosecute  the  just  and  necessary  war  in 
which  his  kingdom  was  engaged.     His  majesty's  first  proclamation, 
dated  the  31st  of  October,  was  a  strong  and  striking  instance  of  his 
regard  for  the  interests  of  religion  and  virtue.     Its  purport  was,  to 
encourage  piety  and  morality,  and  to  prevent  and  punish  vice,  pro- 
faneness  and  immorality,  which  at  that  time  were  extremely  preva- 
lent.    His  majesty,  two  days  after  his  accession,  appointed  his  eldest 
brother   prince  Edward   and  John  earl    of  Bute    privy-counsellors. 
Parliament  agreeably  to  an  act  made  for  the  purpose,  continued  to 
exercise  its  office  for  six  months  after  the  decease  of  the  king.     On 
November  the   18th  it  assembled;  and  the  new  king,  seated  on  the 
throne,  delivered  a  speech,  well  fitted  to  confirm  the  high  opinion  of 
the  public.     He  expressed  his  concern  for  the  loss  which  he  and  the 
nation  had  sustained  by  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  especially  at  a 
season  so  critical  to  the  country  ;  and  his  sense  of  the  weight  and  im- 
portance of  the  task  now  devolved  upon  him,  being  called  to  the  go- 
vernment of  this  country  at  such  a  time  and  under  such  circumstan- 
ces.    He   implored  the  divine  assistance  in   his  endeavours  to  dis- 
charge his  duty,  and  proceeded  in  the  following   energetic  strain  : 
"  Born  and  educated  in  this  country,  I  glory  in  the  name  of  Briton  ; 
and  the  peculiar  happiness  of  my  life  will  ever  consist  in  promoting 
the  welfare  of  a  people,  whose  loyalty   and   warm   afiection  to  me  I 
consider  as  the  greatest  and  most  permanent  security  of  my  throne  :, 
and  I  doubt  not,  but  their  steadiness  in  those  principles  will  equal  the 
firmness  of  my  invariable  resolution  to  adhere   to,   and    strengthen, 
this  excellent  constitution,  in  church  and  state,  and  to  maintain   to- 
leration inviolable.    The  civil  and  religious  rights  of  my  loving  sub- 
jects are  equally  dear  to  me  with  the  valuable   prerogatives  of  my 
crown  ;  and  as  the  surest  foundation  of  the  whole,  and  the  best  means 
to  draw  down  the  divine  favour  on  nny  reign,  it  is  my  fixed  purpose 
to  countenance  and  encourage  the  practice  of  true  religion  and  vir- 
tue."    He  then  mentioned  the  successes  of  ourselves  and  our  allies, 
the  state  of  commerce,  and  the  land  and  sea  force  in  which  he  found 
the  kingdom  ;  after  which  he  proceeded  as  follows  :  "  In  this  state  I 
have   found  things  at  ray  accession  to  the  throne  of  my  ancestors; 


128  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  II.— 1761, 

[General  satisfaction.  Act  renderinp  judges  independent  of  the  crown.] 

happy  in  viewing  tlic  prosperous  part  of  it ;  happier  still  should  I 
have  been  had  I  found  my  kins»doms,  whose  true  interests  I  have  en- 
tirely at  heart,  in  full  peace;  hut  since  the  ambition,  injurious  en- 
croachments, and  danj^erous  designs  of  my  enemies,  rendered  the 
war  both  just  and  necessary,  and  the  generous  overture  made  last 
winter  towards  a  congress  for  a  pacification  has  not  yet  produced  any 
suitable  return,  I  am  determined,  with  your  cheerful  and  powerful 
assistance,  to  prosecute  this  war  with  vigour,  in  order  to  attain  to 
'hat  desiiable  ol)ject,  a  safe  and  honourable  peace.  For  this  purpose, 
it  is  absulu'ely  incumbent  on  us  to  be  early  prepared ;  and  I  rely  up- 
on your  zf^Al  and  hearty  concurrence  to  support  the  king  of  Prussia, 
and  the  rest  of  my  allies,  and  to  make  ample  provision  for  carrying  on 
the  war,  as  the  ot.ly  mcL-ns  to  bring  oui  enpimies  to  equitable  terms 
of  accommodation."  After  addressing  the  house  of  commons  on  the 
supplies,  he  concluded  his  speech  in  the  following  words:  "The 
eyes  of  all  En- ope  are  uuon  you  ;  from  your  resolutions  the  protest- 
ant  interest  hopes  for  ijrotecfion,  as  well  as  all  our  friends  for  the 
preservation  of  their  in.iependency ;  and  our  enemies  fear  the  final 
disappointment  of  theii  arn!-itious  and  destructive  views.  Let  these 
hopes  and  fears  be  cor.fi rmed  and  augmented  by  the  vigour,  unani- 
mity, and  despatch,  of  our  proceedings.  !n  this  expectation  I  am  the 
more  encouraged  by  a  pleasing  circumstance,  which  I  look  upon  as 
one  of  the  most  auspicious  omens  of  niy  reign.  That  happy  extinc- 
tion of  divisions,  and  that  union  and  good  harmony  which  continue  to 
prevail  amongst  my  sul)jects,  afford  me  the  most  agreeable  prospects. 
The  natural  disposition  and  wish  of  my  heart  are  to  cement  and  pto- 
mote  them  ;  and  I  promise  myself  that  nothing  will  arise  on  your  part 
to  interrupt  or  disturb  a  situation  so  essential  to  the  trade  and  lasting 
felicity  of  this  great  people." 

This  speech  was  extremely  satisfactory  both  to  parliament  and  (o 
the  public.  Very  loyal  addresses  were  returned  by  both  houses  ;  but 
that  of  the  house  of  commons  was  peculiarly  forcible  and  eloquent. 
From  the  promotion  of  Pitt  to  be  prime  minister,  there  liad  been  no 
parliamentary  opposition.  Unanimity  in  both  houses  marked  the  first 
'ocssion  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  and  the  most  liberal  supplies  were 
granted  without  a  dissenting  voice.  The  sums  required  for  the  pub- 
lic services  of  1761  amounted  to  nineteen  millions,  twelve  of  which 
it  was  necessary  to  raise  by  a  loan,  and  add  to  the  debt  which  his  ma- 
jesty found  at  his  accession.  The  civil  list  was  fixed  at  800,000/.  A 
message  from  the  throne  stated  the  extraordinary  expenses  incurred 
by  several  provinces  of  America  in  their  exertions  during  the  war, 
and  patliament,  as  a  compensation,  voted  200,000/. 

On  the  third  of  March,  1761,  his  majesty,  in  his  speech  from  the 
throne,  rccoromendcd  a  measure  displaying  the  liberality  and  patriot- 
ism of  his  character.  By  the  death  ot  the  king,  all  officers  appoint- 
ed by  him  are  vacated,  and  require  new  commissions.  Of  these  were 
the  offices  of  judges.  In  very  early  limes,  our  kings  in  person  often 
licard  and  decided  causes  ;  but  ever  since  the  reign  of  Edward  Land 
tlie  cslahiishment  of  the  different  courts  and  of  regular  circuits,  they 
have  delegated  that  power  to  the  several  judges.  For  a  long  period 
these  held  their  places  during  pleasure:  consequently,  the  adminis- 
'ration  of  justice  must  have  depended  very  often  on  the  views,  inter 


1761.— Chap.  II.  liElGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  129 

[Pension  to  Mr.  Onslow.    Lord  Bute  secretary  of  state.] 

ests,  or  passions  of  the  reigning  prince.  In  the  reign  of  William  III, 
a  more  stable  tenure  of  office  was  proposed  and  established,  and  it 
was  enacted,*  that  the  commissions  of  the  judges  should  be  made, 
not  as  formerly,  during  pleasure,  but  during  the  faithful  discharge 
of  their  duties  ;  and  their  salaries  were  ascertained  and  established,  so 
that  it  might  be  lawful  to  remove  them,  on  the  address  of  both  houses 
of  parliament. t  Notwithstanding  this  wise  provision,  the  office  of  the 
juclges  determined  on  the  demise  of  the  crown.  With  praise-worthy 
earnestness  for  the  impartial  administration  of  public  justice,  his  ma- 
jesty signified,  that  he  considered  the  independency  and  uprightness 
of  the  judges  as  essential  to  the  proper  exercise  of  iheir  office,  as  one 
of  the  l)est  securities  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  subjects,  and 
as  most  conducive  to  the  honour  of  his  crown.  He  therefore  recom- 
mended to  the  consideration  of  parliament,  that  such  farther  provi- 
sion might  be  made  for  secuiing  the  judges  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  offices  during  their  good  behaviour,  notwithstanding  the  demise 
of  the  crown,  as  should  be  most  expedient.  Parliament  expressed  a 
strong  sense  of  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  this  measure,  and  an  act 
•was  passed  to  the  effect  recommended  in  the  speech. | 

The  parliament  was  now  approaching  to  its  dissolution.  Mr.  Ar- 
thur Onslow  had  been  speaker  for  thirty-three  years  in  five  success- 
ive parliaments.  He  now  declared,  that  his  age  and  infirmities 
•would  prevent:  his  return  to  the  house;  and  on  this  declaration  it  was 
immediately  moved,  and  unanimously  carried,  "that  the  thanks  of  the 
house  should  be  given  to  Mr.  Speaker,  for  his  long  and  faithful  ser- 
vices ;  for  the  unshaken  integrity  of  his  conduct;  for  his  steady  im- 
partiality in  the  exercise  of  his  office;  and  his  unwearied  endeavours 
to  promote  the  real  interests  of  his  king  and  country,  to  maintain  the 
honour  and  dignity  of  parliament,  and  to  preserve  inviolable  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  commons  of  Great  Britain."  The  house  far- 
ther unanimously  addressed  the  king,  beseeching  him  to  confer  some 
testimony  of  his  royal  favour  on  Mr.  Onslow.  His  majesty,  in  an- 
swer, expressed  his  high  esteem  for  the  gentleman  recommended, 
and  bestowed  on  him  a  pension  of  3000/.  a  year  for  his  own  life  and 
that  of  his  son.  On  the  19th  of  March,  his  majesty,  having  express- 
ed his  complete  approbation  of  the  conduct  of  parliament,  pro- 
rogued it ;  and  in  April  it  was  dissolved. 

About  this  time  some  partial  changes  were  made  in  administration. 
Mr.  Legge  was  dismissed  from  his  office  of  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer,§  and  viscount  Barrington  appointed  in  his  place;  lordHol- 

•   Statutes  at  large,  13  W.  III.  cap.  2. 

f  SeeBlackstone's  Commentaries,  vol.  i.  p.  267. 

i  Mr.  Belsliam  labours  to  diminish  the  merit  of  this  proposal  of  his  majesty; 
by  which,  for  the  general  good  othis  people,  he  showed  his  disposition  to  lessen 
the  influence  of  the  crown.  He  asserts,  that  this  was  no  sacrifice  on  the  part  of 
the  crown,  as  no  minister  would  advise  such  a  dismissal.  This,  however,  is  a  mere 
assumption  of  Mr.  Belsham's.  A  minister  might  advise  the  refu.salof  new  commis- 
sions tojudges  obnoxious  to  him,  as  good  jiulges  might  be  to  a  bad  minister; 
and  anew  king,  before  the  act  of  1761,  had  the  power  of  such  dismission:  that 
power  is,  in  the  act  desired  by  his  majesty,  entirely  renounced. 

§  Mr.  Belsham,  in  the  account  that  he  gives  of  this  change,  imputes  to  his  sove- 
reign mean  and  unworthy  motives.  According  to  this  writer,  his  majesty  had, at 
the  preceding  election,  (being  then  prince  of  Wales,)  sent  a  peremptory  mes- 
sage to  Mr.  l.egge,  who  was  about  to  be  chosen  member  for  Hampshire,  pressing 
Vol.  VII.— ir 


130  TITSTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  H.— 1761. 

[Expetlilion  to  Bclleisle.]  L^  W"* 

dernesse  resigned  his  ofHce  of  secretary  of  state,  and  -was  succeeded 
by  lord  Bute.  Mr.  Pitt  still  continued  principal  secretary,  and  con- 
sequently at  the  head  of  administration,  as  he  must  have  been  of  any 
political  body  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

The  chief  military  enterprise  undertaken  by  Britain  in  the  campaign 
1761,  was  the  attack  of  Belleisile,  a  large  island  lying  off  the  south  coast 
of  Brittany.  This  place  was  about  twelve  leagues  in  circumference, 
strongly  fortified,  and  afforded  to  its  possessors  the  command  of  a  great 
extent  of  French  coast.  It  was  apprehended,  that  it  might  be  of  service 
to  the  English  trade  and  shipping  in  time  of  peace ;  and  as  a  receptacle 
for  privateers,  might  annoy  the  trade  of  France  in  time  of  war;  or  that 
the  French,  when  a  treaty  should  be  set  on  foot,  aware  of  its  advantages, 
might  offer  in  exchange  for  it  some  other  valuable  possession  ;  and  under 
these  ideas,  an  expedition  was  ordered.  The  land  forces  were  com- 
manded by  general  Hodgson,  and  the  fleet  by  commodore  Keppel,  bro- 
ther to  the  earl  of  Albemarle.  On  the  29fh  of  March,  they  sailed  from 
Spithead,  and  on  the  7th  of  April,  arrived  off  Bvilleisle.  On  the  Sth,  they 
attempted  a  landing  where  its  beach  was  most  accessible ;  but,  after 
several  brave  and  repeated  efforts,  were  obliged  to  desist,  with  the  loss 
of  near  five  hundred  men.  Not  dispirited,  howevei*,  by  this  repulse,  they 
determined  to  make  another  trial,  as  soon  as  less  boisterous  weather 
should  permit ;  but  this  Mas  not  the  case  (ill  the  25th  of  April.  On  that 
day  they  made  a  second  attempt,  and  not  where  the  coast  was  weakest, 
but  strongest ;  they  proceeded  on  the  same  principle,  the  application  of 
which  had  carried  the  heights  of  Abraham,  and  tiiey  placed  their  chief 
hopes  in  the  difliculty  of  the  precipices  :  and  concluded  that  the  enemy, 
trusting  to  that  circumstance,  would  be  off  their  guard.  To  conceal  their 
main  attempt,  they  amused  the  enemy  by  two  feigned  attacks  in  different 
quarters.  By  these  means,  brigadier  Lambert  eft'ected  a  landing,  and 
gained  possession  of  a  hill  overhanging  the  sea ;  formed  his  men,  and 
repulsed  a  body  of  French,  which  had  been  sent  to  dislodge  him  from 
his  post.  Having  now  the  command  of  this  part  of  the  shore,  the  British 
troops  in  a  short  time  made  good  their  landing,  and  immediately  com- 

him  to  relinquish  his  pretensions  in  favour  of  Sir  Simon  Stuart,  a  nenr  relation  to 
the  ear!  of  Mute.  "  Mr.  Lcg-ge  (says  Mr.  Hflshani)  ri'presenlecl,  in  very  respect- 
ful languaj^e,  liis  earnest  desire  to  gratify  tlie  wisiies  of  his  royal  highness,  it  time- 
ly intimation  had  been  given  him  of  liis  intention;  but,  as  things  were  now  cir- 
cumstanced, he  could  not,  in  honour  to  liimself  or  justice  to  liis  friends,  recede 
from  the  nomination  already  made.  Tiiis  (continues  Mr.  Belsham)  was  a  species 
of  contumacy  altogctlier  unpardonable;  and  the  new  monarcli  took  a  very  early 
and  decisive  opportunity  to  demonstrate  to  the  world,  how  diHercnt  was  his  sys- 
tem of  thinking  from  that  of  Louis  XII.  who,  with  a  magnanimity  truly  royal,  de- 
clared it  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  king  to  revenge  the  quarrels  of  a  duke  of  Or- 
leans." Belsham,  vol.  i.  p.  17.  This  paragraph  contains  an  assertion  injurious  to 
our  sovereign,  without  any  proof  or  vouchers.  Where  is  the  evidence  tiiat  the 
prince  £ent  such  a  message  ?  'I'liere  is  none  in  Mr.  IK-Isham's  history;  hut  even 
if  the  prince  had  sent  such  a  message,  is  there  any  proof,  that,  because  Mr.  I-egge 
did  not  do  what  was  not  practicahle,  the  prince  shuuld  conceive  such  resentment 
against  him,  as  on  that  accoiuit  to  deprive  him  ofiiisotlice  seven  years  after.-' 
Where  is  the  testimony  that  supports  this  assertion,  imputing  to  the  sovereign, 
malignity  and  revenge  .'  Is  it  a  construction  founded  on  general  experience  of 
that  illustrious  personage's  dispositions  .'  Are  malice  and  rancour  supposed,  even 
by  his  enemies,  to  be  component  parts  of  the  king's  character?  An  impartial 
historian  will  admit  no  assertion  that  is  unsupported  by  testimony  and  contrary 
to  probability. 


1761.— CiiAr.  II.  IIEIGN  OF  GEORGE  IK.  131 

[Operations  in  India.    Capture  of  Pondicherry.     I'roject  of  Mr.  Law.] 

menced  the  siege  with  great  vigour :  while  the  fortress,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  very  gallantly  defended,  and  several  bloody  contests  took 
place.  At  last  the  chevalier  St.  Croix,  debarred  by  the  British  fleet  from 
any  communication  with  the  continent,  and  pressed  on  all  sides,  surren- 
dered, by  an  honourable  capitulation,  on  the  7th  of  June,  two  months 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Britisli  armament.  Although  in  England  all  men 
did  not  equally  estimate  the  value  of  the  conquest,  yet  they  agreed  in 
praising  the  military  and  naval  exertions  by  which  it  had  been  obtained. 

In  America  so  mucii  had  been  already  done,  that  little  remained  now 
to  be  accomplished  by  war.  The  Cherokee  Indians  had  been  trouble- 
some and  incursive  on  our  western  frontiers,  but  were  entirely  defeated 
by  colonel  Grant,  and  compelled  to  make  peace  on  our  own  terms.  In 
the  West  Indies,  a  small  armament,  under  lord  Rollo  and  sir  James 
Douglas,  sailed  against  Dominica,  one  of  the  neutral  islands,  but  occu- 
pied by  the  I'Vench,  and  reduced  it  under  the  dominion  of  Great  Britain. 

In  the  East  Indies,  as  we  have  seen,  Pondicherry  only  remained  in 
possession  of  the  French.  Against  this  beautiful  town  and  important 
fortress,  in  the  progress  of  success  the  British  troops  proceeded.  Colo- 
nel Coote  invested  it  by  land,  and  admiral  Stevens  by  sea.  In  Novem- 
ber 1760,  the  batteries  and  works  raised  by  the  besiegers  suffered  great 
damage  from  a  violent  storm,  but  were  quickly  repaired,  and  the  opera- 
tions were  carried  on  with  vigour  and  perseverance.  The  besieged  made 
a  resolute  and  gallant  defence,  expecting  the  arrival  of  a  powerful  fleet 
to  their  relief;  but  at  length  being  attacked  by  famine,  they  were  reduced 
to  extreme  distress,  and  obliged  to  subsist  on  the  flesh  of  camels,  of  ele- 
phants, and  even  of  dogs.  On  the  1st  of  January,  17G1,  a  violent  storm 
dispersed  the  British  fleet,  and  gave  the  besieged  sanguine  hopes  of  pro- 
vision and  succour.  The  British  admiral,  however,  exerted  such  dili- 
gence and  celerity,  tliat  in  four  days  after  the  storm,  he  again  appeared 
before  the  place,  with  eleven  ships  of  the  line  and  one  frigate,  two  of 
the  line  having  been  wrecked.  Being  disap))ointed,  after  such  flattering 
hopes  of  assistance,  the  besieged  became  desperate ;  but  neither  they 
nor  their  general  made  any  offer  to  surrender.  At  length  a  breach  being 
effected,  and  only  one  day's  provision  of  any  kind  remaining,  a  signal 
from  the  town  was  made  for  a  suspension  of  arms.  A  Jesuit  and  two 
civilians  offered  to  capitulate  ;  but  tlie  governor  would  propose  no  terms, 
and  sent  out  a  paper  full  of  invectives  against  the  English,  as  breakers 
of  the  treaties  relative  to  India.  As  the  governor  would  not  capitulate, 
and  the  offer  of  the  inhabitants  without  his  concurrence  could  not  be 
regarded,  the  city  was  taken  by  storm,  and  abandoned  to  the  plunder  of 
tlie  victors.  Colonel  Coote  and  his  coadjutor,  by  their  courage,  conduct, 
unanimity,  and  perseverance,  effected  this  conquest  on  the  15th  of  Ja- 
nuary 1761,  and  thus  gave  a  final  blow  to  the  French  power  in  the  Car- 
natic. 

In  Bengal,  an  attempt  was  made  to  revive  the  power  of  France.  On 
the  taking  of  Chandornagore  in  1757,  Mr.  Law,*  a  subject  of  France, 
had,  with  a  party  of  French  fugitives,  retired  into  the  north-western  re- 
gions of  India,  and  his  European  followers  soon  amounted  to  about  two 
hundred  men.  The  great  mogul  had  a  short  time  before  been  deposed 
by  an  irruption  of  Mahrattas,  and  soon  after  dying,  one  of  his  sons,  Shah 

•  Nephew  to  Law,  so  noted  about  1720,  for  his  Mississippi  scheme. 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  H— 1761. 

[Campaign  in  Germany.     Operations  of  prince  Ferdinand.]  j-  ^ 

Taddah,  assumed  the  title  of  his  father,  supported  by  some  of  his  pro- 
vinces, and  opposed  by  others.  Law  oflered  this  young  prince  his  ser- 
vice with  his  two  hiuidred  Europeans,  which  was  accepted  with  great 
joy ;  and,  though  the  prince's  opponents  were  extremely  numerous,  yet, 
by  the  superiority  of  European  genius,  enterprise,  and  miUtary  skill,  to 
those  of  the  feeble  Asiatics,  he  ea^!ily  turned  the  scale  in  his  favour  and 
reduced  several  considerable  districts  to  obedience.  Lsw,  elated  with 
this  success,  in  an  evil  hour  persuaded  him  to  turn  his  arms  against  Ben- 
gal ;  and  he  accordingly  entered  that  kingdom  with  eighty  thousand  men 
of  his  own,  and  upwards  of  two  hundred  French.  The  subah  of  Bengal 
marched  to  oppose  him  with  twenty  thousand  natives,  but  a  much  more 
forniickible  force  in  live  hundred  English.  The  British  and  their  allies 
gained  a  complete  victory  over  the  French  and  their  auxiliaries  :  Mr. 
Law  was  taken  prisoner,  and  his  fellow  adventurers  killed,  taken,  or  dis- 
persed ;  the  great  mogul  being  among  the  native  prisoners.  This  victory 
happened  on  the  same  day  on  which  Pondicherry  was  taken,  and  thus  by 
both  was  a  final  blow  given  to  the  power  of  France  in  India. 

We  left  the  French  in  possession  of  the  whole  territory  of  Hesse,  and 
a  considerable  part  of  Westphalia.  Their  force  in  Germany  greatly  sur- 
passed that  of  prince  Ferdinand,  and  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  act 
with  cautious  circumspection.  The  general  object  of  the  allies  was  the 
same  in  this  as  in  the  preceding  campaigns  ;  namely,  to  drive  the  French 
out  of  Germany  :  but  the  scene  of  their  etforts  was  different.  The  French 
army  was  powerful,  and  well  supplied  with  provisions.  Prince  Ferdinand, 
in  forming  his  plan  of  operations,  considered  the  different  characters  of 
the  contending  troops.  The  French,  though  equally  brave,  he  knew,  were 
not  equally  hardy  with  his  own  soldiers ;  he  therefore  projected  a  winter 
campaign,  in  which  the  hardiness  of  his  own  troops,  inured  to  the  country 
and  climate,  would  somewhat  compensate  for  the  superior  force  of  the 
enemy.  Accordingly,  on  the  9th  of  February,  he  prepared  to  attack  the 
enemy  on  every  side,  while  they  were  totally  off  their  guard  ;  and  on 
February  the  10th,  began  his  march.  The  centre,  led  by  his  serene 
highness  in  person,  penetrated  directly  into  Hesse,  and  made  its  way 
towards  Cassel ;  the  right  and  left  of  the  army  were  each  at  a  very  con- 
siderable distance  from  tliis  body :  but  so  disposed  as  fully  to  co-operate 
in  the  general  plan,  which  was  very  extensive.  The  hereditary  prince, 
who  commanded  on  the  right,  marched  by  Stadbergen  and  Mengering- 
hausen ;  and  leaving  the  country  of  Hesse  towards  the  eastward,  as  the 
alarm  was  to  be  as  sudden  and  as  widely  diffused  as  possible,  he  pushed 
forward  with  the  utmost  expedition  into  the  heart  of  the  French  quarters. 
General  Sporcken  commanded  a  corps  of  troops  to  the  left  and  pene- 
trated into  Thuriniria.  These  movements  cut  oflthci  French  from  com- 
munication  with  a  strong  garrison  which  they  had  placed  at  Gottingen, 
and  with  the  army  of  the  empire  in  Lower  Saxony  :  and  at  the  same  time 
opened  a  communication  between  the  army  of  the  allies  and  of  Prussia. 
Oil  the  approach  of  the  allies,  the  French,  notwithstanding  their  num- 
bers, fled  in  great  consternation  ;  and  had  not  the  country,  by  its  defiles 
and  difficulties,  favoured  their  retreat,  they  might  have  been  entirely  de- 
stroyed. Prince  Ferdinand  attacked  Fruster,  a  well  fortified  town  on 
the  river  Eder,  one  of  the  streams  which  fall  into  the  VVcser.*    He  found 

*  Not  directly,  but  after  its  confluence  with  tlic  Fuldo. 


1761.— Chap.  II.  KEIGN  OF  GEOllfiE  III.  133 

[Various  success  of  the  contending  armies.] 

the  place  well  prepared  ;  but  though  at  first  repulsed,  he  in  a  few  days 
compelled  it  to  surrender,  and  tlicre  got  possession  of  a  large  magazine. 
That  gallant  and  enterprising  officer  the  marquis  of  Granby,*  who  had 
succeeded  lord  George  Sackviile  in  the  command  of  the   English,  at- 
tacked and  stormed  several  strong  forts  and  castles  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  the  chief  magazines  of  the  enemy  were  either  taken  or  destroyed. 
Marpurg,  upon  the  river  Lann  which  falls  into  the  Rhine,  and  Leighayn, 
were  blockaded  ;  but  the  chief  object  of  the  prince  was  the  siege  of  Cas- 
sel,  on  which  the  fortune  of  the  campaign  must  evidently  turn ;  since,  if 
the  strongly  fortified  capital  of  Hesse  were  taken,  the  inferior  places 
would  certainly  fall.     Meanwhile  marshal  Broglio,  the  French  comman- 
der, collected  his  dispersed  troops,  and,  being  re-enforced  from  France, 
returned  to  meet  the  victorious  enemy.     The  allied  army  had  been  di- 
vided, in  carrying  on  the  different  operations  ;  and  the  hereditary  prince 
havino;  advanced  a  considerable  way  before  his  uncle,  was  attacked  by 
Broglio  and  defeated.     Prince  Ferdinand,  finding  it  necessary  to  raise 
the  siewe  and  evacuate  Hesse,  made  a  very  al)le  retreat  towards  Hano- 
ver ;  and  though  disappointed  in  the  hopes  that  he  entertained  from  his 
winter  campaign,  yet  his  expedition  was  far  from  being  witiiout  effect ; 
for,  by  seizing  and  destroying  the  magazines  of  the  enemy,  he  prevented 
them  from  availing  themselves  of  their  successes.    Both  armies  returned 
to  winter  quarters,  and  it  was  the  end  of  June  before  they  again  took  the 
field.     Marshal  Broglio,  being  strongly  re-enforced,  marched  from  Cas- 
sel,  and  moved  towards  the  I)imet,|  to  join  a  body  of  troops  in  West- 
phalia under  the  prince  de  Soubise.     General  Sporcken,  who  occupied 
a  strong  position  on  the  banks  of  the  same  river,  on  the  approach  of  the 
grand  army  of  the  enemy,  attempted  a  retreat,  but  did  not  effect  his  pur- 
pose without  his  rear  being  attacked,  and  suffering  considerable  loss. 
Marshal  Broglio  having  joined  Soubise,  marched  forward  against  the 
allied  army,  which  prince  Ferdinand  had  posted  on  the  Lippe,   on  the 
eastern  frontiers  of  Westphalia  and  the  confines  of  Lower  Saxony.     Dis- 
covering that  the  design  of  the  enemy  was  to  attack  him,  the  prince  took 
a  very  strong  position,  and  also  employed  effectual  measures  for  securing 
a  retreat,  should  it  be  necessary.     Broglio,  on  the  15th  of  July,  made  a 
furious  attack  upon  the  marquis  of  Granby's  posts,  and  after  a  violent 
conflict  was  repulsed  ;  but  the  next  day  the  French  made  a  general  at- 
tack.    Prince  Ferdinand,  though  with  very  inferior  numbers,  by  his  skilful 
disposition,  and  his  readiness  in  seizing  advantages  which  were  afforded 
him  on  one  side  by  the  tardiness  of  the  French,  was  victorious  ;  but  the 
victory  was  not  decisive.     Broglio  thought  it  expedient  to  separate  the 
troops,  and  sent  Soubise  westward  to  besiege  Munster,  while  he  himself 
proceeded  towards  Hanover  and  Brunswick ;  and  so  secured  his  com- 
munication, that  he  could  easily  retreat  into  Hesse,  should  that  be  expe- 
dient.    Prince  Ferdinand,   moving  eastward  to  watch  the  motions  of 
Broglio,  sent  the  hereditary  prince  to  protect  Munster ;  which  purpose 
he  effected  so  completely,  as  to  present  Soubise  from  besieging  that  city, 
and  compel  him  to  retire.     Meanwhile  Broglio  was  making  rapid  ad- 
vances in  Lower  Saxony  :  on  the  5th  of  October  he  attacked  the  city  of 
W^olfenbuttle,  which  after  a  siege  of  five  days  he  took,  and  proceeded  to 

•  Grandfather  of  the  present  duke  of  Rutland. 

t  A  river  on  tLe  confines  of  Westphalia  and  Hesse,  which  falls  into  the  Weser. 


134  HIS  rOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  H.— 1761. 

[King  of  Prussia  acts  on  the  defensive.    Negotiations  for  peace.] 

Brunswick.  The  hereditary  prince,  however,  being  sent  by  his  uncle  to 
the  reHof  of  l»is  fatlier's  capital,  by  the  skill  and  activity  of  his  movements 
compelled  the  enemy  to  raise  the  siege,  and  also  to  evacuate  Wolfen- 
bultle  :  soon  after,  both  armies  retired  into  winter  quarters.  After  all  the 
variety  of  operations  and  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  both  the  French  and  the 
allies  were  nearly  in  the  same  situation  as  at  the  commencement  of  the 
campaign. 

The  king  of  Prussia  in  this  campaign,  contrary  to  the  plan  which  he 
had  adopted  in  tlie  former  years  of  the  war,  and  notwithstanding  the  glo- 
rious actions  and  important  achievements  of  the  preceding  season,  re- 
solved to  act  upon  the  defensive.  Aware,  however,  that  this  resolution 
would  encourage  his  enemies,  he  skilfidly  concealed  it  by  threatening 
operations  which  he  did  not  mean  to  carry  into  execution.  The  plan  of 
his  enemies  was,  that  Loudohn,  assisted  by  the  Russians,  should  under- 
take a  war  of  sieges  in  Silesia  ;  that  Romauiso  should  carry  on  the  war  on 
the  side  of  Prussia  and  Pomerania,  and,  assisted  by  the  Russian  and 
Swedish  fleets,  besiege  Kolberg ;  while  marshal  Daun  commanded  an 
army  in  Saxony,  which  was  to  serve  as  a  magazine  for  re-enforcing  the 
other  armies,  and  co-operating  either  with  Loudohn  or  Broglio,  or  caus- 
ing a  diversion  in  favour  of  Romanzow.  After  a  long  siege,  the  Russians 
and  Swedes  captured  Kolberg.  The  king  himself  undertook  the  defence 
of  Silesia  against  the  Russians  and  Austrians  ;  and  the  chief  display  of 
his  military  skill  was  in  the  encampment  that  he  formed,  which  defied  the 
attack  and  prevented  the  progress  of  the  enemy  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  campaign.*  In  September  he  destroyed  the  Russian  magazines  ; 
and,  had  not  his  own  provisions  failed,  would  have  prevented  any  import- 
ant blow  from  being  struck  in  Silesia;  but  on  the  29th  of  September  be- 
ing obliged  to  leave  his  strong  post,  general  Loudohn  attacked  and  sur- 
prised Schwcidnitz,  which  closed  the  campaign  in  Silesia.  By  this  loss, 
added  to  the  capture  of  Kolberg,  the  campaign  of  1761  was,  on  the 
whole,  disastrous  to  Prussia. 

The  British  minister  was  now  engaged  in  a  business  which  in  its  con- 
sequence gave  occasion  to  very  great  changes  in  the  state  ;  this  was  a 
negotiation  for  peace.  In  winter,  1760,  France  began  to  see  that  her 
hopes  from  successes  in  Germany  were  by  no  means  likely  to  be  realiz- 
ed ;  that  Britain,  invigorated  by  Pitt,  continued  with  unrelaxed  cftbrts  to 
support  her  allies  on  the  continent ;  and  that  Frederick  still  baflled,  and 
was  likely  to  bailie,  all  the  force  of  his  enemies.  Her  revenue,  which 
had  principally  supported  the  expense  of  the  war,  was  exhau.sted  by  enor- 
mous expenses,  and  her  ambition  was  humbled  by  discomfiture  and  dis- 
aster, which  had  made  the  war  so  general.  Expressing  her  wishes  for 
peace,  therefore,  she  now  seemed  to  be  in  earnest.  Her  allies  were 
aware,  that  if  she  withdrew  from  the  confederacy,  it  would  be  unsafe  for 
them  to  continue  hostilities.  Sweden,  the  subsidiary  of  France,  was  in- 
formed by  the  court  of  Versailles,  that  the  state  of  the  French  finances 
did  not  permit  the  longer  continuance  of  the  subsidy  ;  and  the  courts  of 
Petersburg,  Vienna,  Sweden,  and  Poland,  concurred  in  overtures  for  a 
negotiation.  On  the  25ih  of  March,  1761,  declarations  to  that  effect  were 
sii^ned  by  the  ministers  of  the  five  powers  at  Paris,  and  on  the  31st  of 
the  same  month  delivered  at  London.   A  declaration  of  the  same  import, 

•  See  Gillics's  Frederick,  p,  353. 


1761.— Ci(AP.  11.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  m.  135 

[Views  of  the  respective  parties.     Overtures  between  Britain  and  France.] 

by  the  kings  of  Britain  and  Prussia,  was  dated  on  the  3d  of  April  ;  and 
Augsburg  was  by  f»oth  parties  fixed  on  as  the  most  coujinodious  situation 
for  a  congress.  iVs  the  number  of  the  parties  concerned,  and  tlie  variety 
and  comphcation  of  their  interests,  must  render  the  negotiation  intricate, 
it  was  unanimously  agreed  by  tiie  parties,  that  neutral  powers  should  be 
admitted  to  the  convention.  To  simplify  as  much  as  possible  the  views 
and  objects  of  the  different  parties,  it  was  found  most  expedient  to  recur 
to  the  origin  of  the  war,  inwhich  their  respective  purposes  had  been  first 
manifested,  and  by  the  events  of  which  they  had  since  been  jointly  or 
severally  afi'ected.  Many  as  were  the  relations  and  consequences  which 
the  war  in  its  progress  involved,  yet,  on  tracing  them  to  their  sources, 
they  were  found  to  originate  in  two  objects  totally  unconnected  ;  namely, 
the  limits  of  the  French  and  English  territories  in  North  America,  and  of 
the  dominions  of  the  king  of  Prussia  in  Germany  and  Poland.  It  was 
agreed,  that  the  adjustment  of  German  ditlerences  should  be  the  business 
of  the  general  congress  at  Augsburg ;  and  that  a  separate  negotiation 
should  be  opened  at  London  and  Paris,  for  the  arrangement  of  such  con- 
cerns as  belonged  exclusively  to  Great  Britain  and  France. 

To  this  negotiation,  as  pertaining  more  immediately  and  directly  to  our 
subject,  we  shall  pay  the  first  and  principal  attention.  Ministers  were  re- 
ciprocally sent;  Mr.  Stanley  to  Paris  on  the  part  of  England,  M.  Bussy 
to  London  on  the  part  of  France ;  and  the  negotiation  now  appeared  to 
be  in  the  fairest  train.  France,  which  had  proposed  the  separate  treaty 
with  England,  thereby  ottered  a  dereliction  of  any  hopes  that  she  might 
have  derived  from  the  state  of  affairs  in  Germany.  It  was  now  obvious,  that, 
in  order  to  maintain  peace,  she  must  make  very  humiliating  concessions. 
Her  proper  quarrel  was,  by  this  arrangement,  separated  from  the  general 
cause  ;  and  she  must  expect  very  disadvantageous  conditions,  as  in  her 
proper  quarrel  she  had  suffered  grievous  disasters.  When  in  such  a  situ- 
ation she  desired  a  separate  peace,  it  might  have  been  very  naturally 
imagined  that  she  was  sincere  ;  and  not  only  by  superficial  politicians, 
but  by  men  of  information  and  experience,  she  was  really  conceived  to  be 
in  earnest.  France  was,  however,  playing  a  game  artful  in  its  design, 
but  shallow  in  its  policy.  The  court  of  Spain,  she  hoped,  would  not  look 
with  indifference  on  the  humiliation  of  the  principal  branch  of  the  house 
of  Bourbon.  Charles,  she  well  knew,  was  originally  far  from  being  so 
favourably  disposed  to  England,  as  his  predecessor  had  been.  The  great 
successes  of  the  English,  on  an  element  and  in  quarters  in  which  they 
might  be  eventually  dangerous  to  Spain,  had  added  jealousy  to  original 
displeasure.  The  more  advantageous  and  imperious  the  terms  demanded 
by  Britain  should  be,  the  more  would  the  resentment  and  jealousy  of 
Spain  be  inflamed,  and  the  more  easily  would  that  power  be  induced  to 
lake  a  part  in  the  war.  On  the  side  of  England  there  was  sincerity  in  the 
negotiation,  but  there  were  circumstances  which  obstructed  a  peace. 
France  was  a  country  whose  ambition  had  always  displayed  itself  towards 
her  neighbours,  and  more  especially  towards  Britain,  whenever  she  had 
power  to  give  it  effect:  in  the  present  contest,  she  had  been  evidently  the 
aggressor.  Our  ambitious  rival  having  commenced  an  unjust  war,  and 
being  totally  vanquished,  and  almost  prostrate  at  our  feet ;  this  was  con- 
ceived to  be  the  time  for  reducing  her  to  a  state  which  would  long  disable 
her  for  future  aggression.  Such  was  the  general  opinion  of  the  people, 
and  such  also  was  the  opinion  of  the  principal  minister. 


136  mSTOPvY  OF  THE  Chap.  II.— 1761. 

[Principle  of  the  overtures.    Propositions  of  France,] 

The  nefTotiation,  however,  opened,  on  the  ground  o^ uti  possidetis  :  that 
is,  lliat  the  two  parties  should  remain  in  possession  of  reciprocal  con- 
quest, and  that  wliatever  cessions  were  made,  should  be  granted  for  an 
equivalent.  As  no  cessation  of  arms  had  liitherto  taken  place,  and  as  the 
war  might  maki:  a  daily  alteration  in  the  fortune  of  the  contracting  powers, 
it  was  necessary  to  fix  upon  some  epoch  to  which  this  possessory  article 
should  refer.  The  French  proposed,  that  the  situation  in  which  they 
should  stand  on  the  first  of  May,  1761,  in  Europe,  on  the  first  of  July  in 
the  West  Indies  and  Africa,  and  on  the  first  of  September  in  the  East 
Indies,  sliould  be  the  basis  of  the  treaty  proposed  to  be  negotiated  be- 
tween the  two  powers  ;  but  they  declared  their  willingness  to  fix  upon 
other  epochs,  if  these  proved  not  to  be  agreeable.  The  British  minister, 
at  first,  refused  to  admit  any  epochs,  but  those  that  referred  to  the  day  of 
signing  the  treaty  of  peace.  To  this  the  French  replied,  that  unless  a 
certain  period  of  the  war  was  fixed,  it  would  be  impossible  to  ascertain 
the  nature  and  value  of  the  possessions  which  might  be  relinquished;  and 
they  declared  that,  unless  specified  epochs  were  fixed,  the  negotiations 
must  be  at  an  end.  The  English  minister  at  length  saw  the  propriety  of 
the  measure,  but  before  he  would  treat  definitively  on  that  point,  he  pro- 
posed two  preliminary  conditions  :  first,  that  every  thing  adjusted  be- 
tween the  two  crowns  concerning  their  particular  war,  should  be  n-ade 
final  and  conclusive,  independent  of  the  fate  of  the  negotiation  at  Augs- 
burg :  secondly,  that  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  between  Britain  and 
France,  or  preliminary  articles  to  that  efi'cct,  should  be  signed  and  ratified 
between  the  dale  of  that  memorial  and  the  first  of  the  following  August. 
If  these  conditions  were  accepted,  Britain  agreed  to  name  as  determined 
epochs,  the  first  of  July  for  Europe,  the  first  of  September  for  Africa  and 
America,  and  the  fifst  of  November  for  the  East  Indies.  France,  having 
consulted  with  her  principal  ally,  consented  to  the  independence  of  the 
treaty  on  the  negotiation  at  Augsburg,  provided  nothins;  shoiddbe  stipulat- 
ed to  the  prejudice  of  the  house  oj  Austria.  To  the  second  article,  and  to 
the  proposed  epochs,  she  also  agreed.  The  general  principle,  and  the 
terms  of  its  application,  being  ascertained,  they  came  next  to  particular 
stipulations.  The  great  objects  in  the  negotiation  were  six  :  1st,  the 
limits  of  the  two  crowns  in  North  America  :  2d,  the  conquests  of  Great 
Britain  in  the  West  Indies,  together  with  the  neutral  islands  there  :  3d, 
our  conquests  in  Africa  and  India  :  4th,  the  adjustment  of  the  particular 
affairs  between  the  English  and  French  in  (Tcrmany  :  5th,  the  conduct 
which  the  two  crowns  were  to  adopt,  with  regard  to  their  respective  allies 
in  Germany :  6th,  the  restitution  of  the  captures  made  by  England  pre'- 
vious  to  the  declaration  of  war.  I'rance  proposed  to  cede  Canada  ;  stipu- 
lating, that  whatever  French  colonists  should  so  choose,  might  remove 
with  their  effccfs,  and  that  those  who  remained  should  be  allowed  the  free 
and  public  exercise  of  the  catholic  religion.*  She  required  the  restitution 
of  ("ape  lirclon,  and  a  confirmation  of  the  privilege  of  fishing  on  the 
coast  of  Newfoundland.  In  the  West  Indies — of  the  neutral  islands,  she 
proposed  to  relinquish  TobagO  to  England,  but  that  Dominica,  St.  Lu- 
cia, and  St.  Vincent,  should  return  to  her  protection  as  before  ;  and  to 
repurchase  Guadaloupe  and  Marigalante,  she  offered  Minorca.  In  Af- 
rica, she  required  the  restoration  of  either  Senegal  or  Goree;  and  in  Eu- 

•  Annual  Register  for  1761,  p.  38 ;  and  Magazines  for  ditto. 


«>«:■ 


1761.— Chap.  II.  KEIGN  OF  GE01«;E  111,  137 

[Reply  of  England.    I'roposetl  interference  of  Spain  rejected.) 

rope  of  Bellcisle  :  a.s  a  compensation  for  which,  she  ofTered  to  evacuate 
Germany  eastward  of  the  Maiiu;.  In  the  East  Indies,  being  stripped  of 
all  her  possessions,  she  had  nothinn;  to  ofl'cr.  She  endeavoured  to  prove, 
that  the  territorial  acquisitions  of  England  would  hurt  the  commercial  in- 
terests of  the  English  as  well  as  the  French  East  India  company ;  and 
proposed  that  the  peace  in  India  should  be.  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
convention  concluded  some  years  before  between  M.  Godeheau  and  ad- 
miral Saunders,  in  totally  different  circumstances  ;  and  that  the  ces.sion 
of  her  conquests  in  Germany  should  be  a  compensation  for  those  in  Af- 
rica and  India.  The  chief  difficulty  was  in  the  fifth  object ;  for  England 
declared  that  she  would  inviolably  preserve  her  faith  to  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia;  and  France  had  recently  stipulated  at  the  court  of  Vienna,  that  she 
would  admit  nothing  in  the  treaty  with  England  to  the  disadvantage  of 
Austria.  To  solve  this  difficulty,  France  proposed,  that  the  French  and 
British  armies  in  Germany  should  observe  a  strict  neutrality ;  that  when 
his  Britannic  majesty  should  recall  his  forces,  the  christian  king  would 
recall  double  the  number  ;  and  that  no  French  troops  should  remain  in 
Germany,  but  in  proportion  to  those  who  continued  there  in  British  pay. 
The  French  also  demanded  the  restitution  of  the  captures  made  before 
the  declaration  of  war.  These  proposals  were,  in  July,  1761,  sent  in  a 
memorial  to  London.  Mr.  Pitt's  answer,  dated  July  29th,  agreed  to  re- 
ceive Canada,  but  without  any  limitation  ;  and,  in  addition  to  the  French 
offer  of  all  Canada,  demanded  its  appurtenances.  It  rejected  the  requisi- 
tion of  Cape  Breton,  or  any  other  island  in  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  :  it 
allowed  the  privilege  of  fishing,  if  the  French  would  demolish  Dunkirk  ; 
it  acceded  to  the  propositions  respec^ting  the  West  Indies,  and  to  restore 
Belleisle  on  the  compensations  offered  :  it  refused  the  neutrahty  proposed 
m  Germany :  and  insisted,  in  addition  to  the  evacuation  of  Hesse,  that 
France  should  evacuate  all  Germany  :  it  refused  the  restitution  of  either 
Senegal  or  Goree  :  it  rejected  the  treaty  of  admiral  Saunders  as  the  basis 
of  peace  in  India,  but  proposed  that  the  East  India  companies  of  the  two 
nations  should  negotiate  on  this  subject ;  and  lastly,  it  refused  the  resto- 
ration of  the  captured  ships. 

While  these  matters  were  depending,  M.  Bussy,  the  French  agent, 
delivered  a  private  memorial  from  France,  proposing,  with  the  consent 
and  communication  of  the  king  of  Spain,  that  his  catholic  majesty  should 
be  invited  to  accede  to  the  treaty,  to  prevent  any  disputes  between  the 
crowns  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain  from  producing  a  new  war:  specifying 
the  points  required  by  Spain  to  be,  first,  the  restitution  of  some  captures 
made  upon  the  Spanish  flag;  secondly,  the  privilege  of  the  Spanish  na- 
tion to  fish  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  ;  and  thirdly,  the  demolition  of 
the  English  settlements  made  on  the  Spanish  territories  in  the  bay  of 
Honduras.  The  sagacity  of  Pitt  immediately  penetrated  the  object  of 
the  proposed  interference,  and  readily  comprehended,  not  only  the  insin- 
cerity of  the  French  in  the  proffered  negotiation,  but  also  the  motives  of 
their  duplicity.  He  expressed  himself  rather,  as  might  be  expected,  from 
conscious  wisdom  discovering  an  attempt  to  impose  on  it  by  trick  and  ar- 
tifice, than  in  the  complaisant  stylo  of  court  and  diplomatic  etiquette. 
He  rejected  with  the  strongest  and  most  unqualified  expressions  of  con- 
tempt, the  proposals  of  an  enemy  humbled  at  our  feet,  to  interfere  in  dis- 
putes with  a  nation  with  which  we  were  in  friendship  ;  and  called  on  the 
Spanish  minister  to  disavow  a  memorial  asserted  to  have  been  drawn  up 
Vol,  YH.~-18 


138  HISTORY  OF  THE  Gmap.  H.— 1761 

[Discussion  between  Britairvand  Spain] 

by  the  consctil  of  his  court.  That  ambassador  returned  at  first  a  verbal 
message,  and  soon  after  was  authorised  by  his  court  to  dehver  a  written 
answer,  in  which  he  openly  avowed  r.nd  justified  the  step  taken  by  the 
French  aucnt,  as  entirely  agreeable  fi>  the  sentiments  ol' liis  master.  lie 
declared  tliat  the  kings  of  France  and  Spain  were  united,  not  only  by  the 
ties  of  blood,  but  bv  mutual  interest.  lie  applauded  the  humanity  and 
greatness  of  mind,  which  his  uiost  chriilian  majesty  had  shown  in  the 
proposition  complained  of  by  Pitt;  insisted  much  on  the  sincere  desire  of 
peace,  as  the  only  motive  which  influenced  the  conduct  of  the  two  mon- 
arcbs  ;  and  added  hanghfily,  that  if  his  master  liad  been  governed  by  any 
other  principb^s,  "  biscalliolic  majesty,  giving  full  scope  to  his  greatness, 
would  have  spoken  from  himself,  and  as  became  his  dignity.  "* 

The  whole  of  this  paper  not  only  indicated,  but  avowed,  a  union  of  in- 
terests and  views  between  the  courts  of  France  and  Spain,  which  if  the 
negotiation  should  be  broken  oil",  as  it  was  likely  to  be  on  the  rejection  of 
the  proposed  interference,  must  produce  hostilities.  In  the  negotiation 
between  France  and  England,  there  were  two  great  points  on  which  the 
parties  could  not  agree.  France  continued  to  insist  upon  the  neutrality 
of  Germany,  which  was  refused  by  England,  and  also  on  the  restitution  of 
the  captures  previous  to  the  declaration  of  \var.  The  faith  of  the  country 
bemg  pledged  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  the  English  administration  consi- 
dered the  repeated  proposals  for  neutrality,  as  attacks  upon  national  inte- 
grity. Mr.  Staidiey  was  ordered  to  deliver  the  ultimatum  of  the  court  of 
London,  requiring  the  cession  of  Canada  and  its  dependencies,  Cape 
Breton,  and  other  ishinds  in  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  as  demanded  in 
Mr.  Pitt's  memorial  of  the  29th  of  July  ;  agreeing  to  the  territorial  resti- 
tution in  Europe  and  the  West  Indies,  on  the  conditions  proposed  ;  re- 
quiring the  cessions  in  Africa  thciem  mentioned,  and  also  the  evacuation 
of  Ostend  and  Nieupcrt,  and  the  restitution  of  Cleves,  Wesel,  Gueldres, 
and  all  the  territories  belonging  to  the  king  of  Prussia  and  other  allies  of 
Britain.  England  insisted,  that  she  should  be  left  at  full  liberty  to  sup- 
port the  cause  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  according  to  the  terms  of  existing 
treaties:  she  propqsed  to  admit  France  to  a  share  of  the  Newfoundland 
fishery,  and  to  give  her  the  small  island  of  St.  Piene  ;  but  she  continued 
determuied  to  refuse  the  restitution  of  the  ships  captured  before  the  war. 
Britain  would  neither  agree  to  the  proposed  neutrality  in  Germany,  nor  to 
the  restitution  of  prizes;  France  insisted  on  these  two  points,  and  thus 
the  negotiatiijn  was  set  asid(>,  and  Messrs.  Bussy  and  Stanley  were  order- 
ed to  return  to  their  respective  countries. 

Our  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Madrid  was  instructed  to  require  a  ca- 
tegorical and  satisfactory  declaration  concerning  her  final  intentions.  If 
he  perceived  on  the  side  of  Spain  any  intention  of  disavowing,"  or  even 
of  explaining  away,  the  oflx-nsive  transaction,  he  was  ordered  to  accept  it, 
and  to  aflbrd  to  her  an  opportunity  of  plausible  denial.  He  accordingly 
made  the  desired  representation  to  general  Wall,  the  Spanish  minister, 
and  received  many  professions  of  the  friendship  entertained  by  Spain  for 
the  Knslish  king  and  nation,  but  a  very  evasive  account  of  the  purport  of 
the  proposed  ir;tcrfei-<;nr«;  the  minister  merely  saying,  that  nothing  was  in- 
tended by  it  that  could  be  inconsistent  with  the  dignify  of  hi»  liritannic  ma- 
jesty.  He  magnified  the  matters  in  dispiitc  between  Spain  and  Britain,  and 

•  State  papers  relative  to  a  rupture  with  Spain,  1761. 


1761  — Ciup.  II.  REfGN  OP  GEORGE  m.  I39 

[Mr.  Pitt's  proposition  to  anticipate  hostilities  rejected  in  council.] 

a;Mc«J  either  trivial  or  groundless  .subjects  of  complaint.  Sub.'-equent  con- 
ferences were  evasive  and  un.sati.sfactyry,  and  con.sequentl|  by  no  means 
answered  tlie  requisitions  made  by  the  British  minirfter.  The  French  in- 
terest was  evidently  gaining  ground  in  the  Spanish  c:)urt.  France  strong- 
ly pressed  upon  Spain  the  dangerous  greatness  of  England,  which  would 
render  her  now  so  formidable  a  neighbour  to  Spanish  America,  and  ena- 
ble her,  if  not  checked,  to  engross  so.  much  commerce.  The  christian 
king  earnestly  solicited  his  catholic  majesty  to  form  a  family  compact, 
which  should  include  an  ofren.sive  and  defensive  alliance,  a  reciprocation 
of  benelits,  a)ul  a  mutual  guarantee  from  dangers  and  attacks.  Charles 
agreed  to  tl)e  propositions  of  Louis  :  a  convention  was  formed  for 
these  purposes,  and  signed  August  loth,  to  which  the  other  branches  of 
the  house  of  Bourbon  were  invited  to  accede.  Tiie  conclusion  of  this 
treaty,  afterwards  so  famous  under  the  title  of  the  family  compact,  was 
speedily  discovered*  by  Mr.  Pitt,  and  confirmed  his  opinion  of  the  hostile 
intentions  of  Spain.  Considering  war  with  that  kingdom  to  be  on  these 
grounds  inevital)le,  Mr.  Pitt  proposed  in  council,  tliat  we  should  strike 
the  first  blow,  attarJi  Spain  before  she  was  fully  prepared,  and  thereby 
give  her  a  lesson,  how  she  should  presume,  uhasked,  to  interfere  in  our 
affairs,  with  a  mediation  at  once  dictatorial,  insolent,  and  menacing.  He 
proposed,  that  ^we  should  consider  the  answer  of  Spain,  as  a  refusal  of 
satisfaction;  and  that  refusal,  as  a  declaration  of  war.  Conceiving  that 
hostilities  were  unavoidable,  he  proposed  that  we  should  carry  them  on 
with  the  utmost  speed  and  vigour.  We  were  paramount  at  sea  ;  let  us 
send  a  fleet  immediately  to  intercept  their  galleons,  and  thus  at  once  strike 
a  blow  that  should  weaken  them  for  the  remainder  of  the  contest.  In  the 
projects  of  united  genius  and  magnanimity,  there  is  often  a  grandeur, 
which  transcends  the  comprehension  of  ordinary  minds,  and  appals  rather 
than  inspirits  the  requisite  efforts.  Bold  in  conception,  prompt  in  plan, 
decisive  and  rapid  in  execution,  Mr.  Secretary  Pitt  said,  Spain  has  hos- 
tile intentions,  let  us  anticipate  her  effortSj  let  us  disable  her  power  :  so 
shall  we  speedily  compel  her  to  sue  for  peace  and  prevent  ourselves  from 
being  disturbed  by  her  unjust  partiality.  It  is  evident  that  we  must  have 
war  ;  the  sooner  we  begin,  the  better  for  us,  as  we  are  prepared,  and  she 
is  not :  her  chief  resources  are  on  the  element  which  we  command,  we 
may  therefore  arrest  their  progress  to  her  ports.  His  colleagues,  thougb 
men  of  sense  and  information,  were  not  endowed  with  those  powers  which 
at  one  glance  can  view  a  great  and  complicated  subject  in  all  its  parts, 
diversities,  and  connexions.  They  considered  Mr.  Pitt's  proposal  aa 
tending  to  precipitate  us  into  a  war  which  might  be  avoided,  and  argued 
on  the  impolicy  of  a  rupture  with  Spain.  That  nation,  they  admitted,  had 
taken  a  very  e.xtraordinary  and  unjustifiable  step  ;  but  his  catholic  majes- 
ty had  probably  been  seduced  by  tlie  artifices  of  France,  and  a  temperate 
but  spirited  remonstr;\nce  from  the  British  court  might  recall  him  to  a 
true  sense  of  his  interests.  The  addition  of  another  war  would  diminish 
our  national  strength;  and  the  proposed  seizure  of  the  flota  would  alarm 
all  neutral  nations.  This  was  the  opinion  of  ail  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil, except  lord  Temple  ;  but  as  it  did  not  overturn  Mr.  Pitt's  reasonings, 

•  Tlie  informant  of  the  Hrilish  minister  is  generally  understood  to  have  been 
the  e-ir)  Marischal  of  Scotland;  who  havinj?  been  attainted,  had  long  resided  in 
Spain,  but  was  now  reconcyed  to  the  British  government. 


140  IIISTOUY  OF  'IHfc  €hap.  II.— 1761 

(Resignalion  of  Mr.  Pitt.j 

his  opinion  remained  unaltered.  The  amount  was,  war  is  an  evil ;  war 
with  Spain  is  contrary  to  the  interests  of  England  ;  and  negotiation  is  a 
more  desirable  mode  of  settling  disputes  than  hostilities.  These  general 
propositions  Mr.  Pitt  neither  did  nor  conld  deny  ;  negotiation,  he  admit- 
ted, was  preferable  to  war,  if  it  could  be  employed,  but  it  had  been  tried 
without  eficot.  Spain  was  resolved  to  violate  the  peace  ;  it  was  therefore 
just  in  England  to  prevent  her  attempts,  and  her  interest  to  strike  the 
first  blow.  As  that  branch  of  Bourbon  showed  a  disposition  to  join  in 
the  enmity  of  the  other,  now  was  the  time  for  humbling  the  whole 
house  ;  and  if  the  opportunity  were  suffered  to  escape,  it  might  never  be 
recovered.*  We  are  now  taught  by  the  event,  that  this  illustrious 
statesman  explored  the  views  of  both  actual  and  intentional  enemies ; 
for  Spain  proved  hostile,  as  he  predicted.  It  is  also  evident,  that  in  such 
circumstances,  the  plan  which  he  proposed  was  as  wise  as  it  was  vigor- 
ous. If  immediately  executed,  it  would  have  disabled  the  enemy,  and 
prevented  the  necessity  and  expense  of  our  subsequent  efforts.  The 
succeeding  part  of  his  conduct  is  more  liable  to  exception.  He  said, 
that  if  he  could  not  prevail  in  this  proposition,  he  was  resolved  to  sit  no 
longer  in  that  council.  He  thanked  the  ministers  of  the  late  king!  for 
their  support.  He  was  himself  called  to  the  ministry  by  the  voice  of  the 
people  ;  to  them  he  considered  himself  as  accountable  for  his  conduct, 
and  he  would  not  remain  in  a  situation  that  made  him  responsible  for  mea- 
sures which  he  was  no  longer  allowed  to  guide. t  It  was  very  obvious, 
that  in  ability  ?ilr.  Pitt  far  surpassed  any  of  his  colleagues  ;  and  if  it  be 
expedient  for  the  nation  that  in  council  superior  wisdom  should  guide  in- 
ferior, it  was  certainly  expedient  that  such  men  as  the  duke  of  Newcas- 
tle and  the  earl  of  Bute  should  be  governed  by  Mr.  Pitt.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, wisdom  can  best  exercise  guidance,  where  she  does  not  assert  a 
claim  that  implies  conscious  superiority.  § 

Had  this  extraordinary  statesman  condcscendedto  employ  a  softer  and 
more  conciliating  mode  of  conduct,  he  perhaps  might  have  won  over  a 
majority  of  his  colleagues  to  his  opinions  ;  but  the  experiment  was  not 
tried.  Being  out-voted  in  the  council,  ho  resigned  his  employment  into 
the  hands  of  his  sovereign.  His  majesty  declared  his  concern  for  the  loss 
of  so  very  able  a  servant,  but  without  requesting  him  to  resume  his  office. 
He  offered  him  any  rev,ard  in  tlie  power  of  the  crown  to  bestow  ;  at  the 
same  time  he  expressed  himself  satisfied  with  the  opinion  of  the  majority 
of  his  council  ;  and  even  declared,  that,  had  the  council  concurred  with 
Mr.  Pitt,  he  shoulihavc  found  itiliJficult  how  to  have  acted,  in  the  light  in 

1, 

•  Annual  Ketfisler,  1761,  p.  43. 

j    The  earl  of  Hate  was  said  to  have  I'requeuliy  thwarted  Mr.  I'itt  In  the  cabi- 
i>ct,  hut  liad  hitlit-rto  been  overborne  bv  liis  superior  abiiilies. 
U  Annual  Rcplstcr,  1761,  p.  43. 

§  Since  writing  the  above,  I  observed,  ilial  lordOrford,  in  a  letter  to  general 
Conway,  expressed  the  same  opinion:  "  Hr-  f  Mr.  I'itt)  and  lord  Temple  have  de 
cbirCd  a^aiitbt  the  wiiole  cabini^t  council.  Why,  that  they  have  done  before  now, 
and  yet  have  acted  wiili  ihcirv  Uj^nic^:  it  is  very  true  ;  but  a  little  word  has 
escaped  Mr.  I'itt,  whiqli  never  entered  irlto  bis  former  declaration  ;  nay,  nor  into 
Orornwell's,  nor  Ilugli  Cupel's,  nor  Jtilitis  Caesar's,  nor  any  reformers  of  modern 
or  ancient  times.  He  has  happened  to  say,  he  will  p^uide.  Now,  ihoiigh  the  cabi- 
net council  are  mighty  willing  to  be  ffUKkd  when  they  cannot  help  it,  yet  they 
wish  to  have  appearances  saved  ;  they  cannot  be  fond  of  being  told  that  they  are 
to  be  guided;  stilllcss,  that  other  people  should  be  told  so."  Lord  Orford's 
letters 


1761.~Chap.  If.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  Ilf.  14J 

[Character  of  hia  administration] 

which  he  had  viewed  the  subject.  The  king  did  not  conceive  Spain  to 
iiave  exhibited  any  clear  proofs  of  hostile  intentions ;  and,  entertaining 
such  a  view,  he  could  neither  think  it  just  nor  prudent  to  commence  a 
war.*  HaviniT,  therefore,  with  the  greatest  condescension  explained  liis 
sentiments,  (sentiments  that,  in  the  hght  in  which  he  regarded  the  mat- 
ters in  question,  do  him  the  greatest  honour,)  Mr.  Pitt  was  extremely 
affected  by  the  united  dignity  and  goodness  of  his  sovereign.  The  fol- 
lowing day,  a  pension  of  three  thousand  pounds  a  year  was  settled  on 
Mr.  Pitt  for  three  lives,  and  at  the  same  time  a  title  was  conferred  upon 
his  lady  and  her  issue.  This  pension  subjected  the  acceptor  to  much 
frivolous-  and  contemptible  obloquy.  Mr.  Pitt's  original  fortune  was 
small ;  the  situation  into  which  he  had  been  advanced  by  his  abilities, 
required  great  expenditure  ;  his  powerful  mind  engaging  him  in  moment- 
ous politics,  and  grasping  the  interests  of  his  country  and  other  nations, 
he  had  bestowed  too  little  attention  on  his  own  pecuniary  affairs,  so  that 
he  was  very  far  from  being  in  affluent  circumstances  :  he  had,  during  a 
most  arduous  conjuncture,  served  his  country  in  the  highest  station  that 
he  could  occupy ;  and  having  found  her  in  a  state  of  unexampled  humi- 
liation, he  left  her  in  a  state  of  unexampled  exaltation.  Such  a  man  de- 
served reward.  All  the  ribaldrous  invective  poured  out  against  his  ac- 
ceptanee  of  this  annuity,  may  be  answered  in  a  few  words  ;  as  a  supply, 

IT  WTAS  WANTED  ;    AS  A  RECOMPENSE,  IT  WAS  FAIRLY  EARNED. 

Mr.  Pitt's  resignation  of  an  employment  in  which  his  continuance 
would  have  promoted  the  most  momentous  interests  of  his  country,  can- 
not easily  be  justified.     From  his  wisdom,  his  country  might  have  ex- 
pected that  he  would  have  overlooked  an  opposition  of  opinion  in  a  case 
which  very  fairly  admitted  of  two  constructions,  though  he  was  eventu- 
ally proved  to  be  right ;  that  his  patriotism  would  have  induced  him  to 
have  employed  his  talents,  even  though  every  particular  measure  adopted 
might  not  be  agreeable  to  his  views ;  and  that  his  magnanimity  would 
overlook  what  he  might  suppose  personal  competitions.     But,  whatever 
sentiments  were  entertained  respecting  Mr.  Pitt's  going  out  of  office, 
every  impartial  man  agreed,  that  a  greater  minister  had  never  acted  un- 
der a  sovereign  of  England.     Lofty  in  genius,  profound  in  wisdom,  and 
expansive  in  views  ;  inventive  in  counsel,  bold  in  resolution,  and  decisive 
in  conduct ;  he  long  overbore  party  by  unequalled  ability.     Sagacious  in 
the  discovery  of  general  and  official  character,  he  discerned  the  fittest 
instruments  for  the  execution  of  his  plans  ;  and  employing  none  in  offices 
of  high  political,  naval,  or  military  trust,  but  those  whom  he  knew  to  be 
thoroughly  qualified  for  effecting  the  purpose,  he  laid  a  sure  foundation 
for  success.     The  enterprises  under  his  administration  were  brilliant,  and 
the  result  was  at  once  advantageous  and  glorious.     A  mind  of  such  force 
of  intellectual  and  moral  qualities,  energy  of  operation,  and  perseverance 
of  exertion,  which  had  in  its  powers  and  endowments  no  motives  for  arti- 
fice or  disguise,  perhaps  bestowed  too  little  care  to  conceal  from  others 
that  superiority  which  it  so  transcendently  possessed.     A  little  more  in- 
dulgence for  common  understandings,  and  somewhat  less  of  austerity  of 
temper  and  of  inflexibility  of  disposition,  might  have  preserved  this  illus- 
trious man  to  the  councils  of  his  country. 

This  summer  a  very  pleasing  and  important  event  took  place,  in  the 

*  Annual  Re.^ister,  ir61.  p.  44. 


142  '  JllSTOUY  OF  THE  Ouaf.  II.— 1761. 

[Marriage  and  coronation  of  the  king.     Earl  of  Bute,] 

.•narriagc  of  the  king.  The  nation,  iVom  the  accession  of  his  majesty^ 
was  very  desirois,  both  on  pubUc  and  private  considerations,  to  see  him 
united  to  a  consort  capable  of  rendering  him  luippy.  Various  conjec- 
tures were  formed,  who  tlie  lady  shoidd  be  that  was  to  become  the  queen 
of  Great  Britain.  Different  princesses  were  mentioned  ;  and  an  Enghsh 
woman  was  by  many  supposed  likely  to  attain  tliat  high  rank.  Pam- 
phlets were  written  lor  and  against  the  king  of  Great  Britain  allying 
liimself  with  a  subject ;  but,  on  the  8th  of  July,  a  gazette  extraordinary 
put  an  end  to  all  conjectures.  This  paper  announced  that  his  majesty 
had  d('clared  his  resolution  of  demfinding  in  marriage  the  princess  (yhar- 
lottc,  .sister  to  the  reigning  duke  of  Mecklenburg  Strelitz  ;  a  princess  dis- 
tmguished  for  talents  and  amiable  qualifications.  It  was  directed  by  his 
majesty,  (hat  lord  Harcourt  should  repair  to  the  court  of  Strelitz,  to  de- 
mand her  serene  highness  ;  that  the  duchesses  of  Ancaster  and  Hamil- 
ton should  be  sent  to  accompany  her,  and  lord  Anson,  with  a  fleet,  to 
receive  her  in  the  Elbe,  and  conduct  her  to  England.  On  the  14th  of 
August,  the  noble  embassy  arrived  at  Strelitz ;  and  the  next  day,  lord 
Marcourt  asked  the  princess  for  his  sovereign.  The  proposal  being  ac- 
cepted, a  contract  was  signed.  On  the  17th,  her  highness  set  out ;  and 
oq  the  23d,  she  reached  Cuxhaven,  where  the  English  squadron  lay,  and 
was  received  with  every  demonstration  of  joy  by  the  fleet.  After  encoun- 
tering very  tempestuous  weather,  and  being  driven  a  considerable  way 
to  the  northward,  on  the  6th  of  September  the  squadron  arrived  safe  at 
Harwich  late  in  the  evening,  and  the  next  day  the  princess  landed  on 
British  ground.  Returning  with  the  most  distinguished  affability  the  at- 
tentions that  were  paid  to  her  at  Harwich  and  the  intermediate  places, 
she  captivated  the  affections  of  all  the  spectators.  That  night  she  slept 
at  William,  the  seat  of  lord  Abercorn ;  and  on  the  8th  of  September, 
proceeded  towards  London,  when  she  was  met  at  Rumford  by  the  king'is 
eoach  and  servants.  On  their  approach  to  the  metropolis,  to  avoid  the 
streets  they  turned  aside  toward  the  Islington  road,  from  thence  drove  to 
Paddington,  passed  through  Hyde  Park,  and  coming  down  Constitution  hill 
stopped  at  the  garden  gate  of  St.  James's  palace,  where  she  was  received 
by  all  the  royal  family.  The  duke  of  York  handed  her  from  the  coach. 
In  the  garden  she  was  met  by  his  majesty,  who  saluted  her  with  the 
greatest  affection,  and  led  her  to  the  palace,  where  she  dined  with  the 
king,  the  princess  dowager  and  the  rest  of  the  family.  At  eight  in  the 
evening  the  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by  Dr.  Seeker,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  The  duke  of  Cumbeiland  gave  the  princess 
away  ;  the  princess  bee;  me  queen  Charlotte,  and  London  and  V\estmin- 
btcr  were  the  scenes  of  festivity  and  joy. 

About  a  fortnight  after,  the  coronation  of  the  king  and  queen  was 
5)oleinnizcd  with  a  magnificence  and  grandeur  befitting  those  illustrious 
personages,  and  the  country  over  which  they  reigned.  The  deportment 
of  the  young  queen  on  these  great  occasions,  at  public  places,  and  wher- 
ever she  appeared,  charmed  all  spectators ;  and,  when  added  to  the  ac- 
counts given  by  those  who  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  the  under- 
.standing  and  heart  of  her  majesty,  made  every  loyal  Briton  rejoice  at  the 
liap|)y  lot  of  his  beloved  monarch. 

On  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Pitt,  the  earl  of  B'gremont  was  appointed 
to  his  department ;  but  as  the  earl  of  Bute  was  now  considered  as  the 
«'hief  director  of  affairs,  aad  not  long  after,  by  the  diamissioij  of  the  duke 


irei.— Chap.  II,  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  *  143 

[Object  of  the  king  in  the  choice  of  his  ministers] 

of  Newcastle,  became  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  we  may  from  this  time 
date  the  rommencement  of  the  Bute  administration.  John  Stuart,  earl 
of  Bute,  whose  respectable  private  character  lias  been  already  nicntioned, 
was  the  representative  of  a  noble  family  of  considerable  eminence  in  the 
southwest  of  Scotland,  and  connected  with  the  first  nobility  in  that  part 
of  the  kingdom  ;  especially  with  the  house  of  Argyle,  so  distinguished 
for  its  edbrts  in  support  of  our  present  establishment ;  and  he  had  uni- 
formly taken  the  side  of  the  Hanover  family.*  His  lordship  was  a  man 
of  talents  somewhat  exceeding  mediocrity,  witli  a  considerable  share  of 
that  species  of  literature  and  knowledge  which  is  within  the  reach  of  mo- 
derate abilities.  He  was  a  good  classical  scholar,  conversant  in  natural 
history,  botany,  some  branches  of  chemistry,  and  experimental  philoso- 
phy ;  a  liberal  patron  of  letters,  and  a  magnificent  promoter  of  useful 
experiments  and  discoveries. t  Pious  in  his  sentiments  and  habits,  he 
was  meritorious  in  domestic  and  social  relations;  and,  as  a  private  noble- 
man or  gentleman,  a  very  valuable  member  of  society.  Such  a  charac- 
ter constantly  contemplated  by  a  prince  so  well  disposed  as  his  royal 
pupil,  when  joined  to  the  pains  and  attention  b<!gtowed  upon  himself,  natu- 
rally produced  respect  and  affection  ;  and  afiection  in  the  inexperience 
of  youth,  as  naturally  exaggerated  the  merits  of  its  object. 

The  kino-  evidently  meant  to  choose  his  servants,  without  respect 
TO  their,  party  connexions,  according  to  his  estimati(jn  of  their  fitness 
for  the  olilces  of  state.  He  had  good  reason  to  entertain  a  favourable 
opinion  of  lord  Bute,  from  what  he  himself  had  seen  and  knosvn  :  and  it 
was  a  very  natural  process  of  reasoning,  especially  when  mingled  with 
youthful  affection,  to  suppose  him  qualified  for  higher  departments. 
There  certainly  was  a  man  of  much  greater  t;i!enls  tlian  lord  Jiutc,  but 
he  had  relinquished  his  employment.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  difticult  to 
iihow  that  there  was  any  other  statesman  at  that  time  but  Mr.  Pitt,  (ex- 
cept Mr.  Fox,"  who  was  a  supporter  of  the  existing  administration,)  in 
point  of  genius,  much  elevated  above  lord  Bute.  The  car!  of  Chester- 
field had  retired  ii;om  public  affairs :  earl  Granville  was  too  much  ad- 
vanced in  years  for  so  active  a  situation  ;  Mr.  George  Grenville  was  one 
of  lord  Bute's  colleagues;  neither  Mr.  Charles  Tovvnshend  nor  lord 
North  were  hitherto  known.  The  ministerial  abilities  oi"  the  duke  of 
Newcastle  had  been  already  ascertained  so  completely,  as  to  atiord  little 
encouragement  for  again  trusting  him  with  (he  chief  conduct  of  affairs. 
During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Pitt,  be  had  frequently  attempted  to 
thwart  that  great  man,  in  which  he  had  been  joined  by  others  of  the  old 
whig  confederacy  ;  but  as  often  as  he  made  the  attempt,  he  had  been 
over-ruled.  After  Mr.  Pitt  had  left  (he  council,  his  grace  fondly  hoped 
that  he  should  again  recover  the  leading  inlluence  which  he  once  pos- 
sessed.    He  did  not  perceive  that  it  must  be  a  prejudice,  which  could 

*  I  mention  this  circumstance,  in  opposition  to  a  notion  once  prevalent,  that 
lord  Bute  had  been  tainted  with  jacobitism  ;  a  charge  totally  devoid  of  proof,  and  . 
which  really  appears  to  have  had  no  other  foundation  than  his  name  of  Stuart. 
Indeed  his  appointment  by  George  If.  to  be  tutor  to  the  lieirof  the  crown,  when 
whig  principles  were  e.sckisivcly  paramount,  is  a  suflicient  answer  to  any  asser- 
tion resting  on  svich  a  feeble  basis. 

f  Various  expensive  works  were  pri'.Ued  at  Ins  cost  for  the  dissemination  of 
curious  and  useful  knowledge.  Indeed,  there  never  perhaps  was  a  nobleman  in 
g-reater  favour  with  prhttas,  as  I  am  assured  by  very  respectable  members  of  that 
body. 


144  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  11—1761. 

[Hostile  declaration  of  Spain.] 

attach  the  qualitications  of  a  statesman,  to  descent  from  certain  famiUes, 
or  connexion  willi  a  certain  confederacy  ;  and  that  there  had  been  cir- 
cumptances  wliich  favoured  such  a  prejudice,  which  now  no  longer  ex- 
isted. A  power  and  iullueace  founded  upon  accidental  circumstances, 
not  personal  qualities,  he  expected  would  remain,  after  those  circum- 
.stanccs  were  changed.  It  is,  no  doubt,  proper  in  the  mixed  constitution 
of  this  country,  that  men  of  high  rank  and  fortune  should  have  a  share 
in  the  administration ;  but  the  precise  place  which,  consistent  with 
sound  policy,  they  are  to  hold,  and  the  influence  which  they  are  to  pos- 
sess in  llie  executive  councils  of  the  nation,  must  be  supreme  or  subordi- 
nate, according  to  their  respective  talents,  combined  with  the  situation  of 
afiairs.  In  point  of  rank  and  property,  the  administration  of  lord  Bute, 
supported  as  it  was  by  the  house  of  Bedford  and  many  other  great  fami- 
lies, was  not  wanting.  It  did  not  possess  the  highest  talents  :  that  was  a 
want  which  the  acceptance  of  the  duke  of  Newcastle  for  its  head  would 
not  have  enabled  it  to  supply.  It  must  be  a  bigoted  prejudice  in  favour 
of  the  whig  connexion,  that  could  wish  to  have  reinstated  the  ministry 
which  presided  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  As  a  state  puppet  moved  by 
the  ability  of  Pitt,  the  duke,  from  his  numerous  connexions,  was  of  great 
use ;  but,  as  himself  a  leader  of  administration,  he  had  aheady  demon- 
strated his  unfitness.  Much  as  has  been  said,  it  has  never  been  proved, 
that  an  administration,  unless  headed  by  Mr.  Pitt,  could  have  been  form- 
ed at  that  time,  composed  of  greater  ability.  The  astonishing  powers, 
liowever,  of  the  favourite  statesman,  discredited  with  the  public  the  ad- 
ministration of  his  successor,  as  it  must  have  discredited  any  administra- 
tion that  could  have  been  formed.  Besides  this  comparison,  the  change 
of  policy  in  the  present  king,  which  would  not  employ  men  merely  be- 
cause tlicy  were  whigs,  and  belonged  to  certain  great  families,  was  mis- 
construed or  misrepresented,  as  a  predilection  for  principles  contrary  to 
those  which  had  supported  his  family.  The  minister  was  represented  as 
the  abettor  of  arbitrary  power  ;  as  holding  an  office  *hrough  the  partiality 
of  his  master's  aiPjction,  to  which  he  was  not  entitled  by  his  abilities,  nor 
fitted  by  his  principles.  This  idea  of  his  arbitrary  notions  of  governiTient 
was  farther  increased,  from  the  place  of  his  origin  and  his  name.  He  was 
u  native  of  Scotland,  in  which  there  had  been  many  Jacobites,  whence  he 
was  supposed  to  be  a  Jacobite  himself,  and,  as  a  Styart,  attached  to  the 
exiled  family,  at  least  to  their  political  doctrines.  In  examining  real  facts, 
the  historian  finds  no  documents  or  evidence  to  support  this  charge  of 
arbitrary  principles.  In  the  .series  of  his  ministerial  conduct,  there  is  cer- 
tainly, on  the  o!ie  hand,  nothing  to  excite  very  great  admiration,  and  to 
justify  the  fulsome  panegyrics  of  some  writers  of  the  time  ;  nor,  on  the 
other,  to  justify  the  censures,  invectives,  and  obloquy  of  a  much  more 
numerous  class,  which  comprehended  abler  individuals. 

The  negotiation  with  France  being  broken  oft',  the^court  of  Versailles 
published,  what  it  termed  an  historical  memorial  of  the  war,  containing 
the  pp.cillc  overtures,  and  the  causes  of  their  inefficacy.  The  object  of  this 
mcru  >rial,  as  might  nuturally  he  cxpcctf^d,  was  to  throw  tlio  whole  blame 
ofthe  war  and  its  continuance  on  Great  Britain.  It  included  also  personal 
invectives  against  tlie  conductof  Mr..  Pitt,  whom  the  enemies  of  this  coun- 
try regarded  with  bitter  resentment.  The  French  now  circulated  with  great 
indi.stry  a  report,  that  Spain,  in  consequence  of  a  treaty  recently  con- 
cluded, would  immediately  declare  war  again.st  Britain.   The  new  minis- 


1761.— Chap.  II.  Kf:iC;N  OF  GEOKGK  Ilf.  X45 

[Manifesto  of  tlie  Sjranisli  government.] 

try  of  England  instructed  the  arnl;r,s.sador  at  the  court  of  Spain  to  de- 
mand, in  moderate,  but  firm  tenns,  a  ff<nm)unication  of  this  treaty ;  at 
lea.st  a  dieiavovval  that  it  contained  any  part  that  would  aflec  t  th.e  interests 
of  Britain.  Before  these  orders  arrived,  his  lord.ship  Imd  received  authen- 
tic information  of  the  actual  com.lusiou  of  this  alliance,  and  applied  to  the 
Sj)anish  minister  for  satisfaction.  The  flota  of  Spain  was  safe  in  har- 
bour, and  in  other  respects  that  country  was  better  prepared.  Mr.  AVall 
now  throwing  off  the  mask,  justified  the  sagacity  of  Mr.  Pitt.  He  gave 
no  direct  answer,  but  entered  into  a  long  complaint  of  the  treatment  re- 
ceived by  Spain  from  Britain  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and 
also  of  the  terms  proposed  by  the  court  of  France.  It  was  not  proper,  he 
said,  for  his  catholic  majesty  to  sulTer  a  relation,  a  friend,  and  an  ally,  to 
be  in  danger  of  compulsorily  yielding  to  any  terms  which  an  insuhing 
conqueror  chose  to  prescribe  ;  he  added,  that  the  conditions  ofiered  by 
France  were  reasonable  ;  that,  in  not  accepting  such  terms,  Britain  ma- 
nifesited  ani  ambitious  design  to  ruin  the  power  of  France,  which,  if  not 
oppo.sed,  must  ultimately  crush  the  power  of  Spain  ;  and  that,  in  pro- 
posing to  dispossess  France  of  her  American  possessions,  the  British  in- 
tention must  be  to  proceed  next  to  the  American  dominions  of  Spain. 
The  impartial  reader  must  see,  that  the  amount  of  this  declaration  ex- 
pressed in  plain  language  was,  if  Britain  will  not  make  peace  with  France 
on  the  terms  which  France  oliers,  she  must  make  war  with  Spain.  The 
British  ambassador  replied  with  cool  indifference  to  the  invectives,  and 
with  temperate  firmness  to  the  menaces  ;  recalled  the  i-  panish  minister 
to  the  object  for  which  he  had  desired  the  conference,  and  repeated  the 
question.  Whll  again  evaded  ;  but  at  last  said,  that  the  king  of  Spain  had 
thought  proper  to  renew  his  family  compacts  ;  and  there  the  conversation 
ended-  The  earl  of  Bristol  immediately  communicated  to  his  court  this 
change  in  the  Spanish  procedure.*  It  was  not  doubted,  either  at  home 
or  abroad,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Pitt  had  contri- 
buted to  the  assumption  of  such  a  style.  The  earl  of  Bute  and  his  col- 
leagues, apprehensive  that  their  cautious  measures  to  avoid  war  might 
be  imputed  to  fear,  in  their  next  step  showed  that,  though  they  did  not 
wish,  they  did  not  dread  a  war  with  Spain.  They  instructed  the  ambas- 
sador to  renew  his  demand  respecting  the  treaty  with  the  foimer  union  of 
moderation  and  firmness,  and  to  signify  that  a  refusal  to  communicate 
the  compact,  or  to  disavow  an  intention  of  taking  part  with  France,  would 
be  considered  as  an  aggression  on  the  part  of  Spain,  and  an  absolute  de- 
claration of  war.  On  the  10th  of  December,  the  earl  of  Bristol  made  the 
demand,  when  the  required  satisfaction  was  refused  ;  he  announced  his 
instructions  to  leave  Spain,  and  the  Spanish  ambassador  at  London  re- 
ceived similar  orders  from  his  court.  Before  his  departure  from  London, 
the  count  de  Fuentes,  minister  of  the  Spanish  king,  delivered  to  the  earl 
of  Egremont,  secretary  of  state,  a  manifesto  in  the  form  of  a  note,  setting 
forth  the  haughtiness  and  boundless  ambition  of  the  British  nation,  and  of 
its  late  minister  Mr.  Pitt,  as  experienced  by  Spain  ;  and  the  insulting 
manner  in  which  the  British  minister  had  answered  the  proffered  and 
friendly  interference  of  Spain. -f    Respecting  the  family  compact,  J  it  was 

•  Papers  relative  to  a  rupture  with  Spain,  1761. 

f  Mr.  Pitt's  answer  was,  tliat  he  should  not  relax  from  the  te»ms  that  he  pro 
posed,  until  the  Tower  of  London  was  talcen  sword  in  hand. 
^  See  state  papers,  1761 ;  family  compaet. 
Vol.  VIL— 19 


146  mSTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  II.— 1761. 

[Answer  of  the  British  ministrj.] 

the  mode,  and  not  the  substance  of  the  requisition  that  had  prevented 
compliance  on  the  part  of  liis  cathoHc  majesty.  The  king  had  now  or- 
dered hmi  to  declare,  that  the  treaty  in  question  contained  only  a  reci- 
procal guarantee  of  the  dominions  of  the  several  branches  of  the  house  of, 
Bourbon;  but  with  this  particular  restriction,  that  it  should  only  extend  to 
the  dominions  remaining  to  France  after  the  present  war.  It  thence  pro- 
ceeded to  declare,  tliat  Spain  had  been  entirely  in  the  right,  aqd  Britain 
in  the  wrong  :  and  this  manifesto  was  professedly  addressed,  not  to  the 
king  of  England  only,  but  also  to  the  English  nation.  v 

The  earl  of  Egremont's  answer  to  this  production  aflbrded  a  very  fa- 
vourable specimen  of  the  oflicial  ability  of  t!ic  ministry  and  council  by 
which  it  was  composed.  It  stated  the  irregularity  and  indecency  of  ap- 
pealing to  the  English  nation,  in  a  discussion  between  the  two  sove- 
reigns. It  reprobated  personal  invective,  as  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of 
the  princes  concerned,  and  irrelevant  to  the  subjects  at  issue.  It  confined 
itself  to  facts,  and  recited  those  with  an  accurate  reference  to  their  respect- 
ive dates  and  documents,  specifying  exactly  the  instances  of  hostile  con- 
duct which  Spain  had  exhibited ;  and  from  these  demonstrated  the  pro- 
gress and  increase  of  her  hostile  intentions,  with  our  temperate  and  often 
repeated  endeavours  for  conciliation  ;  showing,  at  last,  that  her  procedure 
amounted  to  an  actual  declaration  of  war. 

The  Spanish  ambassador  having  departed  at  the  en'd  of  December, 
war  was  declared  against  Spain  on  the  4th  of  January,  1762. 


ires.—CHAP.  m.  reign  op  george  hi.  I47 


CHAP.  III. 


I.ord  Bute  tiiipopiilar. — Mi-etingof  new  parliament. — Debateson  the  war  in  Ger- 
many.—Uesig'iiaiion  ofllif  cliike  of  Newcastle. —France  and  Spain  declare  war 
a,i,'ainst  Fortii_!>-al.-  Campai.q-n. — Capture  of  Mariinico. — Expedition  to  the  Ha- 
vaniiah. — Policy  of  the  uiidcrtakin}^. — Strength  of  the  place. — Arduous  siege. 
— lifdiiction. — Manilla  taken. — Capture  of  the  Hernnione. — Birth  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales. — Campaign  in  Portugal— in  Germany — Revolution  in  Russia;  and 
cH'ects  of  it  on  the  con}'t;der.icy. —  Proposals  for  peace. — Duke  of  Bedford  sent 
to  France. — Peace  of  Pans. — Approvt-d  liy  majorities  in  parliament. — Severely 
censured  by  Mr.  I'itt,  the  minority,  and  out  of  the  houses. — Impai-tial  view  of 
its  merits — Great  clamour  against  lord  Bute. — Cider-tax. — Popular  ferment.— • 
Inflamed  by  anti-ministerial  writings. — Unexpected  reslgnaiion  of  lord  Bute. 

The  resignation  of  Mr.  Pitt  in  circumstances  of  such  danger,  did  not 
pass  without  censure  from  impartial  men  and  profound  admirers  of  his 
illustrious  character,  and,  when  combined  with  his  acceptance  of  a  pen- 
sion, was  the  subject  of  gross  and  illiberal  abuse,  in  publications  known 
to  or  supposed  to  be  favouied  by  his  successor^  If  tiiese  writings  were 
really  patronised  by  lord  Bute,  they  produt;ed  an  effect  quite  different 
from  his  intentions,  being  iinputed  by  a  great  majority  of  ti>e  nation,  to 
an  invidious  desire  of  degrading  to  his  own  level,  a  character  whose 
soaring  sublimity  he  could  httle  hope  to%each.  Lord  Bute  became  daily 
more  unpopular,  from  his  apprehended  attempts  to  injure  the  popularity 
of  a  man  so  much  his  superior  ;  and  both  himself  and  his  supporters  w.^'re 
extremely  disagreeable  to  the  English  nation. 

The  first  parliament  of  the  present  king  assembled  on  the  6th  of  No- 
vember, 17G1,  and  sir  John  Cust  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house  cf 
commons.  His  majesty's  speech  commenced,  with  noticing  the  happi- 
ness which  accrued  to  himself,  and  the  joy  of  his  country,  from  his  mar- 
riage with  so  amiable  and  accomplished  a  princess.  .  He  wished  that  this 
first  period  of  his  reign  had  been  marked  with  another  felicity  in  the  re- 
turn of  peace  ;  but,  though  overtures  had  been  made  both  for  a  general 
pacification  and  a  separate  peace  between  France  and  England,  and  a 
negotiation  had  been  opened,  yet  it  had  net  produced  the^  desired  effect. 
He  observed,  that  to  him  the  continuance  of  the  war  could  not  justly  be 
attributed  ;  adverted  to  the  principal  events  of  the  preceding  campaign, 
and  stated  the  necessity  of  vigorous  efforts,  which  would  require  pro- 
portionate supplies ;  and  added,  that  by  powerful  c.xettions.  only  they 
could  expect  a  safe  and  hoaourable  pe^ce.  Addresses  were  returned, 
corresponding  with  the  tenor  of  the  speech^  and  the  supplies  granted  for 
the  year  were  18,299,153^.  18*.  ll^d.  of  which  12,000,000/.  were 
raised  by  n  loan.  Seventy  thoissand  seamen  Vvcre  voted  ;  of  land  forces, 
either  British  or  in  BritiJa  pay,  170,000:  100,000/.  a  year  v/as  settled 
on  the  queen  as  a  jointure,  in  the  event  of  her  surviving  hi.s  majesty  ;* 

•  It  has  been  said,  either  from  misapprehension  or  wilful  misrepresentation, 
that  the  queen,  ever  since  her  marriage,  has  had  an  independent  income  of 
IGOfyOOl.  a  year.  This  report  is  totally  unfounded,  as  a  perusal  of  the  act  of  par- 
liament will  show. 


14S  HISTOUV  or-  THE  Cbap.  111.-1762 

*"  [Discussion  on  the  war  in  Germany.] 

•with  the  palaces  of  Richmond  old  park  for  a  country  seat,  and  Somer- 
set-house for  a  town  residence. 

Tn  tlie  house  of  commons,  the»  ablest  champion  of  the  minister  wa? 
Mr.  Fox  ;  a  jTenthMnnn  'vho,  with  very  vigorous  talents  and  great  poli- 
ticiU  experience,  had  repeatedly  und<'rrated  hi§  own  abilities  when  he, 
condescended  to  act  an  inferior  part  to  such  men  as  either  the  duke  of 
Newcastle  or  the  earl  of  IJute  ;  to  hoth  of  whom  he  was  far  superior  in 
the  q'laliticatinns  of  a  statesman.  In  the  present  session  he  had  ngt  to 
encounter  any  reguhir  opposition.  Mr.  Pitt  poured  forth  his  energetic 
eloqaenc'3  to  invigorate  government :  but  did  not  attack  any  of  their  mea- 
sures, or  impugn  any  of  their  propositions,  unless  they  compelled  him 
to  vindiiate  his  own  policy.  In  the  course  of  the  sesfiiur.,  the  expedi- 
ency of  the  German  war  underwent  a  considerable  disc;ussion.  The 
origin  of  that  war  was  strongly  reprobated  ;  the  expense  in  which  it  in- 
volved the  country  was  painted  in  glowing  colours;  and  its  events  were 
asserted  to  be  not  only  unproductive,  but  pernicious  t<i  Britain.  Our 
principal  ally  (it  was  asserted)  was  totally  regardless  of  our  interests  ;  he 
minded  nothing  but  his  own  aggrandisement;  and,  though  pretending  to 
be  the  supporter  of  the  prolestant  religion,  was,  as  his  writings  and  con- 
versations demonstrated,  altogether  indifterent  about  every  religion,  and 
had  invaded  and  laid  waste  Saxony,  a  protestant  country. 

On  the  other  side  it  was  answered,  that  the  war  in  Germany  was  ne- 
cessary for  preserving  the  balance  of  power  ;  that  it  exhausted  the  French 
in  supporting  their  alhes,  much  more  than  it  exhausted  us  in  supporting 
ours ;  that  the  money  expended  and  the  force  employed  by  France  in 
Germany,  had  weakened  her  efforts  in  othet  quarters  of  the  world,  and 
had  greatly  contributed  to  our  extraordinary  successes.  That  respect- 
ing our  ally,  whatever  might  be  his  private  sentiments  concerning  reli- 
gion, he  had  most  vigorously  and  effectually  defended  the  protestant 
cause  in  Germany  ;  that  his  invasion  of  Saxony  was  justified  by  the  hos- 
tile designs  of  the  Saxon  prince  ;  that  tjie  papers  found  in  the  palace  of 
Dresden  were  authentic  proofs  of  what  he  had  himself  before  learned,, 
that  the  attack  upon  Saxony  was  necessary  to  his  o>vn  preservation  ;  and 
to  sum  up  all,  that  om'  honour  was  pledged  to  support  our  allies,  as  well 
as  our  interest  engaged  to  preserve  the  balance  of  Europe. 

The  former  arguments  were  used  by  some  strenuous  friends  of  the 
Bute  administration  ;  the  latter  by  Mr.  Pitt,  and  his  supporters.  For 
the  present,  however;  it  was  deemed  necef;sary  to  persevere  in  the  Ger- 
man war,  and  the  sum  of  one  million  was  voted  for  that  purpose.  No 
bill  of  sufllf'ient  importance  to  deserve  particular  mention  in  history,  was 
passed  or  proposed  in  this  session,  which  closed  on  the  2d  of  June. 

Considerable  disunion  at  this  time  prevailed  in  the  cabinet.  ^  The  duke 
of  Newcastle,  adhering  to  the  political  notions  in  whi'-h  he  had  been 
trained,  was  desirous  that  the  governriicnt  siiould  be  carried  on  by  the 
whig  conf'^deracy.  Lord  liute  was  averse  to  the  renewal  of  this  system 
of  party  monopoly,  which  Mr.  Pitt  had  so  eirectually  overborne.  New- 
castle, still  nonurinlly  prime  minister,  could  not  bear  the  preponderating 
influence  of  lord  Bute  in  the  cabinet.  Besides  personal  competition  and 
disagreement  in  general  politics,  they  diflered  on  a  particular  measure  ; 
namely,  the  mode  of  carrying  on  the  German  war,  and  the  subsidy  to 
be  affjrdcd  to  the  king  of  Prussia.  The  duke  proposed  two  millions, 
and,  being  thvvarted  by  lord  Bute,  was  still  further  incensed.     Ho  ac- 


•«t 


1762— Chap.  III.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  149 

[Spain  declares  war  against  Britain.     Application  to  Porlupal] 

coidingly  resigned  ;  the  earl  of  IJute  became  first  lord  of  the  treasury, 
and  Mv.  Grenville  secretary  of  state;  thence  nominHlly  cominenced  the 
ministry  of  Bute,  which  had  really  begun  at  the  re.-^ignation  of  Pitt. 

Spain  in  a  short  timr  declared  war  agani.st  England,  and  the  situation 
of  Great  Britain  was  at  this  time  extremely  critical.     She  was  engaged, 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  war  with  all  the  great  continental  powers  ;  and, 
what  was  more  important,  agamst  the  chief  ptirt  of  tlie  nuuitinie  strength 
of  Europe.     The  navy  of  Spain  consisted  of  one  hundred  men  of  war  : 
and   though  the  navy  of  France  was  reduced,  it  was  pot  so  entirely 
destroyed   as  not  to  make  a  considerable  addition  to  the  S[)anish  force. 
From  the  new  alliance,  powerful  in  its  real  strength,  and  in  its  principles 
so  gratifying  to  the  national  attachment  towards  the  house  of  Bourbon, 
despondency  was  succeeded  by  sanguine   hope  and  animation  in  the 
minds  of  that  volatile  people.    They  flattered  them.selves  that  they  should 
now  be  able  to  obtain  that  superiority   over  Britam   which  (hey  had  so 
eagerly  sought,  and  in  pursuit  of  which  they  had  met  with  such  repeated 
disappointments  and  dreadful  losses.    Companies  and  individuals,  at  their 
own  expense,  fitted  out  ships  of  war  ;  and  jtrivate  zeal  animated  public 
etforts.     The  confederates  were  farther  encouraged  by  the  departure 
from  the  British  councils  of  the  most  formidable  and  dreadful  foe  to  the 
enemies   of  England  ;  they  expected  that  the  measures  of  the  new  mi- 
nistry would  be  feeble  and  inefficient,  and  that  the  country,  which  had 
cheerfully  borne  the  expenses  required  to  execute  the  great  plans  of  Pitt, 
would,  when  deprived  of  its  favourite  minister,  feel  the  heavy  burthens 
arising  from  the  war.     All  these  circumstances  tended  to  inspire  with 
confidence  France  and  her  new  ally. 

To  balance  these  disadvantages,  Britain  had  the  uniform  success, 
which  had  made  the  people  believe  themselves  invincible.  She  had  the 
hope  of  plunder  arising  from  a  Spanish  war,  which  had  always  rendered 
it  popular,  and  called  forth  the  niost  vigorous  eflTorts  both  private  and 
public.  She  had  nitherfo  the  command  of  that  element,  over  which  a 
great  part  of  the  Spanish  re-o\irccs  must  be  transported.  Though  de- 
void of  such  a  minister  as.  Piti,  she  had  an  adtninistration,  whom  the 
knowledge  of  his  character  and  conduct,  his  fame  and  popidarity,  and 
the  low  estimotion  in  which  they  them-elves  were  held,  stimulated  to 
strenuous  exertion's,  in  order  to  approve  themselves  not  unworthy  of  theii 
office  ;  and  who  had  also  the  advantage  of  his  plans  and  counsels,  which 
they  had  before  opposed. 

France  and  Spain,  knowing  the  natural  connexion  between  Portugal 
and  England,  and  the  momentous  advantages  accruing  to  this  country 
from  her  commercial  mtercourse  with  the'dominions  of  his  faithful  ma- 
jesty, and  frorp  the  Portiiguese  docks  and  harbours  in  time  of  war,  de- 
termined to  compel  the  court  of  Lisbon  to  renounce  all  friendship  with 
Britain,  and  to  violate  the  neutrality.  On  the  sixth  of  March,  the  Bour- 
bon ministers  delivered  a  joint  memorial,  representing  Britain  as  assum- 
ing a  despotic  aut'.iority  at  sea,  which  was  equally  dangerous  to  Portugal 
as  to  other  powers,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  joining  in  an  oiionsivc  and 
defensive  alliance  against  England.  They  exhorted  the  king  to  dismiss 
the  British  from  his  court,  to  exclude  thenceforward  from  his  ports  all 
the  men  of  war  and  merchant  ships  of  that  country,  and  to  join  his  forces 
to  those  of  France  and  Spain.  His  catholic  majesty,  I'rom  the  great 
affection  which  he  and  his  brother  of  France  entertained  for  the  king  of 


150  HISTORY  OV  THE  Chap.  HI.— ir62 

[.The  Uaurboii  princes  declare  war  against  Portagal.] 

^    >  ■. 
Portugal,  in  order  to  serine  tliat  prince  frorrf  danger,  spontaneously  of- 

tered  and  insisted  on  sending  S|)anisli  troops  to  garrison  all  the  principal 

liarbours  of  the  most  faithful  king. 

His  Portuguese  uiiijt'sty  declared,  tint  his  country  and  resources  wer© 
totally  incapable  ol' sujtporting  a  war;  that,  although  sensible  of  the  good 
intentions  and  benoiicenf  ofl'ers  of  their  christian  and  catholic  majesties, 
and  desirous  of  gratifying  their  wishes,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  com- 
ply ;'  and  of  this  tliey  themselves  must  be  convinced,  on  fully  reflecting 
upon  t!ic  circumstances.  He  was  closely  connected  with  Britain,  as 
well  as  with  France  and  Spain  ;  and  between  Portugal  and  Britain  there 
were  ancient  and  uninterrupted  alliances.  Britain  had  given  him  no  of- 
fence ;  he  could  not  tlicrcfore  go  to  war  with  his  Britannic  majesty,  with- 
out violating  the  honour  of  his  crown,  the  law  of  nations,  and  every 
principle  of  justice.  In  this  situation  he  had  determined  to  observe  a 
strict  neutrality  in  a  war  between  three  friends  and  neighbours  whom  he 
so  hii>hly  regarded,  and  to  confine  himself  only  to  such  preparations  as 
were  merely  necessary  for  self-defence. 

In  reply  to  this  answer,  the  Bourbon  sovereigns,  on  the  first  of  April, 
delivered  at  the  court  of  Lisbon,  a  second  memorial,  more  imperious,  in- 
solent, and  unjust  than  the  first.  It  set  forth,  that,  from  the  relative  situa- 
tion of  Portugal  and  England,  the  alliance  between  them  was  in  effect  an 
ofl'ensive  treaty  against  tiic  house  of  Bourbon.  It  stated,  that  a  British 
licet*  had,  in  1750,  attacked  a  French  squadron  in  a  Portuguese  har- 
bour, which  justified  a  declaration  of  war  by  his  faithful  majesty,  unless 
suitable  satisfaction  were  obtained  ;  and  if  so,  the  ships  taken  ought  to 
have  been  restored  to  his  most  christian  majesty,  the  failure  of  which  res- 
titution would  justify  the  French  monarch  in  declaring  war  against  the 
king  of  Portugal :  but  still  jt  was  the  earnest  desire  of  the  French  and 
S|)anish  sovereigns  to  be  on  terms  of  the  strictest  friendship  with  his 
most  faithlul  majesty,  to  open  his  eyes  to  his  real  interest,  and  to  induce 
him  to  join  them  against  the  common  enemy.  The  king  of  Portugal,  far 
from  being  convinced  by  the  reasoning  or  moved  by  the  exhortations  of 
this  memorial,  refused  more  peremptorily  than  before  to  comply  with  the 
requisition,  and  supported  his  refusal  by  the  strongest  arguments.  On 
the  2:3d  of  April,  a  third  memorial  was  delivered,  still  more  unjust  in  its 
demands,  and  more  insulting  in  its  language,  and  which  concluded  with 
announcing  orders  to  their  ambassadors  to  leave  the  court  of  Lisbon.  In 
liis  reply  to  this  ultimatum,  the  king  of  Portugal  proved,  that  the  Bour- 
bon princes,  in  their  imperious  attempts  to  force  a  neutral  nation  to  war, 
find  in  their  declaration  of  hostilities  because  their  endeavour  was  unsuc- 
cessful, had  violated  the  right  of  an  independent  nation.  Such  was  the 
origin  and  cause  of  the  war  made  upon  Portugal  by  the  house  of  Bour- 
bon ;  and  a  more  unjust  or  ungrounded  procedure  is  not  to  be  found  in 
the  annals  of  modern  Europe  known  at  that  time,  not  even  in  those  of  the 
French  themselves. f     The  Portuguese  declaration  of  war  was  issued  on 

•  Under  admiral  Tloscawf-n.     Sre  p   105. 

f  111  this  opinion  1  concur  vviili  Mr.  Belsham,  and  we  both  have  the  honour 
oFa^reeinjj  with  tiie  renowned  l-'iederick.  "Wherefore,"  said  he,  "did  France 
and  Spain  attack  the  kiii}^  of  Portugal,  wlio  had  g-iven  them  no  oilencp,  and  over 
whom  they  had  no  lij^lil  of  control  ?  Their  object  was,  the  deblrnclion  of  the 
profitable  KnKlish  commerce  with  Portuf^al,  and  the  attainment  of  better  terms 
JVomr.nglaiid  in  return  for  their  cessions  of  the  conquests  which  they  expected  to 


if  m 


1762.— CuAp.  111.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  |5i 

[Expcdilion  of  the  British  aj^ainst  Martinico.] 

the  23d  of  May;  the  proclamation  of  Spain  agaiust  Portugal  «jn  fiic  IGlh 
of  J\ine,  and  of  France  on  the  20th. 

Mei'avc  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Pitt,  an  expedition  had  been  projected 
against  Martinico,  the  centre  of  French  trade  ;  and  the  war  being  finish- 
ed in  Nortli  America,  we  were  enabled  to  draw  from  thence  a  considera- 
ble pari  of  the  army.  General  Monckton  commanded  the  land  forces, 
and  admiral  Rodney  the  fleet.  Being  re-enforced  by  some  troops  sta- 
tioned in  the  British  West  Indies,  tlie  army  consisted  of  twelve  thousand 
men,  and  the  fleet  of  eighteen  ships  of  the  line.  On  the  7th  of  January, 
tine  English  armament  arrived  before  the  island  of  Martinico,  and  on  the 
16th  they  effected  their  landing  at  Cas  Navire  without  any  loss  ;  but  they 
had  still  considerable  difficulties  to  encoimter.  The  island  was  popu- 
lous and  opulent,  and  supported  by  a  numerous  well  armed  and  well 
disciplined  militia,  pecuhariy  qualified  for  the  species  of  war  which  the 
country  permitted,  and  provided  with  a  considerable  body  of  regular 
troops.  In  many  places  the  island  was  intersected  by  ravines  and  deep 
streams,  narrowed  into  defiles,  or  involved  in  woods  :  where  it  was  more 
open  and  practicable,  batteries  were  posted  with  all  the  skill  of  French 
engineers,  who  had  been,  ever  since  the  first  attempt  in  1759,  strength- 
ening the  place  in  expectation  that  our  successes  would  induce  us  to  as- 
sail so  valuable  a  settlement.  These  works  were  most  complete  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Fort  Royal,  a  strong  town  which  defended  the  approach 
to  St.  Pierre,  the  capital,  and  must  be  conquered  before  we  proceeded 
against  that  city.  Two  lofty  and  steep  eminences,  called  Morne 
Tortenson  and  Morne  Garnier,  protected  by  deep  ravines,  overlooked 
and  commanded  the  fortifications.  These  heights  v/ere  occupied  by  the 
enemy  ;  which,  while  they  were  retained,  secured,  or  being  lost,  as  cer- 
tainly lost  the  city  and  citadel.  The  sea  was  upon  the  right,  the  country 
on  the  left,  and  the  eminences  immediately  before  them,  of  which  Morne 
Tortenson,  being  the  nearest,  must,  from  its  po.sition,  be  first  attacked. 
On  the  right,  a  body  of  regular  troops  and  niaiines  v.  as  ordered 
to  advance  along  the  beach  towards  the  town,  wliich  lay  in  the  lower 
grounds  beyond  the  eminences.  A  thousand  sailors,  in  flat-bottomed 
boats,  rowed  close  to  assist  that  division  :  on  the  left,  the  light  infantry, 
covered  by  artillery,  were  employed  to  turn  the  enemy  on  that  side  ; 
while  the  centre,  consisting  of  the  grenadiers,  and  supported  by  the  sea- 
men dragging  alonsr  the  cannon,  attacked  tlie  enemy's  centre,  being  co- 
vered by  the  seamen  acting  as  artillery  from  batteries. v.hich  had  been 
erected  and  disposed  with  great  skill  and  activity.  The  general  having 
made  such  di.spositions,  the  troops  performed  tluir  parts  with  eqiiaj  cou- 
rage, enterprise,  and  effect  in  every  point.  Tliey  drove  the  enemy  from 
post  to  post  after  a  vigoro^is  contest,  and  at  last  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  Morne. ,  The  enemy  fled  precipitately,  either  towards  the  town, 
or  to  the  Morne  Garnier.  This  second  eminence  was  as  strong  as  the 
first,  and  much  higher ;  and  until  it  was  carried,  the  town  could  not  be 
reduced.  It  was  three  days  before  batteries  could  be  erected,  and  other 
dispositions  made,  for  carrying  the  place.  While  the  r»ritish  troops  were 
preparing  these,  the  whole  force  of  the  enemy  descended  from  the  hill, 
and  sallied- from  the  town  upon  the  advanced  posts  of  the  English.     The 

mnke  in  Porlngal.     Kut  is  it  a  reason  for  attackinij  a  sovereis::!!,  tliat  there  exit^ts 
no  lawful  rciison  ?    O  law  of  nations,  how  vain  and  useless  is  lliy  study  '■'" 


152  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  111—1762. 

[Projected  expedilion  to  the  Havannah.] 

main  body  rushing  forward  to  support  their  countrymen,  not  only  repulsed 
the  enemy,  but  pursued  them  past  the  ravines,  ascended  the  hill,  seized 
the  redoubts,  and  made  themselves  completely  masters  of  Morne  Gar- 
•lier.  The  French  regular  troops  escaped  into  the  town,  and  the  militia 
dispersed  into  the  country.  The  situation  which  commanded  the  town 
and  citadel  being  now  possessed  by  the  British,  as  soon  as  the  batteries 
■were  completed,  and  before  they  began  to  play,  the  enemy  capitulated  on 
the  4th  of  February. 

St.  Pierre  still  remained  to  be  reduced.  This  was  a  city  which, 
though  not  so  strong  as  Fort  Royal,  might  have  made  a  considerable  re- 
sistance, if  the  garrison  had  been  proportioned  to  the  strength  of  th« 
place  and  of  the  interjacent  country  ;  but  the  militia  were  quite  disheart- 
ened and  scattered  ;  great  part  of  the  regulars  were  killed  or  taken  at 
Fort  Royal ;  the  planters  were  unwilling  that  their  country  should  be  laid 
waste,  in  a  defence  which,  from  the  late  and  former  successes  of  the 
English,  they  were  convinced  would  be  unavailing.  It  was,  therefone, 
agreed,  that  they  should  capitulate  for  that  place  and  the  whole  island, 
which  was  accordinirly  surrendered  on  the  12th  of  February.  Blartinico, 
Grenada,  St.  Lucia,  and  St.  Vincent's,  soon  after  yielded  to  the  British 
arms.  This  important  undertaking  is  to  be  imputed  to  the  plans  of  Mr. 
Pitt ;  the  next  which  we  have  to  record,  belongs  to  his  successors  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war. 

The  chief  advantage  expected  by  France  from  the  assistance  of  Spain, 
was  through  her  finances  and  navy.  Aware  of  this  expectation,  the  Bri- 
tish ministry  form  their  plan  for  the  campaign  with  a  view  to  these  objects, 
and  proposed  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  which  should 
debilitate  and  exhaust  her  new  antagonist,  disappoint  the  hopes  of  her  old 
enemy,  and  compel  both  France  and  Spain  to  sue  for  peace.  The  whole 
navigation  and  trade  of  the  Spanish  West  Indies  centered  in  the  Havan- 
nah  ;  an  expedition,  therefore,  against  this  important  possession  was  re- 
solved on,  as  soon  as  war  commenced.  It  was  both  a  bolder  and 
a  wiser  plan  to  attack  the  centre  and  strong  hold  of  our  enemy's  domi- 
nions, than  to  begin  with  a  place  of  less  consequence,  in  hopes  thereby  of 
gradually  attaining  the  principal  conquest.  In  the  war  with  Spain  which 
commenced  in  1789,  we  had  begun  with  subordinate  attacks.  The  cap- 
ture of  Porto  Bello  did  not  ensure  the  capture  of  Carthagena,  nor  would 
the  capture  of  Carthagena  have  ensured  the  command  of  the  Spanish 
West  Indies.  The  conquest  of  the  Havannah  would  intercept  the  ene- 
my's principal  resources,  and,  if  we  chose  to  pursue  our  advances,  expose 
the  whole  of  Spanish  America.  The  attempt  against  Cartliagena  was 
as  difficult  as  against  the  Havannah.  Where  the  danger  and  expense  of 
two  objects  were  equal,  it  was  wiser  to  employ  them  upon  that,  which,  if 
attained,  would  be  most  advantageous.  The  policy  of  lord  Bute  and  his 
coadjutorrs  in  tlii.s  undertaking,  therefore,  as  war  ministers,  was  superior 
to  the  policy  of  sir  Robert  Waipol^  and  his  colleagues. 

Such  an  enterprise  being  determined  on  by  ministry,  we  are  next  to 
view  thr-ir  ability  in  the  commanders  which  they  chose,  and  the  prepara- 
tions which  they  made  for  carrying  the  plan  into  execution.  A  very 
powciTal  armament  was  fitted  out;  and  the  chief  command  of  the  land 
forces  was  !;e/itowcd  on  the  earl  of  Albemarle,  the  friend  and  military  pu- 
pil of  the  duke  of  Cumberland.  Admiral  Pococke,  who  had  extended 
the  naval  glory  and  political  power  of  his  country  in  the  East  Indies,  was 


1762.— Chap.  HI.  HEIGN  OF  GKORGE  III.  153 

[Description  of  the  Havannah.     Disposition  of  the  British  forces.] 

employed  to  command  the  fleet  for  humblin{T  our  enemies  in  the  West. 
Commodore  Keppel,  fjrother  to  the  earl  of  Albemarle,  was  second  in  na- 
val command.  Thus  administration  regarded  not  only  the  skill  of  its 
principal  officers,  but  their  harmony,  thereby  avoiding  the  fatal  error 
which  had  so  powerfully  tended  to  our  discomfiture  at  Carthagena.  On 
the  5th  of  March  they  sailed  from  Portsmouth  ;  and  on  their  arrival  off 
the  coast  of  Hispaniola,  were  re-enforced  by  a  great  part  of  the  fleet  and 
army  which  had  achieved  the  conquest  of  Martinico,  and  the  other  Carib- 
bee  islands.  There  were  two  routes  from  Cape  Nichola  to  the  Havannah ; 
the  one  circuitous  to  the  south  of  Cuba,  between  that  island  and  Jamaica, 
round  by  Cape  St.  Antonio  ;  the  other  direct,  to  the  north  of  Cuba,  by  the 
old  Bahama  channel.  The  first  was  the  safer,  but  tedious  ;  the  second, 
in  a  narrow  strait,  by  much  the  shorter,  but  hazardous.  The  success  of 
the  enterprise  depended  in  a  great  degree  on  its  being  far  advanced  before 
the  hurricane  season  :  despatch  was  therefore  a  very  important  object. 
The  season  of  the  year  was  not  stormy,  and  it  was  thought  most  advisable 
to  take  the  northern  route.  This  attempt  was  esteemed  bold,  but  not  rash ; 
and  so  admirable  were  the  dispositions  of  the  naval  commander,  in  send- 
ing vessels  to  reconnoitre  the  passage,  and  dividing  the  armament  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  sea,  that,  by  favourableness  of  weather,  with  which 
from  his  knowledge  of  that  climate  and  situation,  he  had  laid  his  account, 
our  whole  force  in  nine  days  passed  through  this  strait,  seven  hundred 
miles  in  length,  without  the  smallest  interruption;  and  on  the  5th  of  June 
arrived  before  the  place  of  their  destination. 

Cuba,  belonging  wholly  to  Spain,  is  by  far  the  largest  island  in  the 
West  Indies.  It  runs  from  east  to  west,  verging  towards  the  north-west, 
about  nine  hundred  miles  in  length  ;  irregular  in  breadth,  but  at  an  ave- 
rage about  one  hundred  miles.  Its  nominal  capital  is  St.  Jago  on  the 
south-east  coast ;  but  the  most  important  place  for  size,  strength,  popula- 
tion, and  wealth,  is  the  Havannah.  The  harbour  of  this  city  is  entered 
by  a  narrow  passage,  about  half  a  mile  in  length,  opening  into  a  large  ba- 
sin, which  diverges  into  three  smaller  inlets,  capacious  enough  both  in 
extent  and  depth  to  contain  a  thousand  of  the  largest  ships,  and 
on  all  sides  secured  from  the  wind.  In  this  haven  the  rich  fleets  from 
the  various  Spanish  settlements  in  the  West  Indies  and  Mexico  assem- 
ble, before  they  set  sail  for  Europe.  The  Havannah,  a  rendezvous  of 
such  wealth,  was  itself  so  flourishing  and  opulent,  that  no  pains  were 
spared  to  give  it  proportionate  security.  The  narrow  entrance  of 
the  harbour  was  protected  on  the  east  side  by  a  very  strong  fort,  called 
the  Moro,  on  a  projecting  point  of  land  ;  and  by  a  fort  called  Puntal,  on 
the  west,  which  joins  the  town  opposite  the  Moro  fort.  The  town  itself 
is  surrounded  by  a  strong  rampart,  with  bastions  and  a  deep  ditch.  The 
Spanish  navy  intended  for  the  West  Indies,  consisting  of  twenty  sail, 
mostly  of  the  line,  were  at  this  time  in  the  harbour  of  the  Havannah. 
Though  not  much  inferior  to  the  British  in  maritime  force,  they  did  not 
attempt  to  risk  an  engagement ;  but  in  other  respects  made  many  able 
dispositions  for  defending  the  town.  Across  the  mouth  of  the  harbour 
they  laid  a  strong  boom,  behind  which  they  sunk  several  ships.  The 
English  commanders  proposed  to  land  on  the  eastern  side,  so  as 
to  be  able  at  once  to  invest  the  Moro,  and  command  the  country.  To  di- 
vert the  enemy  from  attending  to  their  design,  a  great  part  of  the  fleet 
sailed  to  the  westward.     While  the  enemy  were  attending  to  the  motions 

Yoi..  VII.— 20 


154  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chip.  111.-1762. 

[Difficulties  attending  the  siege.] 

of  the  fleet,  our  troops  on  the  7th  of  June  effected  a  landing.  The  army 
was  divided  into  two  great  corps;  the  ciiiefbody  was  employed  against 
Fort  Moro,  the  other  advanced  southward  a  considerable  way  into  the  in- 
land parts,  to  cover  the  siege,  and  secure  our  watering  and  foraging  par- 
ties, and  on  that  side,  to  cut  olTthe  enemy's  intercourse  with  the  country. 
A  detachment  was  posted  under  colonel  Howe  to  the  westward,  to  create 
a  diversion  in  favour  of  the  principal  objects,  and  to  intercept  the  commu- 
nication with  the  country  on  that  side.  Thus  the  place  was  either  in- 
vested or  blockaded  on  tiie  east,  south,  and  west,  by  the  army  ;  and  on 
the  north  by  the  fleet,  which  commanded  the  sea. 

Notwithstanding  this  masterly  disposition,  the  British  had  still  very 
great  difiicuities,  dangers,  and  hardships  to  encounter.  The  sun  being 
then  vertical,  the  heat  was  excessive ;  water  was  to  be  fetched  from  a 
great  distance,  over  paths  to  be  cut  through  thick  woods,  and  the  cannon 
was  to  be  dragged  over  a  rough  and  rocky  shore  ;  but  such  a  spirit  dif- 
fused itself  over  the  whole  army,  and  such  an  unanimity  prevailed  among 
the  commanders,  officers,  soldiers,  and  sailors,  that,  in  spite  of  heat, 
thirst,  fatigue,  and  the  enemy's  fire,  they  erected  batteries  against  the 
Moro.  Tlie  enemy  not  only  acted  on  the  defensive,  but  on  the  fourth 
week  of  the  siege  made  a  powerful  sally,  in  which  they  were  repulsed, 
with  the  loss  of  three  hundred  men.  Our  sea  forces,  who  had  hitherto 
afforded  every  assistance  on  shore  to  the  land  service,  on  the  1st  of  July 
mfide  a  very  bold  attempt  from  their  own  element,  and  opened  their  broad- 
aides  with  a  terrible  fire  against  the  Moro.  As  it  was  impossible,  how- 
ever, to  act  from  sea  upon  that  castle,  without  being  also  exposed  to  the 
batteries  of  Puntal,  they  were  extremely  annoyed  from  both  garrisons, 
and  at  length  obliged  to  desist  from  their  cannonade.  Although  this  he- 
roic effort  of  the  ships  produced  little  effect  on  the  north  side,  which  they 
attacked,  yet  it  was  of  great  service  to  the  land  besiegers  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Moro.  While  the  defenders  of  the  garrison  were  returning  the 
fire  of  the  fleet,  they  paid  much  less  attention  than  usual  to  our  land  bat- 
teries, which  during  that  time  did  considerable  damage  to  their  works, 
but  when  the  sea  attack  had  ceased,  they  were  enabled  to  return  to  their 
operations  towards  the  land  with  their  former  eflect.  The  contest  was 
carried  on  with  extreme  perseverance  and  obstinacy,  and  the  event  seem- 
ed very  doubtful.  While  affairs  were  in  this  state,  the  principal  British 
battery  took  fire,  and  was  unfortunately  consumed.  Sickness  now  be- 
coming prevalent  in  this  severe  service  and  destructive  climate,  rendered 
one  half  of  the  forces  unfit  for  d\ity,  and  doubled  the  fatigue  of  the  other. 
The  want  of  fresh  provisions  and  wholesome  water  increased  the  diseases, 
and  aggravated  the  sufferings  of  the  besiegers.  As  they  were  daily  more 
exhausted,  and  the  season  advanced  towards  the  time  of  the  hurricanes, 
their  hopes  of  ultimate  success  became  fainter.  Those  who  escaped  the 
dangrrous  siege  and  dreadful  climate,  expected  final  destruction  if  they 
waited  till  the  tempest  began.  From  North  America  they  had  long  looked 
for  re-enforcements,  but  none  arrived.  Oppressed  with  these  distresses, 
the  commanders  endeavoured  to  re-animate  their  troops.  The  enemy, 
they  represented,  had  made  a  most  gallant  resistance  ;  and  were  Spaniards 
in  military  efforts  to  surpass  Britons  1  The  richest  prize  was  before  them, 
which  British  valour  and  perseverance  might  still  obtain.  These  incite- 
ments inspiriting  the  heroic  breasts  of  British  soldiers  and  sailors  to 
the  most  astonishing  exertions,  now  batteries  were  raised.     They  now 


ir62.— Chap.  III.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  I55 

[Capitulation  of  the  Havannah.     Manilla  taken.] 

silenced  the  cannon  of  the  fort,  beat  to  pieces  the  upper  ivoika,  and  made 
a  lodgment  in  the  covered  way ;  hence  their  hopes  of  success  revived. 
At  this  time  the  Jamaica  fleet  brought  them  a  supply  of  provisions,  and 
in  a  few  days  they  were  succoured  by  a  strong  re-enforcement  from  New 
York.     Their  hopes  now  redoubled  :  but  a  new  difficulty  appeared  after 
their  lodgment  was  effected,  from  an  immense  ditch,  which  was  cut 
chiefly  in  the  solid  rock.     A  thin  ridge,  however,  had  been  left  to  flank 
the  ditch  towards  the  sea ;  this,  though  totally  uncovered,  the  miners 
passed  without  fear,  and  were  enabled  to  carry  on  their  operations  in  the 
wall.     The  governor  of  the  Havannah  seeing  that  the  Mero  must  soon 
fall,  unless  an  effort  was  made  for  its  relief,  sent  a  great  body  across  the 
harbour  on  the  22d  July  before  day-break,  to  attack  our  posts  in  three 
points  ;  but  they  were  repulsed  with  severe  loss.     Meanwhile  our  miners 
advanced  rapidly  in  their  operations  ;  a  part  of  the  wall  was  blown  up,  the 
ruins  fell  into  the  ditch,  and  a  breach  was  left,  which  the  engineer  judging 
practicable,  the  general  marched  at  the  head  of  his  troops  to  attack, 
mounted  the  breach,  and  entered  the  fort.     The  enemy  made  a  brave 
but  ineffectual  resistance  ;  the  gallant  commander  fell,  and  the  Moro  was 
taken  by  the  British  troops.     No  time  was  lost  in  improving  this  mo- 
mentous advantage.     A  second  re-enforcement  now  arrived,  which  still 
farther  encouraged  the  exertions  of  our  armament.     As  the  Moro  com- 
manded the  whole  eastern  part  of  the  town,  the  fire  of  the  fort  was  turned 
against  the  enemy  ;  a  line  of  batteries  was  placed  from  the  fort  along  the 
hill  on  the  extremity  of  which  it  stood,  and  another  line  was  erected  on 
the  west  side  of  the  town.     On  the  10th  of  August,  when  they  were  all 
prepared  to  play,  the  general  informed  the  governor  by  a  message,  that, 
knowing  the  irresistible  force  of  the  attack  which  he  was  ready  to  make, 
he  suspended  it,  in  order  to  give  him  time  to  capitulate.     The  governor 
replied,  that  he  would  defend  the  place  to  the  last  extremity.     The  ge- 
neral the  next  morning  ordered  the  fire  to  commence  from  all  the  bat- 
teries, which,  after  playing  for  six  hours  with  most  tremendous  effect, 
compelled  the  enemy  to  hang  out  a  flag  of  truce.     A  capitulation  was 
concluded  ;  and  the  English  troops  took  possession  of  the  Havannah  on 
the  14th  of  August,  after  a  siege  of  two  months  and  nine  days.     The 
conquest  of  the  Havannah  was  the  most  important  exploit  achieved  during 
the  war.     The  reduction  of  so  strong  a  fortress  was  an  arduous  military 
enterprise ;  the  capture  or  destruction  of  the  enemy^s  fleet  was  a  very 
great  naval  victory ;  the  plunder  taken,  amounting  to  three  millions  ster- 
ling, was  a  most  lucrative  acquisition ;  and  the  enemy  being  deprived  of 
the  chief  sinews  of  war,  was  a  decisive  blow  that  compelled  them  to  sue 
for  peace. 

While  the  English  efforts  were  so  successful  against  the  power  and 
influence  of  Spain  in  the  West  Indies,  strenuous  and  successful  exertions 
were  also  made  in  the  East.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  hostilities 
had  commenced,  an  armament  equipped  at  Madras  sailed  against  Ma- 
nilla, the  chief  city  of  the  Philippine  islands.  The  expedition  appeared 
before  that  settlement  on  the  23d  of  September,  which,  after  a  short  and 
vigorous  resistance,  was  taken  on  the  4th  of  October.  A  capitulation  was 
offered  for  ransoming  the  place  at  four  millions  of  dollars,  about  900,000/. 
sterling,  and  accepted.  An  Accapulco  ship,  valued  at  about  three  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  was  soon  after  taken  m  those  seas. 

In  Europe,  a  very  important  Spanish  treasure  was  obtained  by  the 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  HI.— ir62. 

[War  in  Portugal.    Arrival  of  British  troops.] 

capture  of  the  Hermione,  from  Peru  to  Cadiz,  by  two  English  frigates 
near  Cape  St.  Vincent's :  tho  prize  was  estimated  at  a  million  sterling. 

The  Bourbons  had  entertained  great  hopes  of  success  and  advantage 
in  their  war  with  Portugal ;  and  at  first  their  expectations  appeared  likely 
to  be  realized.     Their  declared  ohject  was,  to  exclude  the  English  from 
the  militarv  and  commercial   use  of  the  Portuguese  ports,   especially 
Oporto  and  Lisbon,  tt)  which  they  had  hitherto  resorted  ;  and  to  this  their 
efiibrts  were  ciiiefly  directed.     They  planned  the  invasion  in  three  divi- 
sions :  the  lirsl,  in  the  north  of  Portugal,  between  the  Minho  and  the 
Douro  ;  the  second,  in  the  middle,  between  tlie  Douro  and  the  Tagus  ; 
and  the  third,  to  the  south  of  the  Tagus,  to  co-opt  rate  on  that  side  with 
the  middle  corps  in  its  attempt  upon   Lisbon.     The  northern  division, 
under  the  marquis  de  Sarria,  commenced  hostilities  ;  entered  the  Portu- 
guese province  of  Traeos  Montes,  and  invested  Miranda,  the  capital  of 
that  district.     This  city  might  have  made  a  vigorous  defence,  but  very 
unfortunately  a  powder  magazine  blew  up  by  accident,  the  fortifications 
were  ruined,  and  the  Spaniards,  before  they  had  raised  their  first  battery, 
marched  into  the  town  by  the  breaches  in  the  wall.     Before  the  end  of 
May,  they  had  made  such  progress,  that  Oporto  was  in  imminent  danger  ; 
and  the  English  admiralty,  under  the  apprehension  of  its  capture,  pre- 
pared transports  to  carry  oft'  British  effects.     The  Portuguese  peasants, 
instigated  and  directed  by  some  English  officers,  arming  themselves,  took 
possession  of  a  defile  through  which  the  enemy  must  necet'sarily  pass, 
drove  them  back,  and  thereby  checked  their  progress  upon  that  side. 
The  middle  division  of  the  Spaniards  entered  Portugal  by  15eira,  and  laid 
siege  to  Almeyda,  on  the  frontiers  of  Spain.     This  city  made  a  gallant 
resistance ;  but  the  Spaniards  being  joined  by  the  greater  part  of  their 
northern  army,  and  l)y  eight  thousand  auxiliaries,  compelled  it  to  capitulate 
on  the  25th  of  August.     After  this  capture,  the  Spaniards  made  them- 
selves masters  of  the  greater  part  of  the  province  of  Beira,  as  far  as  the 
Tagus,  and  even  Lisbon  itself  was  in  danger. 

At  this  juncture  a  body  of  troops  arrived  from  England  under  the  com- 
mand of  brigadier-general  Burgoyne,  and  count  La  Lippe,  a  German 
officer  of  great  celebrity,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  native  forces. 
Early  in  the  campaign,  the  court  of  Lisbon  had  not  paid  the  proper  and 
prudent  attention  to  the  advice  of  the  British  ambassador  and  officers, 
but,  taught  by  their  miscarriages,  and  influenced  by  the  persuasions  of 
La  liippe,  they  now  adopted  a  different  line  of  conduct.  The  Portu- 
guese and  English  commanders,  having  in  concert  investigated  the  state 
of  affairs,  adopted  a  plan  of  military  policy  very  frequently  successful. 
The  most  effectual  measure  of  defensive  war,  they  concluded  to  be  of- 
fensive operations.  History  informed  ihcm,  that  the  best  mode  of  re- 
lieving a  country  from  invasion,  was  by  invading  the  country  of  the  ene- 
my. Tiic  third  body  of  Spaniards  destined  for  southern  Portugal,  was 
still  in  Spanish  P2slremadura.  Should  it  effect  a  junction  with  the  army 
in  Beira,  it  was  |)robable  that  the  whole  would  overwhelm  the  Portuguese 
and  their  auxiliaries.  While  lia  liippe  himself  watched  the  motions  of 
the  middle  army,  he  sent  general  P)urgoyne  into  Spain  against  the  other, 
posted  at  Valontia  d' Alcantara,*  where  they  also  understood  the  enemy 
iiad  considerable  magazines.    Burgoyne,  by  a  forced  march  of  five  days, 

•  Not  the  great  city  of  Valentia,  which  is  an  opposite  part  of  tlie  kingdom. 


1762.-CHAP.  III.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  157 

[Defeat  of  the  Spaniards.     Death  of  Elizabeth  of  Russia] 

arrived  at  Valentia,  surprised  the  Spanish  troops,  defeated  them,  de- 
stroyed one  of  the  best  yegiments  in  their  service,  and  took  many  pri- 
soners, including  their  principal  officers  and  the  general.  Though  the 
British  were  disappointed  in  their  expectation  of  finding  magazines  in 
tiiis  place,  yet  their  success  produced  a  very  important  change  in  the 
aspect  of  the  campaign.  It  not  only  "prevented  the  invasion  of  Portugal 
on  that  side,  but  disconcerted  the  plan  of  the  main  army ;  which  was, 
to  cross  the  Tagus  from  Biera,  a  mountainous  country,  to  Alentejo,  an 
open  champaign  country,  where  their  cavalry,  in  which  their  chief  force 
consisted,  could  act  with  the  full  effect.  The  chief  Bourbon  army  still 
continued  to  attempt  the  passage  of  the  Tagus,  to  the  banks  of  which 
they  were  now  advanced.  La  Lippe  and  Burgoyne,  by  very  active  and 
skilful  efforts,  prevented  them  from  efFccling  their  purpose.  Burgoyne 
being  posted  at  Villa  Velha,  on  the  southern  hank  of  the  river,  where 
the  Spaniards  occupied  the  opposite  side,  observing  their  camp  was  not 
guarded  with  military  vigilance,  and  that  their  flank  and  rear  were  im- 
covered,  determined  to  attack  them  by  surprise.  Accordingly,  fording 
the  river  in  the  night  of  October  the  6th,  he  attacked  them  on  the  flank, 
while  colonel  Lee  assaulted  them  on  the  rear,  and  defeated  them  with 
great  slaughter.  This  victory,  which  at  another  time  of  the  year  might 
have  been  attended  only  with  temporary  advantages,  from  the  advanced 
season,  proved  decisive.  Great  rains  falling,  and  Avinter  approaching, 
the  enemy,  having  seized  no  posts  fit  for  winter  quarters,  evacuated  Es- 
tremadura,  and  returned  to  tie  frontiers  of  Spain.  Thus,  after  partial 
success,  they  were  entirely  defeated  in  the  great  object  of  the  campaign  ; 
and  the  unjust  ambition,  wliich  had  stimulated  the  Bourbons  to  war  with 
Portugal,  ended  in  disappointment,  and  disaster  to  themselves. 

In  winter  1761-2,  at  a  time  when  the  king  cf  Prussia's  affairs  appeared 
to  be  at  the  lowest  ebb,  and  when,  from  the  events  of  the  preceding 
campaign  and  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  little  doubt  was  entertained 
that,  in  !he  ensuing  summer,  the  combined  parties  would  attain  their  ob- 
ject in  the  dismemberment  of  hia  dominions,  an  event  took  place,  which 
made  a  total  change  in  the  situation  of  the  contending  parties.  This  was 
the  death  of  the  empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  the  zealous  friend  of  the 
house  of  Austria,  and  the  inveterate  enemy  of  Frederick,  on  the  2d  of 
January,  1762.  Elizabeth's  enmity  to  the  Prussian  king  in  some  de- 
gree arose  from  resentment,  but  was  much  more  the  result  of  ambitious 
policy.  By  conquering  Prussia,  in  addition  to  the  extent  of  coast  which 
she  already  possessed  on  the  Baltic,  she  would  have  the  means  of  be- 
coming a  very  great  maritime  power,  the  first  object  of  the  Russian  so- 
vereign, since  czar  Peter  the  Great.  She  would  also  open  the  way  to 
an  irresistible  power  in  Poland,  and  be  able  to  overawe  Denmark,  and 
her  ancient  rival  Sweden  ;  but  if  the  power  of  the  king  of  Prussia  con- 
tinued entire,  these  great  objects  could  not  be  attained.  Peter,  her  heir, 
was  partial  to  the  king  of  Prussia ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  used  his  in- 
fluence, in  1758,  to  call  off  the  Russians.  On  his  accession  to  the 
throne,  he  immediately  concluded  a  peace  and  an  alliance  with  Prussia  ; 
and  the  Russian  army  in  a  short  time  joined  the  troops  of  Frederick 
against  Austria.  At  this  time,  Sweden,  which  had  been  principally  di- 
rected by  Russia,  also  made  peace  with  the  Prussian  king.  This  was  a 
most  unexpected  revolution  in  Frederick's  fiivour,  as  it  left  him,  now- 
supported  by  Russia,  to  contend  with  Austria  only. 


158  HISTORY  OF  TlIK  Chap.  III.— 1762. 

[Operations  of  prince  Ferdinand.    Success  of  the  allies.] 

A  treaty  had  been  annually  renewed  between  Britain  and  Prussia,  by 
which  they  engaged  not  to  conclude  a  peace  without  mutual  consent ; 
and  this  year  the  British  government  refused  the  renewal.  Frederick 
exclaimed  bitterly  against  this  conduct  as  a  breach  of  faith,*  but  without 
reason :  the  engagement  being  expired,  its  renewal  was  no  longer  a 
question  of  justice,  but  of  policy.  When  the  king  of  Prussia  was 
pressed  by  a  combination  of  enemies,  it  became  necessary  for  Britain 
to  support  him  in  order  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power,  but  now  he  was 
more  than  a  match  for  his  enemies.  Though  it  was  our  interest  to  pre- 
vent him  from  being  overwhelmed,  we  had  no  interest  in  promoting  his 
ambition  ;  the  war  in  Germany,  therefore,  was  continued  not  to  support 
Frederick,  but  to  oppose  France. 

The  French  were  in  possession  of  Cassel,  and  great  part  of  West- 
phalia.    Marshal  Broglio  was  now  displaced  from  the  command  ;  the 
prince  de  Soubise  succeeded  to  his  employment  of  general  in  chief,  and 
marshal  d'Estrees  was  second  in  command.     The  French  this  year  main- 
tained only  one  army  in  Germany,  with  a  reserve  under  the  prince  of 
Conde,  to  cover  the  Lower  Rhine  ;  and  their  object,  as  in  the  former 
year,  was  to  penetrate  into  Hanover.     Prince  Ferdinand's  purpose  was 
nearly  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  campaign,  to  dispossess  the  enemy 
of  their  conquests,  and  drive  them  out  of  G  ermany.     He  sent  the  here- 
ditary prince  to  oppose  Conde,  while  he  himself  formed  his  measures 
against  the  main  army.     The  French,  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign, 
were  strongly  posted  on  the  frontiers  of  Hesse  at  a  place  called  Grae- 
bestein  ;  and,  trusting  to   their  position,  apprehended  no  attack  from 
prince  Ferdinand.     The  prince,  however,  made  a  general  assault  upon 
the  camp  on  the  4th  of  July  ;   in  which,  by  his  skill  and  intrepidity,  the 
valour  of  his  whole  army,  and  particularly  the  courage  and  activity  of 
the  marquis  of  Granl)y,  he  gained  so   great  a  victory,  as  to  give  him  a 
decided  superiority  through   the  whole  campaign.     Every  measure  of 
prince  Ferdinand  was  part  of  a  well  digested  and  arranged  plan  ;  so  that 
when  successful,  he  was  able  to  make  the  best  use  of  his   advantage. 
Lord  Granby  and  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  were  sent  forward  in  pur- 
suit of  a  numerous  body  of  French  that  were  stationed  at  Horn,  in  order 
to  preserve  tlie  communication  between  the  main  army  and  Frankfort. 
The  English  commanders  attacked  the  enemy  with  such  vigour  on  the 
6th  of  July,  that  though  they  defended  themselves  valiantly,   they  were 
defeated  and  routed.     By  this  victory,  the  intercourse  with  their  maga- 
tines  at  Frankfort  was  entirely   intercepted  ;    and   they   now  found  it 
necessary  to  evacuate  Gottingen.     Prince   Ferdinand  attacked  prince 
Xavier,  who  commanded  the  Saxon  auxiliaries  in  the  French  pay  at  the 
Fulda,  and  defeated  him  ;  but  marshal  d'Estrees  coming  to  his  support, 
saved  him  from  utter  destru'  tion.    The  French  generals  being  straitened 
for  provisions  and   bard   i)ressed  on  every  side,  thought  it  expedient  to 
call  the  prince  of  Conde  to  their  assistance.     The  hereditary  prince  find- 
ing that  the  reserves  of  the  enemy  were  preparing  to  join  the  main  army, 
made  dispositions  for  obstructing  their  progress.     Prince  Ferdinand  en- 
deavoured to  bring  the    I'Vench  to  battle  before  the  junction  could  be 
effected,  and  proposed  to  ford  tlie  Fulda  and  make  a  general  attack  on 
the  8th  of  August;  but,  immense  rains  having  fallen,  the  river  was  im- 

•  See  his  Seven  years  War — winter,  1761-2. 


ires.-cuAi-.  iir.  uek;n  of  george  hi.  159 

[Campaign  of  Frederick.     Peter  HI.  of  Russia.] 

passable.  The  general  of  the  allies  sent  his  second  nephew,  prince 
Frederick  of  Brunswick,  towards  Cassel,  with  a  view  to  blockade  that 
place.  The  hereditary  prince  watched  the  prince  of  Condc  so  closely, 
that  he  could  not  advance  to  join  the  main  army  ;  and  the  prince  de 
Soubise,  therefore,  was  obliged  to  retreat  to  join  the  reserves.  The 
hereditary  prince,  on  the  30th  of  August,  attacked  a  body  of  French, 
which  he  conceived  to  be  a  detachment ;  but  soon  found  that  it  was  the 
van-guard  of  Soubise's  army.  His  serene  highness  defended  himself 
with  his  usual  conduct  and  intrepidity  ;  but,  being  pressed  by  superiority 
of  numbers,  and  dangerously  wounded,  his  troops  were  obliged  to  give 
way.  This  misfortune  for  a  time  disconcerted  prince  Ferdinand's  plan  ; 
but  having  with  the  utmost  despatch  collected  the  routed  forces,  he  again 
prepared  to  act  on  the  defensive ;  and  prince  Soubise,  to  avoid  an  en- 
gagement, retired.  Prince  Ferdinand's  army  being  now  between  the 
French  and  Cassel,  prince  Frederick  regularly  invested  that  city  on  the 
15th  of  October,  and  on  the  7th  of  November  it  surrendered  by  capi- 
tulation, and  the  whole  of  Hesse  was  recovered.  Thus,  in  the  cam- 
paign of  176^,  the  French,  who  had  projected  to  conquer  Hanover, 
were,  by  the  skill  and  courage  of  prince  Ferdinand,  the  hereditary 
prince,  and  lord  Granby,  driven  from  their  former  conquests. 

The  king  of  Prussia,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  act  on  the  defensive, 
was  now  enabled  to  resume  offensive  operations.  His  object  was,  to 
recover  Silesia,  compel  marshal  Daun,  who  was  posted  there,  to  retire 
to  Bohemia,  and  afterwards  to  re-enforce  prince  Henry,  (now  in  Saxony,) 
and  a  second  time  conquer  that  electorate.  To  distract  the  attention  of 
marshal  Daun,  he  employed  a  body  of  troops  to  assist  the  Tartars,  whom 
he  had  instigated  to  harass  Hungary  and  Moravia.  In  June,  Frederick 
being  joined  by  the  Russians,  made  great  advances,  and,  without  any 
regular  battle,  obliged  marshal  Daun  to  abandon  very  strong  posts  in 
Silesia,  to  retire  to  the  extremities  of  that  country,  and  leave  Schweid- 
nitz,  enrirely  uncovered.  With  his  Russian  auxiliaries  Frederick  now 
prepared  to  invest  that  city,  and  a  considerable  body  of  those  allies  ra- 
vaged Bohemia  ;  when  a  very  unexpected  and  extraordinary  revolution 
threatened  to  overturn  his  plan  of  operations. 

Peter  HI.  no  sooner  ascended  the  throne  of  Russia,  than  he  showed 
that  he  had  fallen  into  one  of  the  most  fatal  errors  which  a  sovereign  of 
ordinary  capacity  can  commit;  this  was,  the  adoption  of  the  example  of 
a  very  able  and  extraordinary  ruler  for  the  model  of  his  conduct.  Peter, 
indeed,  chose  two  very  great  men  for  his  patterns  ;  his  grandfather  czar 
Peter  the  Great,  in  civil  and  political  ;  and  the  king  of  Prussia,  in  mili- 
tary departments.  The  government  of  Russia,  absolutely  despotic,  is, 
from  this  very  despotism,  the  most  insecure  to  its  holder,  unless  he  has 
the  policy  to  conciliate  the  affections  of  its  supporters.  Fear  being  the 
principle  of  a  despotic  government,  its  most  etiectual  props  are  gloomy 
superstition  and  military  force  :  accordingly  in  Russia,  priests  and  sol- 
diers were  the  chief  stays  of  the  emperor's  authority,  and  with  both  these 
bodies  Peter  imprudently  contended.  He  began  like  Peter  I.,  with  op- 
posing the  exorbitant  pretensions  of  the  Russian  clergy,  and  ventured  to 
appropriate  their  possessions  to  the  public  revenue.  The  Russians  were 
the  slaves  of  the  most  abject  superstition  that  could  enchain  ignorant 
minds,  and  valued  their  priest  more  than  their  monarch.  The  extraor- 
dinary qualities  of  the  first  Peter,  and  the  benefits  accruing  from  them 


160  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  III.— 1762. 

[Innovations  of  Peter.     Revolution  in  Russia.] 

to  tlic  country,  had  given  to  him  a  superiority  over  any  of  their  clergy, 
oven  in  the  estimation  oi'  the  hipoted  barbarians  whom  he  governed  ;  but 
in  the  character  of  his  grandson,  there  was  nothing  which  would  excite 
such  veneraliiin,  or  confer  such  influence.  The  boundless  admiration 
of  Poier  for  the  king  of  Prussia  extended  to  the  adoption  of  his  religious 
opinions,  and  oj)erated  in  a  line  of  conduct  which  that  king  was  too  wise 
to  pursue.  He  interfered  with  the  institutions  that  were  venerated  by 
his  people,  and  obstructed  rites  and  ceremonies,  which,  however  trivial 
in  themselves,  no  wise  governor  will  interrupt  when  associated  by  his 
subjects  with  religious  doctrines  and  sentiments.  Desirous  of  innova- 
tion, hut  narrow  in  understanding,  he  pursued  it  in  objects  commensu- 
rate to  the  littleness  of  his  own  mind.  He  proposed  changes  in  the  dress 
of  the  clergy,  and  that  the  ecclesiastics  should  no  longer,  as  before,  be  dis- 
tinguished by  beards.  To  this  momentous  change  he  added  also  some 
new  regulations  about  images  and  pictures  in  churches.  From  this  at- 
tack upon  the  beards  of  the  living,  and  the  pictures  of  the  deceased,  to- 
gether with  various  other  alterations,  his  subjects  apprehended  their 
prince  to  be  a  heretic,  if  not  an  infidel.  In  the  seizure  of  the  revenues, 
liowever,  the  clergy  found  the  most  dangerous  apostasy  from  the  purity 
of  the  Greek  church,  and  regarded  his  reforms  with  dread  and  resent- 
ment :  with  them  also  the  other  powerlUl  body,  the  army,  concurred  in 
discontent.  The  same  admiration  of  the  king  of  Prussia  made  Peter  ex- 
travaifantly  fond  of  his  military  discipline  ;  and  being  a  native  of  Hol- 
.stein,  he  was  farther  induced  to  this  preference  by  a  national  partiality. 
He  was  evidently  most  attached  to  the  German  guards,  in  preference  to 
the  native  Russians.  He  himself  wore  the  Prussian  uniform,  and  obliged 
his  soldiers  to  adopt  that  dress,  and  abandon  the  modes  with  which  in 
their  minds  the  glory  of  Russia  was  associated  :  in  short,  he  disgusted 
the  Russian  army.  The  king  of  Prussia  foresaw  the  dangers  of  his  ally 
from  these  precipitate  changes,  and  frequently,  by  private  letters  and 
messengers,  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from  persisting  in  his  present 
conduct ;  his  dissuasives,  however,  were  unavailing.  Meanwhile  Peter 
was  preparing  to  go  to  war  with  Denmark,  on  account  of  a  dispute  be- 
tween that  country  and  Holstcin,  in  which  Russia  had  no  concern.  This 
project  increased  the  disaffection  of  his  subjects,  who  considered  them- 
selves as  sacrificed  to  German  interests,  and  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
against  his  government.  As  Peter  had  alienated  the  aflections  of  his 
subjects,  he  had  long  lost  those  of  his  own  family.  His  wife  Catharine, 
a  princess  of  the  house  of  Anhalt  Zerlist,  was  a  woman  of  powerful  un- 
derstandiii";  and  boundless  ambition.*  Prone  to  the  gallantry  so  preva- 
lent at  the  dissolute  court  of  the  voluptuous  Elizabeth,  her  love  of  plea- 
sure was  secondary  to  her  love  of  power  :  her  most  distinguished  favour- 
ites were  para^nours  of  such  talents  and  qualities  as  could  well  promote 
great  desiirns.  JVir  tlie  last  seven  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  Peter  and 
she  had  rarely  c(»habited  ;  each  was  occupied  with  their  respective  in- 
trigues. Catharine,  too  able  and  prudent  to  neglect  appearances,  was 
somewhat  attentive  to  concealment  ;  while  Peter,  from  the  silly  vanity  of 
a  weak  understanding,  was  ostentatious  in  the  display  of  amours.  He 
lived  openly  with  the  countess  WoronzofI";  and  was  even  suspected  to 
intend  confining  the  empress,  and  raising  his  courtezan  to  the  throne. 

•  Sec  Memoirs  of  Catharine  II. 


1762.— Chap.  IIF.  REIGN  OF  fiEOUGE  III.  161 

[Catharine.   Birth  of  the  prince  of  Wales.] 

The  principal  nobles  and  chief  officers  of  the  state  and  army  formed  a 
coml)ination  to  depose  a  prince,  who  was  hated  for  his  conduct,  and 
despised  for  his  incapacity.  So  little  was  the  czar  informed  respecting  hia 
most  momentous  interests,  that  the  conspiracy  became  general,  and  the 
clergy  were  met  for  his  deposition,  before  he  knew  that  such  a  step  had 
been  projected.  Catharine,  understanding  that  the  design  was  declared, 
immediately  wrote  to  Petersburg,  and  harangued  the  guards,  who  unani- 
mously declared  Peter  deposed,  and  the  empress  independent  sovereign 
of  Russia.  This  act  being  applauded  by  the  nobility  and  clergy,  Catha- 
rine, at  the  head  of  her  troops,  marched  towards  a  country  seat  in  which 
Peter  resided.  The  weak  and  timid  prince  being  informed  that  he  was 
no  longer  emperor  of  Russia,  quickly  wrote  letters  renouncing  the  sove- 
reignty, and  requested  leave  to  retire  to  his  native  Holstein  with  his  mis- 
tress ;  but  this  leave  was  denied.  He  was  farther  intimidated  to  sign  a 
paper  declaring  his  incapacity  for  government,  the  weakness  and  folly  of 
his  administration,  and  the  necessity  of  his  deposition  :  he  was  thrown 
into  prison,  where,  in  a  few  days,  on  the  6th  of  July,  he  died  of  what  was 
called  an  hoimorrhoidal  colic,  the  causes  and  symptoms  of  which  it  be- 
longs not  to  this  history  to  investigate. 

Having  ascended  the  throne  of  Russia,  Catharine  fearing  that  the 
Prussian  king  might  prevail  on  the  Russian  troops  who  served  in  his 
army  to  declare  in  favour  of  Peter,  ordered  them  to  withdraw  from  Silesia 
into  Poland.  Frederick,  contrary  to  her  apprehensions,  made  no  oppo- 
sition to  their  departure  :  he  only  requested  that  it  might  be  deferred  for 
three  days,  to  which  the  general  very  readily  consented.  The  Austrian 
commanders  were  ignorant  of  the  revolution  in  Russia.  Frederick,  trust- 
ing to  their  conviction  that  the  Russians  were  co-operating  with  him,  at- 
tacked marshal  Daun,  compelled  him  to  retire,  and  by  this  means  ren- 
dered the  siege  of  Schweidnitz  still  practicable.  Though  he  was  now  de- 
prived of  auxiliaries,  he  invested  the  town  on  the  20th  of  September,  and 
soon  compelled  it  to  surrender.  In  Saxony  prince  Henry  had  been  no 
less  successful,  when,  towards  the  close  of  the  campaign,  he  was  re- 
enforced  by  his  royal  brother  ;  and  all  the  conquests  that  he  had  achieved 
in  that  country  early  in  the  war,  and  lost  the  last  campaign,  were  com- 
pletely recovered. 

In  the  internal  history  of  England  the  most  material  event  which  hap- 
pened this  summer,  was  the  birth  of  a  son  and  heir  to  their  majesties. 
On  the  12th  of  August,  between  seven  and  eight  in  the  morning,  the 
queen  was  safely  delivered  of  a  prince.  Just  after  this  important  acces- 
sion to  the  royal  family  was  announced,  the  treasures  of  the  captured 
ship  Hermione,  drawn  in  wagons,  and  escorted  by  troops  from  Ports- 
mouth to  London,  entered  St.  James's  street  in  a  grand  procession.  His 
majesty  and  the  nobility  went  to  the  palace  windows,  and  joined  with  the 
acclamations  of  the  people  on  two  such  joyful  occasions.  The  young 
prince,  from  his  birth  electoral  prince  of  Brunswick-Lunenburg,  duke  of 
Cornwall  and  Rothsay,  earl  of  Carrick,  baron  of  Renfrew,  lord  of  the 
Isles,  and  great  steward  of  Scotland,  was,  on  the  17th,  by  letters  patent 
under  the  seal  of  Great  Britain,  created  prince  of  Wales  and  earl  of  Ches- 
ter. On  the  8th  of  September,  the  anniversary  of  the  royal  marriage, 
his  highness  was  christened  by  his  grace  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
the  duke  of  Cumberland  and  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg  Strclitz  being  god- 
Voi,.  YII.— 21 


J52  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  III.— 1762. 

[Pacific  dispositions  of  the  belligerent  powers.    Earl  of  Bvite.] 

fathers,  and  the  princess  dowager  godmother.    The  young  prince  was 
named  George  Augustus  Frederick. 

The  court  of  France,  m  the  events  of  this  campaign,  found  that  the 
expectations  wliich  had  been  formed  from  the  family  compact  were  en- 
tirely disappointed.  Spain  saw  that  her  interference  to  assist  the  principal 
branch  of  the  Bourbons,  instead  of  producing  the  desired  effect  to  her 
ally,  was  involving  herself  in  similar  disasters  and  humiliation.  They 
both  began  to  wish  sincerely  for  peace,  and  were  in  a  disposition  to  pur- 
chase it  by  very  great  concessions.  In  Britain,  changes  had  taken  place 
which  rendered  the  re-establishment  of  tranquillity  much  less  difficult. 
From  the  commencement  of  his  administration,  the  earl  of  Bute  had 
shown  a  disposition  to  procure  peace,  as  soon  as  it  could  be  concluded 
with  sound  policy  and  national  honour  ;  and,  though  patriotism  may  have 
had  its  share  in  exciting  this  desire,  yet  there  were  other  causes  which 
no  doubt  co-operated.  These  are  to  be  found  in  the  character  of  the 
Bute  administration,  the  state  of  parties,  and  of  the  public  mind.  The 
earl  of  Bute  had  for  some  months  been  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  and  the 
greater  number  of  whigs  had  either  been  dismissed,  or  resigned  ;  so  that 
there  was  a  formidable  confederacy  hostile  to  the  present  minister.  A 
less  numerous  but  more  able  body,  headed  by  Mr.  Pitt,  without  coa- 
lescing with  the  Newcastle  party,  was  adverse  to  the  ministry.  From  the 
known  attachment  of  his  majesty  to  the  earl  of  Bute,  that  nobleman  was 
accounted  the  private  and  confidential  friend  of  the  king.  Being  deco- 
rated with  honours  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign,  and  soon  after  pro- 
moted to  high  office,  which  was  not  in  the  public  estimation  conferred 
upon  his  political  talents  and  virtues,  he  was  generally  esteemed  and 
styled  the  royal  favourite.  Though  his  majesty  himself  proposed  to 
govern  the  kingdom  by  wisdom  and  virtue,  and  not  by  party,  yet  that  was 
thought  to  be  far  from  lord  Bute's  object.  Since,  by  the  appointment  of  him 
and  his  friends,  the  nation  did  not  conceive  that  there  was  an  accession  of 
wisdom  or  virtue  to  liis  majesty's  counsels  ;  and  since  their  rise  was  im- 
puted to  private  favour  and  not  public  merit,  it  was  apprehended  that  the 
project  of  the  minister  was  to  govern  by  what  his  opponents  called  a  sys- 
tem of  mere  court  favouritism.  The  supposed  operation  of  this  plan  was 
exhibited  with  great  force  and  eloquence,  both  by  speakers  in  parlia- 
ment, and  political  writers.*  The  deportment  of  Bute  was  by  no  means 
such  as  tended  to  counteract  this  unpopularity.  Notwithstanding  his  eru- 
dition and  knowledge,  he  had  imbibed  the  pride  and  prejudices  of  a  Scot- 
tish chieftain.  With  exemplary  morals,  he  was  reserved  and  haughty  in 
his  manners,  and  in  tiiat  respect  as  different  from  the  frank,  affable  duke 
of  Newcastle,  as  in  point  of  abilities  from  Mr.  Pitt.  lie  was,  besides, 
charged  by  the  whigs  with  being  the  friend  of  arbitrary  power.  In  his  ap- 
pointment to  subordinate  offices,  he  had  freqCiently  removed  Englishmen 
of  known  and  respectaijlc  characters,  to  make  room  for  Scotchmen,  who, 
however  respectable,  were  not  known,  and  were  presumed  to  be  the  abet- 
tors of  arbitrary  power  ;  and  this  partiality  increased  the  popular  ferment. 
The  whig  party  had  been  uniformly  connected  with  the  monied  interest, 
and  Pitt  possessed  the  most  unlimited  confidence  of  that  important  body 
of  men.    The  supplies  of  the  current  year  had  been  raised  while  the  duke 

•  The  substance  and  spirit  of  all  that  was  said,  or  perhaps  could  be  said,  upon 
this  subject,  may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Burke's  celebrated  pamphlet  on  the  Discontents, 
published  in  the  Grafton  administration. 


1762.— CiiAr.  III.  tlEIGN  OF  GEORGE  IH.  163 

[Negotiations.    Outlines  of  the  peace  with  France,  Spain,  etc.] 

of  Newcastle  was  at  the  head  of  the  treasury.  On  lord  Bute  they  had  no 
reliance  ;  and  in  the  year  which  was  to  follow,  the  capitalists  were  more 
likely  to  obstruct  than  to  facilitate  the  supplies.  A  great  host  of  opposi- 
tion, though  in  two  divisions,  yet  one  in  enmity  to  the  minister,  app^^ared 
ready  to  attack  him  when  parliament  should  be  assembled.  So  thwarted 
and  obstructed,  to  carry  on  the  war  with  the  force  and  success  which  the 
nation,  exulting  in  recent  victory,  expected,  would,  he  conceived,  be  im- 
practicable. Besides,  he  tliought  the  actual  resources  of  tlie  country  were 
nearly  exhausted,  and  that  another  campaign  would  produce  financial 
distress;  the  difficulties  of  perseverance  in  attempting  to  rethjce  the  power 
of  Bourbon,  therefore,  appeared  to  his  mind  as  impossibilities  :  for  all 
these  reasons,  he  was  desirous  that  a  negotiation  should  be  commenced. 
The  king  of  Sardinia,  the  friend  of  the  contending  states  on  both  sides, 
understanding  their  respective  and  relative  dispositions,  offered  so  far  to 
interfere,  as  to  communicate  them  to  each  of  the  parties-  The  bellige- 
rent powers  very  readily  consented  to  open  a  negotiation  ;  and  it  was 
agreed,  that  a  person  of  the  first  distinction  should  be  reciprocally  sent  to 
London  and  Paris.  The  duke  de  Nivernois  came  on  the'part  of  France, 
and  the  duke  of  Bedford  went  on  the  part  of  England,  in  September,  1762. 
In  the  negotiation  of  1761,  a  principle  had  been  established  between  the 
two  crowns,  that  their  respective  propositions,  if  the  treaty  were  broken 
off,  should  be  considered  as  retracted,  and  as  never  made  :  the  negotia- 
tion of  1762,  therefore,  was  not  a  renewal  of  that  of  1761.  Still,  how- 
ever, from  the  similarity  of  circumstances,  it  assumed  somewhat  of  a  si- 
milar spirit,  so  far  as  regarded  the  peculiar  interests  of  Great  Britain  ; 
and  respecting  Germany,  there  was  a  very  material  difference. 

France  and  England  both  recurred  to  the  original  cause  of  the  war,  the 
limits  of  the  North  American  territories.    The  French  king  not  only  re- 
nounced all  pretensions  to  Nova  Scotia,  but  ceded  the  whole  of  Canada 
and  its  dependencies,  including  the  Louisiana  ;  and  whereas  the  French 
had  pretended  a  right  to  the  country  which  reaches  from  the  Ohio  to  St. 
Lawrence,  and  had  built  a  train  efforts  to  command  the  communication, 
his  christian  majesty  ceded  the  whole  of  that  tract,  and  also  the  forts  and 
settlements.    Spain  relinquished  Florida  ;  so  that  from  Hudson's  bay  to 
the  southern  cape  of  Florida,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  confines  of  New 
Mexico,   the  continent  of  North  America  was  a  part  of  the  British  em- 
pire.    To  command  the  navigation  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  to  secure  the 
possessions  of  her  northern  acquisitions,  Britain  was  to  retain  the  islands 
of  Cape  Breton  and  St.  John.    We  were  to  give  up  to  the  French  the 
small  islands  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon  near  Newfoundland.    By  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  the  Newfoundland  fishery  had  been  divided  between 
France  and  England.      Britain  wished  her  rival  now  to  relinquish  the 
whole,  but  France  would  not  hearken  to  the  proposal  ;  at  length  a  com- 
promise was  made,  by  which  Britain  was  to  possess  the  greater  share. 
The  next  object  was  the  West  Indies,  which  was  one  of  the  chief  sources' 
of  commerce,  wealth,  and  maritime  force  to  our  enemies ;  here  we  bad 
made  great  conquests  ;  the  question  was,  whether  we  should  retain  t)iem, 
as  acquisitions  to  ourselves,  and  as  an  increased  security  for  a  perma- 
nent peace  by  diminishing  to  the  opposite  party  the  means  of  var  ;  or 
without  carrying  our  views  to  distant  objects,  sacrifice  them,  in  order  to 
facilitate  an  immediate  peace.    The  British  ministers  favoured  the  latter 
alternative.    We  ceded  to  Spain  the  Havannah,  with  a  considerable  part 


154  IIISTOllY  OF  THE  Chap.  III.— 1762. 

[Discussion  of  the  treaty  in  parliament.] 

of  Cuba;  to  France,  the  islands  of  IMartinico,  Guadaloupe,  Marijjalante, 
Dcsirade,  and  St.  Lucia.  AVe  retained  the  islands  of  Tobago,  Domini- 
ca, St.  Vincent's  and  the  Grenadas.  To  the  tlirce  former  (as  well  as  to 
St.  Lucia  which  surrendered)  Britain  had  an  old  claim  ;  the  last  only  was 
a  new  acquisition,  and  the  three  others  were  then  of  little  value.  Spain 
consented  that  the  English  should,  without  disturbance,  cut  logwood  in 
the  bay  of  Honduras.  In  Europe  Belleisle  was  restored  to  the  French, 
Minorca  to  the  English,  and  the  fortifications  of  Dunkirk  were  to  be  de- 
stroyed, according  to  former  trcatio.-^.  In  Africa  Goree  was  restored  to 
France,  and  Senegal  retained  by  England.  In  the  East  Indies  Britain 
returned  all  the  French  factories  and  settlements  ;  France  having  stipu- 
lated to  erect  no  fortifications  in  Bengal  or  Orissa,  and  to  acknowledge 
the  reigning  subahs  of  Bengal,  the  Decan,  and  the  Carnatic. 

Concerning  our  allies,  it  was  agreed,  that  the  French  and  Spaniards 
should  evacuate  Portugal,  and  that  France  and  Britain  should  observe  a 
strict  neutrality  respecting  the  disputes  in  Germany  ;  that  each  should 
withdraw  their  forces,  and  discontinue  subsidies.  Such  are  the  outlines 
of  the  peace,  of  which  the  preliminaries  were  signed  and  interchanged  on 
the  3d  of  November,  1762,  between  the  ministers  of  Great  Britain, 
France,  Spain,  and  Portugal. 

On  the  2oth  of  November,  parliament  met ;  his  majesty's  speech  de- 
scribed the  successes  obtained  in  various  quarters  of  the  world  by  the  per- 
severance and  valour  of  his  land  and  sea  forces  ;  and  stated  as  the  con- 
sequence of  those  victories,  that  the  enemy  had  made  peace  on  terms 
highly  advantageous  to  Britain ;  by  which  his  territories  were  greatly 
augmented,  and  new  sources  were  opened  for  trade  and  manufactures. 
He  recommended  attention  to  the  improvement  of  our  acquisitions,  and 
firmness  and  unanimity,  as  the  surest  means  of  rendering  the  advantages 
of  the  peace  more  extensive  and  permanent. 

The  preliminaries  underwent  a  very  able  discussion  in  both  houses. 
Mr.  Pitt  attacked  them  as  derogatory  to  the  honour  and  interests  of  the 
kingdom,  as  being  totally  inadequate  to  the  terms  which  our  successes 
might  have  commanded,  as  a  surrender  of  those  advantages  which  our 
glorious  efforts  had  procured  to  ourselves,  and  a  sacrifice  of  public  faith 
in  the  abandonment  of  our  allies.  These  general  objections  he  and  oth- 
ers illustrated  by  a  detailed  inquiry  into  the  several  articles.  France,  it 
was  contended,  was  chiefly  formidable  to  us  as  a  maritime  and  commer- 
cial nation.  Though  we  had  acquired  an  extensive  territory  in  America, 
yet  by  our  stipulation  respecting  the  Newfoundland  fishery,  wc  had  left  her 
a  nursery  of  seamen  ;  by  the  restoration  of  her  West  India  possessions, 
we  had  given  her  back  the  means  of  a  most  beneficial  commerce  ;  and 
thus  had  put  her  in  the  way  of  recovering  her  losses,  and  being  again  formi- 
dable on  our  own  element.  The  fi.shery  formed  a  multitude  of  seamen, 
and  the  West  India  islands  employed  them  when  fully  trained.  France, 
by  possessing  a  much  greater  quantity  of  sugar  land,  had  been  long  supe- 
rior to  us  in  this  lucrative  branch  of  commerce.  She  had  thus  enriched 
her  anerchants,  increased  her  revenue,  and  strengthened  her  navy :  why 
then,  after  we  had  in  ajiist  and  necessary  war  deprived  her  of  such  valuable 
po.ssession.s,  should  wc  restore  to  her  the  means  of  again  annoying  our- 
selves? The  retention  of  the  considerable  French  plantations  was  neces- 
sary to  the  permanent  security  of  a  peace.  Besides,  after  so  expensive 
a  war,  our  victories  gave  us  a  claim  to  some  indemnification  ;  in  that  view. 


1762.— CuAi'.  111.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  111.  1()5 

[Arguments  against  and  for  the  treaty.] 

the  islands  would  have  been  the  most  productive  of  our  conquests.  Our 
acquisitions  in  America  might  tend  to  our  security,  but  it  would  be  very 
long  before  they  could  lead  to  our  indemnification.  They  neither  in- 
creased in  any  important  degree  our  commerce,  nor  diminished  the  com- 
merce of  France  ;  but  the  West  India  islands,  if  retained,  would  have 
been  an  immediate  great  gain  to  Britain,  and  loss  to  our  rival.  The  re- 
tention of  the  West  Indies  was  farther  necessary  to  the  improvement  of 
our  acquisitions  in  North  America,  and  also  to  our  commerce  with  Afri- 
ca. In  that  event,  it  was  argued,  the  African  trade  would  have  been 
augmented  by  the  demand  for  slaves,  and  the  trade  of  North  America 
would  have  all  centered  in  Britain  ;  whereas,  the  islands  being  restored, 
a  great  part  of  the  northern  colony  trade  must  fall,  as  it  had  hitherto 
done,  to  those  who  had  lately  been  our  enemies,  and  would  still  be 
our  rivals.  For  these  reasons,  either  Martinico,  or  Guadaloupe,  or  even 
both,  should  have  been  retained  by  Britain.  The  cessions  made  in  Afri- 
ca and  in  the  East  Indies  would  have  fully  justified  the  reservation  to 
ourselves  of  our  West  India  conquests.  Provident  policy  required  that 
we  should  have  reserved  those  possessions,  and  our  resources  and  resist- 
less naval  strength  would  have  enabled  us  to  retain  them,  in  defiance  of 
the  enemy.  If  in  the  negotiation,  availing  ourselves  of  our  advantages, 
we  had  decisively  refused  such  cessions,  the  enemy  would  not  have  ad- 
hered to  the  requisition,  with  the  alternative  of  the  continued  war ; 
or,  had  they  been  so  obstinate,  British  force  would  soon  have  reduced 
them  to  compliance.  Concerning  our  ally  the  king  of  Prussia,  it  was 
insisted,  that,  in  deserting  his  interests,  we  had  violated  the  national 
faith.* 

Such  were  the  arguments  adduced  both  in  and  out  of  parliament  by 
those  who  disapproved  of  the  peace,  which  the  minister  and  his  support- 
ers answered  to  the  following  effect.  The  original  object  of  hostilities 
was,  the  security  of  our  continental  possessions  in  North  America  ;  the 
dangers  to  which  these  colonies  had  been  exposed,  and  the  expensive 
and  bloody  war  resulting  to  Great  Britain  from  those  dangers,  rendered 
it  necessary  to  prevent  the  possibihty  of  their  recurrence.  Experience 
had  shown,  that  while  France  possessed  a  single  place  on  the  continent 
of  America,  we  should  never  be  secure  from  a  renewal  of  hostilities  :  the 
removal  of  the  French  from  our  neighbourhood  in  that  country,  was  there- 
fore the  most  effectual  means  of  preventing  future  vvar.f  The  security  so 
produced  would  also  tend  ultimately  to  indemnification  :  as  it  would  not 
only  save  us  from  the  necessity  of  another  war,  increase  our  trade  and 

•  The  writings  of  those  times  cliarged  the  minister  with  very  gross  breach  of 
faith  and  base  treachery,  in  endeavouring  to  stimul.ite  both  Austria  and  Rwssia 
against  Prussia,  wiiile  he  was  professing  the  greatest  zeal  for  tiie  security  of  that 
prince ;  but  no  authentic  evidence  is  acUhiced  to  support  the  allegation.  See  His- 
tory of  the  Minority,  1~62,  1763,  1764,  1765. 

f  It  has  been  frequently  alleged  by  speculative  politicians,  that  this  very  re- 
moval of  the  French  from  our  American  colonies,  by  freeing  them  from  the  appre- 
hension of  a  foreign  enemy,  encouraged  that  proud  and  refractory  spirit  which 
ended  in  revolution.  This,  however,  appears  to  be  a  fanciful  hypothesis.  The 
Americans  were  morally  certain  that  the  French  would  join  in  supporting  disaffec- 
tion, rebellion,  and  revolt,  in  order  to  annoy  Great  Britain  ;  and  they  could  have 
contributed  tlieir  assistance  more  easily  and  expeditiously  if  they  had  retained 
part  of  their  North  American  settlements,  than  when  totally  deprived  of  those 
possessions.  In  short,  this  theory  originates  in  French  ingenuity,  and  not  in 
English  reasoning. 


166  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  HI.--ir62. 

[Impartial  estimate  of  the  treaty.] 

revenue,  and  lower  our  debt,  but  permit  our  colonies  to  extend  their  com- 
merce and  population.  The  population  of  the  colonies  had  of  late  very 
rapidly  advanced,  and  the  increase  of  the  trade  with  the  mother  country 
had  been  proportionate.  North  America  itself  would  soon  afford  a  de- 
mand for  our  manufactures,  and  employ  almost  all  the  working  hands  in 
England.  They  expatiated  on  the  immense  resources  to  commerce 
which  must  arise  from  the  possession  of  the  American  continent ;  and 
argued,  that,  great  as  commercial  advantages  are,  they  ought  not  to  be 
the  sole  consideration,  but  that  number  of  subjects  and  extent  of  territory, 
contributed  no  less  to  the  greatness  of  an  empire.  France,  they  said, 
would  never  agree  to  a  considerable  cession  in  the  AVest  Indies,  where  the 
importance  of  our  possessions  depended  on  the  North  American  colonies, 
from  which  they  derived  their  principal  provisions  and  other  supplies,  and 
that  commerce  fully  compensated  for  our  inferiority  in  West  India  pro- 
ductions. Tlieij  contended,  that  the  points  which  the  opposite  party  had 
proposed  to  contest,  were  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  jnstijy  the  continu- 
ance of  the  war  on  their  account.  The  king  of  Prussia  we  had  supported 
as  long  as  he  was  likely  to  be  overwhelmed  by  enemies  ;  but  now,  by  his 
peace  with  Sweden  and  llussia,  and  by  the  neutrality  of  France,  he  had 
to  contend  with  Austria  only,  for  which  he  was  fully  a  match.  It  was  the 
interest  of  Britain  to  save  Prussia  from  destruction,  but  not  to  promote 
her  ambition. 

The  impartial  historian,  however,  who  is  totally  uninterested  in  the 
contentions  of  parties,  must  differ  from  both  ministry  and  opposition.  On 
the  subject  of  Prussia,  ministers  appeared  to  have  judged  prudently,  as 
the  reason  for  defending  Frederick  was  the  maintenance  of  the  balance 
of  Europe  ;  when  that  ceased  to  be  in  danger,  policy  no  longer  required 
the  waste  of  our  blood  and  treasures  in  his  contests.  Concerning  the 
West  Indies,  our  cessions  appear  by  far  too  great.  The  reasons  alleged 
by  ministers  for  the  dereliction  of  such  valuable  possessions,  were  futile 
in  the  present  situation  and  relative  force  of  the  parties.  According  to 
their  alleoations,  France  would  not  s^ive  up  what  she  had  actually 
LOST  ;  but  if  Britain  insisted  on  the  reservation,  where  were  her  means  of 
recovery  ?  The  principle  on  which  the  cession  was  justified,  was  contra- 
ry to  magnanimous  and  wise  policy.  A  declared  willingness  to  abandon 
momentous  advantages,  rather  than  continue  a  contest  to  secure  them 
when  already  possessed,  directly  tended  to  make  the  adversary  more 
stubborn,  and  afford  an  injurious  example  in  future  contests.  To  a  pow- 
er transcendent  in  resources,  it  can  never  be  a  prudent  reason  for  relin- 
quishing valuable  interests,  that  they  are  not  to  be  maintained  without  a 
struggle.  Such  conduct  is  really  as  contrary  to  pecuniary  economy  on 
balancing  accounts  upon  a  large  scale,  as  to  national  dignity  and  honour. 
The  abandonment  of  acquisitions  affording  to  the  possessor  riches  and 
naval  strength,  tended,  as  was  foreseen,  to  furnish  France  with  the 
means  of  maintaining  another  war  whenever  a  favourable  opportunity  of- 
fered. It  was  unnecessary  to  expatiate  on  the  advantages  which  we  se- 
cured by  our  acquisitions  in  North  America,  as  a  reason  for  giving  up  the 
West  Indie.s  :  such  being  our  power,  that  we  could  not  only  have  obtain- 
ed, but  enforced  both.  Our  great  efforts  had  certainly  exposed  us  to 
considerable  difficulties,  and  lord  Bute  had  been  uniformly  anxious  to 
terminate  the  war.  Peace  was  desirable,  but  the  peace  concluded  was 
not  so  honourable  or  advantageous  as  Britain  could  have  dictated,  and 


1763.— Chai'.  III.  UKIGN  OP  GKOUGE  HI.  107 

[Charges  against  the  earl  of  Bute.     Finance.     Cider  tax] 

contained  in  itself  the  .seeds  of  dis.solution.  The  definitive  treaty  was 
signed  on  the  10th  of  February,  17C3,  and  terminated  a  war  begun  by 
boundless  ambition,  in  which  defeat  and  disaster  paid  the  price  of  impoli- 
tic rapacity,  and  repeated  the  lesson  which  former  hostilities  had  so  often 
inculcated,  that  France,  seeking  the  extension  of  territory  and  the  aug- 
mentation of  commerce  and  naval  power,  by  attacking  England,  em- 
ployed the  most  effectual  means  to  prevent  the  attainment  of  her  pur- 
pose. 

The  peace  of  Fontainbleau,  however,  though  certainly  by  no  means 
the  best  which  Britain  might  have  concluded  in  the  existing  circum- 
stances, produced  against  its  framers  obloquy  and  invectives  which  they 
did  not  deserve.  It  was  openly  and  loudly  asserted,  that  the  earl  of  Bute 
entertained  the  ancient  Scotch  partiality  for  France,  and  intentionally 
betrayed  his  king  and  country.*  It  was  very  plainly  insinuated,  that  the 
duke  of  Bedford  had  been  actually  bribed  by  the  court  of  Versailles  to 
conclude  a  peace  on  such  terms. |  Improbable  as  these  charges  were 
in  their  nature,  and  totally  unsupported  by  any  extrinsic  evidence,  yet 
during  the  public  ferment  they  obtained  very  general  credit.  The  tide 
of  popular  odium  ran  extremely  high  :  demagogues  never  fail  to  increase 
the  fury  of  a  populace  already  inflamed,  and  on  the  present  occasion  an 
additional  subject  was  not  long  wanting.  The  war  had  made  a  prodi- 
gious increase  in  the  encumbrances  of  the  country,  and  there  was  such 
aa  arrear  of  floating  debt  as  to  render  a  very  large  loan  necessary  ;  the 
people,  however,  could  not  so  clearly  see  the  necessity  of  taxes  being  no 
less  requisite  at  the  conclusion,  than  during  the  continuance  of  an  ex- 
pensive war.  While  exulting  in  victory,  and  elated  with  hopes  of  crush- 
ing their  ancient  enemy,  they  did  not  repine  at  expense  ;  but  now  such 
flattering  expectations  were  terminated  by  a  peace,  which  was  generally 
disapproved.  Ministers  were  aware,  that  in  such  a  disposition  no  scheme 
of  supply  would  be  well  received.  They  therefore  determined  to  impose 
as  few  taxes  as  the  public  service  could  possibly  admit.  The  nation, 
they  contended,  was  exhausted,  and  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  repair 
our  finances  by  the  most  rigid  economy.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  they 
proposed  to  raise  the  supplies,  first,  by  taking  2,000,000/.  out  of  the 
sinking  fund  ;  secondly,  by  issuing  1,800,000/.  in  exchequer-bills  ;  thirdly, 
by  borrowing  2,800,000/.  on  annuities  ;  and,  lastly,  by  two  lotteries  for 
350,000/.  each.  The  rest  of  the  supplies  were  necessarily  raised  by 
taxes.  The  principle  of  taxation  under  the  Bute  ministry  was,  to  subject 
luxuries,  and  not  necessaries,  to  imposts,  for  the  exigencies  of  the  state. 
The  luxuries  of  the  lower  ranks,  are,  on  the  whole,  a  much  more  pro- 
ductive source  of  revenue,  than  those  of  the  higher  ;  it  was  therefore  ex- 
pedient to  include  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  :  there  were  taxes  upon 
beer,  ale,  and  porter  directly,  and  indirectly  in  that  upon  malt ;  as  well 
as  upon  wine,  on  which,  in  this  session,  an  additional  dutv  was  imposed. 
Cider  hitherto  had  been  subject  to  no  impost;  it  was  judged  expedient 
this  year  to  tax  that  beverage,  though  in  a  less  proportion  than  ale  and 
porter,  to  which  in  its  nature,  and  in  the  situation  of  its  principal  con- 
sumers, it  was  held  most  analogous ;  and  to  levy  it  by  the  same  mode, 
an  excise.     Those  who  examine  the  nature  and  operation  of  difierent 

•  See  North  Briton,  and  Junius's  Letter  to  the  duke  of  Bedford, 
f  See  Junius's  Letter  to  the  duke  of  Bedford. 


168  HISTORY  OF  TIIK  Chap.  111.-1763. 

[Cause  of  the  unpopularity  of  excise.] 

mode*?  of  levying  taxes,  can  very  easily  perceive,  that  excise  is  less  bur- 
thonsome  to  the  consumer  than  any  equivalent  raised  in  customs.  Cus- 
toms, though  advanced  by  the  merchant,  must  ultimately  fall  on  the  con- 
sumer ;  as  the  merchant  must  not  only  be  reimbursed,  but  have  a  profit 
on  all  his  advance,  it  follows,  that  the  earlier  in  trade  customs  are  paid 
for  any  commodity,  the  heavier  they  must  fall  on  the  consumer.  The 
excise  being  levied  on  commodities  in  use,  and  paid  by  the  consumer, 
does  not  require  him  to  reimburse  the  merchant  for  his  advance,  nor  to 
contribute  to  his  profits.  But  in  customs,  the  tax  being  involved  in  the 
price  of  the  commodity,  is  not  felt  as  a  tax ;  whereas  excise  is  imme- 
diately felt,  and,  though  really  lighter,  is  imagined  to  be  heavier.*  From 
this  unfounded  supposition,  excise  is  a  much  more  unpopular  mode  of 
taxation,  than  customs.  Two  circumstances  add  to  the  unpopularity  of 
this  species  of  tax — the  necessary  procedure  of  the  tax-gatherers,  and 
the  established  mode  of  trial.  The  visits  of  excise  officers,  it  is  alleged, 
are  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  an  Englishman,  according  to  which 
his  house  is  his  castle  ;  yet  it  is  obvious,  that  there  are  many  other  in- 
stances in  which  that  castle  must  be  entered  for  the  public  good.  The 
next  is,  the  summary  process  before  commissioners,  instead  of  trial  by 
jury  ;  which  is  really  mercy,  and  not  severity,  to  delinquents.  The  ex- 
pense and  delay  of  prosecutions,  either  by  action  or  indictment,  would 
iall  infinitely  heavier  on  defendants,  than  this  expeditious  manner  of  as- 
certaining the  matter  in  dispute. t  The  excise  is  a  much  more  effectual 
mode  of  preventing  contraband  dealing,  than  customs :  and  therefore 
smugglers  are  much  more  interested  in  abetting  the  unpopularity  to  which 
it  is  liable  from  vulgar  and  inveterate  prejudices.  From  all  these  causes, 
every  scheme  for  extending  the  excise  has  never  failed  to  excite  great  op- 
position and  tumult  in  this  country.  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  famous  scheme, 
firmly  as  he  was  established  by  the  favour  of  the  king  and  the  great  whig 
confederacy,  had  nearly  cost  him  his  place,  and  was  obliged  to  be  aban- 
doned. The  enmity  to  the  excise  was  still  undiminished,  and  was  likely 
to  exert  itself  with  redoubled  fury  against  a  minister  otherwise  so  unpo- 
pular. The  cider  tax  in  itself  appears  to  have  been  as  fair  and  equitable 
as  any  that  could  have  been  devised  ;  it  merely  made  those  who  chose 
to  regale  themselves  with  a  distillation  from  apples,  contribute  to  the 
revenue,  as  well  as  those  who  chose  to  regale  themselves  with  a  distilla- 
tion from  barley  :  its  prudence,  however,  was  questionable.  Great  and 
able  statesmen  will  not  be  deterred  from  plans  of  national  benefit,  by 
tiie  misapprehension  of  popular  prejudices  and  ignorance ;  because  they 
know,  that  though  some  of  their  acts  may  incur  censure,  their  general 
measures  and  conduct,  which  command  tlie  veneration  of  their  country- 
men, wdl  ultimately  prevail  over  occasional  disapprobation.  But  lord 
Bute  must  have  been  aware  that  he  was  not  an  object  of  veneration, 
.since  no  pains  were  spared  to  convince  him,  that  by  the  majority  of  En- 
glishmen he  was  regarded  with  abhorrence  and  contempt;  that  he  was 
the  last  man  who  could  overbear  popular  prejudice,  however  sound  the 
argument  might  be  to  justify  his  financial  measures.  It  was  therefore 
impolitic  in  him  to  i)ropose,  and  still  more  unwise  inflexibly  to  pursue, 
this  tax,  though  in  itself  unobjectionable,    lie  however  did  persist ;  and, 

•  See  J)r.  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations. 

I  Sec  Ulackstone's  Commentaries,  b.  iv.  p.  281. 


ir63.-~CHAp.Iir.  HKIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  jg9 

[Unexpected  resignation  of  lord  Bute.] 

sfrorifj  a.s  the  opposition*  was  in  both  hoiLses,  loud  and  violent  as  the 
clannours  were  througiioiit  llie  kingdom,  the  bill  passed  into  a  law.  In 
pamphlet.s  and  periodi(tal  publication!!,  and  in  all  popular  meeting.s  in  the 
city  of  Lo'idon,  which  were  entirely  directed  by  opposition,  this  act  was 
represented  as  part  ot'  a  general  scheme  formed  by  lord  Bute  for  plun- 
dering Kngland,  to  gratify  the  rapacity  of  Scotchmen,!  ^^^  ^^r  establish- 
ing arbitrary  power. 

\Vhile  the  minister  was  by  numbers  considered,  and  by  many  more 
represented,  as  meditating  the  most  destructive  designs  to  be  effected 
by  his  power,  to  the  surprise  of  the  public,  as  soon  as  his  financial  mea- 
su'Ps  were  passed,  he  relinquished  his  employment.  "  Having  (he  said) 
restored  peace  to  the  world,  portormeu  bis  engaf^ements,  and  establisiied 
a  conn<'xion  so  strong  as  no  longer  to  need  his  assistance,  he  would  now 
depart  to  the  domestic  and  literary  retirement  which  he  loved." 

Few  ministers  have  been  more  generally  hated  than  lord  Bute  was  by 
the  Enolish  nation ;  yet,  if  we  estimate  his  conduct  from  facts,  without 
being  influenced  by  local  or  temporary  prejudices,  we  can  by  no  means 
finti  just  grounds  for  the  odium  which  he  incurred.      It  is  true,  an  im- 
partial reviewer  can  find  nothing  in  his  political  character  to  justify  the 
praises  of  some  ot'  his  supporters,  but  still  less  will  be  found  to  justify 
the  obloquy  of  many  of  his  satirists.    As  a  ^'  ar  minister,  thoaoh  his  plans 
discovered  little  of  original  genius,  and  naturally  proceeded  iVtnn  the 
measures  of  his  predecessor,  the  general  state  of  our  resources,  the  con- 
quests achieved,  and  the  disposition  of  our  fleets  and  armies,  yet  they 
were  judicious ;  the  agents  appointed  to  carry  them  into  execution  were 
selected  with  discernment,   and  the  whole  result  was  successful.     His 
desire  of  peace,  after  so  long  and  burtliensome  a  war,  was  laudable,  but 
perhaps  too  eagerly  manifested.    As  a  negotiator,  he  did  not  procure  the 
best  terms  which,  from  our  superiority,  might  have  been  obtained.    His 
project  of  finance,!  in  itself  unobjectionable,  derived  its  impolicy  from 
the  unpopularity  of  his  administration.     Exposed  from  unfounded  pre- 
judices  to  calumny,  he  deserved  and  earned  dislike  by  his  haughty  de- 
portment.    The   manners  which  custom   might  have  sanctioned  from 
an  imperious  chieftain  to  his  servile  retainers  in  a  remote  corner  of  the 
island,  did  not  suit  the  independent  spirit  of  the  English  metropolis.    The 

•  The  ablest  opponent  of  this  tax  was  Mr  I'itt.  That  statesman  denied  the 
general  position  of  ministers,  tliat  the  nation  was  exhausted.  There  were  still 
resources  for  carrying  on  the  war  Ioniser,  and  much  more  towards  clearing  off 
incumbrances  on  the  peace.  As  we  v.fre  necessarily  involvcfl  in  an  immense 
debt,  our  wisest  policy  in  such  circumstances  would  be,  by  liberal  and  compre- 
hensive (^rants  to  add  as  much  as  possible  to  the  national  income.  Afier  discuss- 
ing- in  detail  the  other  parts  of  the  financial  scheme,  he  came  to  the  cider  tax, 
against  which  he  directed  the  force  of  his  eloquence.  Mr.  Grenville  in  answer 
contended  that  it  was  unavoidahle  Wliere  (said  he)  can  we  lay  another  tax  of 
equal  efficiency  ?  does  Mr.  Pitt  tell  us  where  we  cnn  lay  another  tax.  He  several 
times  repeated,  "Tell  me  where  \om  can  lay  another  t.ax  ?"  Mr.  Pitt  replied  to 
him  in  a  musical  tone,  in  the  words  of  a  favourite  song,  'Gentle  shepherd,  tell 
me  where .'"  Mr.  Grenville  ever  after  retained  the  denomination  of  g-ejUle  shep- 
herd. 

t  See  North  Briton,  No.  43;  Churchill's  Poems ;  History  of  the  Minority ;  and 
other  popular  writin  s  ot  the  time. 

t:  His  loan  was  much  censured,  as  affording  extravagant  terms  to  the  lender, 
and  bestowing  the  principal  shares  iii)on  Scotchmen.  This  charge,  however, 
'.bough  in  some  measure  true,  was  greatlv  exaggerated. 

Vot.  VII.— 22 


170  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chaf.  HI —1763. 

[Character  of  his  administration  ] 

respectable  mediorrity  of  his  talents  with  the  suitable  attainments,  and 
his  decent  moral  character,  deserved  an  esteem  which  his  manners  pre- 
cluded. Since  lie  could  not,  like  Pitt,  command  by  superior  geniur;,  he 
ought,  like  the  duke  ot'  Newcastle,  to  have  conciliated  by  atFable  de- 
meanour. His  partisans  have  praised  the  tenacity  of  lord  Bute  in  his 
purposes  ;  a  quality  which,  puided  by  wisdom  in  the  pursuit  of  ri<iht  ob- 
jects, and  conibined  with  power  to  render  success  ultimately  probable, 
is  magnanimous  firmness  ;  but  without  these  requisites,  is  stubborn  ob- 
stinary.  No  charge  has  been  more  frequently  made  against  lord  Bute, 
than  tliat  he  was  a  promoter  of  arbitrary  principles  and  measures.  This 
is  an  accusation  for  which  its  supporters  could  lind  no  grounds  in  his 
particular  acts  ;  they  endeavoured,  therefore,  to  establish  their  assertion 
by  circuitous  arguments.  Lord  Bute  had  licen  the  means  of  di^pos- 
sessing  the  whig  connexion  of  power,  and  had  given  Scotchmen  appoint- 
ments which  were  formerly  held  by  the  friends  of  the  duke  of  Newcastle. 
To  impartial  investigation,  however,  it  appears  evident  that  lord  Bute 
merely  preferred  himself,  as  a  minister,  to  the  duke  of  Newcastle :  if  we 
examine  his  particular  nominations,  we  shall  find  that  he  neither  exalted 
the  friends  of  liberty  nor  despotism,  but  his  oivn  friends.  It  would  pro- 
bably have  been  better  for  tliis  country  had  lord  Bute  never  been  minis- 
ter ;  but  all  the  evils  that  may  be  traced  to  that  period,  did  not  necessa- 
rily proceed  from  his  measures,  as  many  of  them  flowed  from  circum- 
stances over  which  he  had  no  control.  Candour  must  allow  that  the 
comprehensive  principle  on  which  his  majesty  resolved  to  govern,  was 
liberal  and  meritorious ;  tliough  patriotism  may  regret  that  he  was  not 
more  fortunate  in  his  first  choice.  The  administration  of  lord  Bute 
teaches  an  instructive  lesson,  that  no  man  can  be  long  an  efiectual  mi- 
nister of  this  country,  who  will  not  occasionally  attend,  not  only  to  the 
well-founded  judgment,  but  also  to  the  prejudices,  of  Englishmen. 


ireS.—CHAi-.  IV.  REIGN  OP  GEORGE  HI,  171 


CHAP.  IV. 


George  Grenville  prime  minister.— Violent  writinj^s. — North  Briton. — John 
Wilkes — his  character. — Proceedings  against  him. — Outcry  against  ministers. 
Wilkes  engrosses  the  chief  attention  of  tiie  public. — Meeting  of, parliament. — 
Animadversions  on  Mr  Wilkes — he  is  expelled  the  commons — in  the  lords 
charged  by  the  earl  of  Sandwicli  witii  an  impious  and  immoral  libel — withdraws 
into  France  to  avoid  prosecution — is  outlawed- — His  cause  continues  popular. — 
Prejudices  against  Scotchmen — Churciiill's  satires. — Question  on  the  legality 
of  general  warrants — Waved  by  a  ministerial  majority.— Mr.  Grenville's  cha- 
racter and  schemes  of  finance — His  measures  for  the  suppre.-,sion  of  smug- 
^ting— he  intimates  a  project  of  taxing  America. — Marriage  of  the  prince  of 
Brunswick  to  the  princess  Augusta  of  Kngland. — Prince  Frederick,  the  king's 
second  son,  ajipointed  bishop  of  Osnaburg. — Session  rises. — Afiairs  of  Eu- 
rope.—France  experiences  the  effects  of  her  impolitic  \yars. — Pecuniary  em- 
bai-rassments  and  refractory  parliaments— Beginning  spirit  of  liberty. — Aus- 
tria—Prussia.— Catharine  of  Russia.— Election  of  the  king  of  Poland  —Joseph, 
heirof  \ustri.i,  chosen  kingof  the  Romiuis — American  colonies — Effect  of  the 
minister's  intimation  in  the  colonies — Meeting  of  parliament. — The  minister's 
plan  for  levying  stamp  duties  on  America — important  debates  in  parliament 
thereon— oppo.sed  on  two  grounds,  right  and  expediency — represented  as  a 
dangerous  innovation  against  beneficial  experience — passed  into  a  law. — Stamp 
act.'an  important  epoch  in  history. — Ferment  in  the  colonies — Massachusetts 
Bay  takes  the  lead  in  opposition,  and  instigates  concerted  resistance.— Annexa- 
tion of  tiie  Isle  of  Man  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain. — Indisposition  of  tlie 
jting. — Bill  for  a  regency  in  case  of  a  minority. — Ministers  lose  the  favour  of  the 
court — are  dismissed  from  administration. 

On  the  resignation  of  lord  Bute,  the  honourable  George  Grenville, 
brother  of  earl  Temple,  became  prime  minister ;  lords  Egremont  and 
Halifax  continued  secretaries  of  state  ;  and  the  earl  of  Sandwich  was  ap- 
pointed first  lord  of  the  admiralty  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Grenville.  As  the 
present  ministers  were  all  intimately  connected  with  lord  Bute,  it  was  be- 
lieved that  his  influence  continued  to  predominate,  and  that  his  maxims 
were  still  adopted.  Party  rage  increased  in  virulence,  and  the  press 
teemed  with  invective.  Durino  the  administration  of  lord  Bute,  govern- 
ment had  appeared  totally  inditlerent  to  these  attacks  ;  but  an  essay  pub- 
lished a  few  days  after  his  retirement,  changed  its  plan.  One  of  the  most 
abusive  assailants  of  the  late  minister  had  been  the  North  Briton,  which 
was  begun  in  the  preceding  year,  and  being  continued  periodically,  had, 
at  the  resignation  of  lord  Bute,  sent  forty-four  numbers  into  the  world ; 
and  to  this  work,  the  celebrated  Mr.  Wilkes  was  an  occasional  contri- 
butor. 

John  Wilkes,  esq.,  member  for  Aylesbury,  was  a  man  of  ready  inge- 
nuity, versatile  talents,  taste,  and  classical  erudition  ;  he  was  distin- 
guished for  wit  and  pleasantry,  and  surpassed  most  men  as  an  entertain- 
ing and  engaging  companion.  He  was  not,  however,  en)inent  as  a  sena- 
tor or  a  lawgiver ;  he  was  extremely  dissipated  ;  as  indifferent  to  religion 
as  to  morals,  and  to  his  pecuniary  circuinstances  as  to  either.*    Prodi- 

•  The  character  of  Mr.  Wilkes  is  accurately,  justly,  and  severely  drawn,  in  a 
celebrated  publication  of  those  times,  en^.itJetl;  tiie  Advf^n^'Te's  of  a  Guinea 


j^72  IIISTORV  OF  'IIIE  CuAr.IV.— 1763 

[The  North  Briton.    Apprehension  of  Wilkes.] 

gality  had  ruined  his  fortune,  and  profligacy  his  chararter.  Bankrupt  in 
cin^unisfancps  and  rt'putation,  he  had  apphed  to  lord  Bute  to  extricate 
him  from  his  ditHcultics.  His  character  was  so  notorious,  that  a  states- 
n^an  who  rrg-irdod  rehgion  and  inoralily  couUl  not  patronize  him,  though 
he  might  have  easily  rendered  him  a  tool.  Wilkes  in  revenge,  became  a 
llamiug  patriot,  inveighed  against  the  attacks  upon  our  rights  and  liber- 
ties, aiid  ag  linst  the  unprincipled  wickedness  of  the  rulers  ;  and  the 
North  Briton  was  one  of  the  ciiief  vehicles  of  his  animadversions.  The 
oljservalions  and  arguments  in  this  work  were  merely  declamatory  m- 
veclives,  and  the  echos  of  vulgar  prejudices,  which  nothing  but  popular 
prepossession  could  have  preserved  iVom  contempt  That  abuse  which 
preceding  Nortii  Britons  had  poured  out  again;;t  lord  Bute  and  Scotch- 
men, No.  45  had  the  auilacity  to  direct,  with  increased  scurrility,  agairtst 
the  sovereign.  The  matter  was  filse  and  absurd  ;  the  language  used  by 
a  subject  to  a  sover^^ign,  was  totally  unworthy  of  t'le  pen  of  a  gentleman: 
the  wif'kedness  of  the  intention,  and  insolence  of  the  address,  deserved 
detestation;  but  the  frothy  feebleness  of  the  execution  ought  to  hav^  ' 
overwhelmed  that  sentiment  in  contemptuous-  neglect.  Tlie  course  which 
ministry  pursued  gave  a  consequence  both  to  the  paper  and  its  author, 
which  the  int'iusic  merit  of  either  would  never  have  attained.  On  the 
23d  of  April,  1763,  this  number  was  published,  and  it  was  no  sooner  pe- 
rused by  ministry,  than  a  council  was  called,  and  ^n  immediate  |)ro>;ecu- 
tion  proposed.  The  chief  justice  Mansfield  declared  his  disapprobation 
of  that  mode  of  procedure  :  "  I  am  (he  said)  decidedly  against  the  pro- 
secution :  his  consequence  will  die  away  if  you  let  him  alone  :  but  by 
public  notice  of  him,  you  will  increase  that  consequence  ;  which  is  the 
rery  thing  he  covets,  and  keeps  in  full  view."  The  contrary  opinion, 
however,  prevailed  ;  and  on  the  26th,  a  warrant  was  issued  for  seizing 
the  authors,  printers,  and  publishers  of  the  North  Briton,  No.  45.  By 
the  law,  a  general  warrant  to  apprehend  all  persons  suspected,  without 
specially  naming  or  describing  any  person,  was  illegal,  and,  to  use 
Blackstone's  words,  "  void  for  its  uncertainty  ;  for  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
MAGISTRATE,  and  ought  not  to  be  left  to  the  o(ficer,  to  judge  of  the 
ground  of  suspicion."*  But  thi-<  mode  of  procedure,  though  it  was  in- 
consistent with  written  law,  had  all  the  sanctions  which  it  could  derive 
from  precedent.  It  had  been  used  ever  since  the  revolution,  and  by  the 
successive  whig  administrations  from  that  time,  had  never  before  been 
called  arbitrary,  and  indeed  was  nothing  but  an  irregularity.  Mr.  Wilkes 
refused  to  comply  with  the  warrant,  but  was  at  last  compelled  to  accom- 
pany the  messengers  to  the  secretary  of  state's  office  ;  he  was  committed 

•  Uiackstone's  Commentaries,  htiok  iv.  p.  291.  Jiuige  Bl.-jckstonc,  in  a  note 
upon  this  place,  explains  Iiow  such  a  procwcdinp,  though  actually  illegal,  came  to 
be  reckoned  justifiable.  "A  practice  had  obtainid  he  says)  in  the  secretary's 
office,  ever  since  the  restoration,  groiuidtcl  on  some  clauses  in  the  acts  for  regu 
latinp  »he  'ifi'ss,  of  issuing  general  warrants  to  take  up  (without  naming  any  per- 
son in  partigular,)  Mic  authors,  printers,  and  publishers  of  such  obscene  and  sedi- 
tious lib'  Is  as  were  particularly  specified  in  the  warrant.  When  those  acts  ex 
pired  in  1694,  the  same  practice  was  inadve-rteutly  continued  in  every  reign,  and 
under  every  idminiatration  (except  the  last  four  years  of  queen  Anne,)  down  to 
the  yar  176^;  when,  such  a  warrant  being  issued  to  aj)preliend  the  authors, 
printers,  and  piiblinhent,  of  a  certam  si  ditious  libel,  its  validity  was  disputed ;  and 
the  warrant  was  adjudged  by  the  whole  court  of  king's  bencli  to  be  void,  in  the 
rise  of  Money  v.  Leach." 


1763.— Ghap.  rv.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  ITT.  I73 

[Release  from  confinement.    State  of  the  ministry.] 

to  the  Tower,  his  papers  were  seized,  and  admission  to  him  was 
strictly  prohibited,  iintil  a  motion  was  made  in  the  court  of  common 
pleas  for  a  writ  of  haheas-corpus  ;  by  virtue  of  which,  on  the  3d  of  May, 
he  was  brought  into  Westminster  hall.  That  they  micht  have  time  to 
form  an  opinion  upon  so  important  a  case,  the  judges  deferred  decision 
till  the  6th,  on  which  day  the  lord  chief  justice  Tratt  delivered  an  opinion 
that  did  not,  as  is  commonly  alleged,  declare  general  warrants  to  he  ille- 
gal, but  tlie  warrant  in  question  to  be  void  on  a  specific  g-round,  the  pri- 
vilege  of  parliament.  DIembers  of  the  legislature  are  exempted  from  ar- 
rest, except  in  three  cases,  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace;  and 
as  neither  of  these  applied  to  the  charge  against  Mr.  W  ilkes,  he  was  re- 
leased by  the  court.  This  liberation,  on  account  of  parliamentary  privi- 
lege, was  by  the  popular  party  construed  to  be  a  victory  gamed  by  an  op- 
pressed individual  over  an  arbitrary  government,  wishing  to  crush  consti- 
tutional liberty.  The  day  before  his  release,  in  consequence  of  an  order 
from  the  secretary  of  state  to  earl  Temple,  lord  lieutenant  of  Ducking- 
hamshire,  he  was  discharged  from  the  command  of  the  militia  of  the 
county  ;  and  the  attorney-general  was  directed  to  commence  a  prosecu- 
tion against  him  for  a  libel.*  Mr.  Wilkes  not  only  refused  to  answer  the 
information  which  the  Ian  officer  tiled,  but  on  the  ot'rer  hand  brought  an 
action  against  Mr.  Wood,  undersecretary  of  state,  for  seizing  his  papers, 
and  procured  a  verdict  with  a  thousand  pounds  damages,  and  full  costs  of 
suit.  He  also  commenced  a  process  against  lord  Halifax,  which,  how- 
ever, subsequent  occurrences  abated.  The  proceedings  relative  to  Mr. 
Wilkes  during  the  year  1763,  occupied  the  principal  attention  of  the 
whole  nation.  The  popular  party  represented  him  as  the  cliampion  of 
liberty,  and  the  object  of  persecution  on  account  of  his  patriotism.  Anti- 
ministerial  writers  directed  their  efforts  almost  exclusively  to  the  praise.^ 
of  Wilkes,  and  the  abuse  of  his  prosecutors.  Every  publication,  of  which 
he  was  the  subject,  was  read  with  astonishing  avidity.  Not  the  populace 
merely,  but  men  of  real  talents  and  virtue,  though  they  detested  his  pro- 
fligacy, considering  the  freedom  of  Englishmen  as  violated  in  his  person, 
associated  the  idea  of  Wilkes  and  liberty. 

Wilkes  was  not  slow  in  availing  himself  of  the  popular  opinion  in  hi? 
favour.  He  set  up  a  printing  press,  and  published  the  proceedings 
against  him  at  one  guinea  a  copy;  by  the  extraordinary  sale  of  which, 
he  procured  a  degree  of  affluence  to  which  he  had  been  long  unaccus- 
tomed, and  a  degree  of  importance  which  he  could  never  otherwise  have 
established.  Finally,  he  expressed  his  resolution  of  making  the  pro- 
ceedings against  him  a  subject  of  formal  complaint  in  parliament. 

The  ministers  who  now  conducted  public  affairs  were  wanting,  if  ROt 
in  talents,  at  least  in  influence  and  estimation.  Their  supposed  depen- 
dence prevented  both  respect  and  popularity  ;  and  the  proceedings  against 
Mr.  Wilkes,  which  were  presumed  to  originate  with  lord  Bute,  rendered 

*  Lord  Temple  having  supported  Mr.  Wilkes  in  combating-  the  prosecutions 
carried  on  at  the  instance  otmiiiistfis,  his  lordship  alsd,  iu  officially  announcing' 
the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Wilkes  from  the  militia,  expressed  reg-ret  for  the  loss  sustained 
by  the  county  from  this  resolution.  The  conduct  of  lord  Temple  was  so  disagree- 
able to  his  majesty's  counsellors,  including  his  lordship's  own  brother  Mr.  Gren- 
ville,  that  he  was  discharjjed  from  the  lord-lieutenancy  of  Buckinghamshire.  His 
lordship  continued  to  support  Wilkes ;  but  it  was  evidently  on  account  of  his  po- 
litical prosecution,  and  not  from  an  approbation  of  his  private  conduct  and  charac- 
ter.  See  History  of  the  Minority  ;  Universal  and  Gentleman's  Masra?:incs  for  176» 


174  HISTOHY  OF  THE  Chap. IV.— 1763, 

[Overtures  of  the  king  to  Mr.  Pitt.] 

his  conceived  tools;  hateful  as  a  body,  however  meritorious  some  of  tho 
members  wore  iiidividually  accounted.  George  Granville,  a  man  of 
sound  undi"i>t;iudnig,  with  a  resolute  heart,  and  fair  and  unimpeaciied 
mtegrily,  had  been,  during  the  greater  part  of  his  public  life,  the  friend 
and  parlisau  of  his  brother-in-law  Mr.  Pitt;  and,  though  deserving  of 
respect  and  inliuencc  on  his  own  account,  had  been  indebted  for  actual 
consideraliou  to  iiis  connexion  witb  that  illustrious  character.  His  per- 
sonal importance  was  by  no  means  sufficient  to  give  strength  and  stability 
to  a  political  party,  especially  to  an  adnnnistration  having  such  formidable 
opponents.  Of  his  colleagues  in  office,  lord  Egreinont,  by  bis  abilities, 
oxperitnce,  and  reputation,  possessed  the  greatest  weight.  Of  this 
statesman's  assistance,  iio,  on  the  21st  of  August,  was  deprived  by 
dcaih  ;  and  the  cabinet  was  now  reckoned  extremely  feeble  and  ineffi- 
cient. 

The  object  of  the  king  uniformly  was,  to  employ  political  ability  and 
virtue  in  the  government  of  the  nation,  without  regard  to  party.  Tlie 
lir-t  statesman  of  the  kingdom  had  withdrawn  from  the  cabinet;  and  to 
recall  his  nio^t  efficacious  talents  into  tho  executive  service  of  his  coun- 
try, was  the  benignant  wish  of  our  sovereign.  He  accordingly  made  ap- 
plication to  Mr.  i*iit,  and  an  interview  took  place  on  the  27th  of  August. 
The  patriot  being  consulted  respecting  measures  and  men,  delivered  his 
opinion  freely  and  explicitly  »  that  in  the  circumstances  and  opinions  of 
the  times,  it  would  be  expedient  for  the  insurance  of  public  confidence, 
to  restore  the  great  whig  families  to  a  certain  share  of  that  power  from 
wliicb  they  had  been  recently  driven,  and  their  deprivation  of  which  had 
caused  such  alarms  in  the  country.  The  king  did  not  object  to  those 
general  propositions,  and  appointed  Mr.  Pitt  to  a  second  interview  on  the 
29th.  to  enter  into  particular  arrangements.  On  the  intervening  day, 
Mr.  Pitt  conferred  with  the  chief  whig  leaders,  and  his  own  political 
friends,  concerning  the  personss  who  should  constitute  the  new  cabinet, 
and  a  plan  was  formed.  The  day  f  >!lowing,  he  met  the  king  at  the  ap- 
pointed hour,  and  laid  before  him  the  names  of  his  proposed  coadjutors. 
His  majesty,  desirous  of  the  services  of  Mr.  Pitt  individually,  was  willing 
to  admit  in  conjunction  with  him  certain  members  of  the  wins,  party  ;  but, 
true  to  tho  policy  with  which  he  had  set  out,  would  not  surrender  the 
whole  direction  of  his  ail'airs  to  a  combination ;  he  therefore  proposed  a 
plan  which  should,  together  with  Mr.  Pitt  and  some  of  those  wliom  he 
rc(!onimended,  extend  to  others.  Mr.  Pitt  api)ears  to  have  adhered  to 
his  first  o|)inion,  and  the  king  to  have  persevered  in  his  determination  not 
to  yield  to  so  exclusive  a  system  of  administration.  The  conference 
broke  ofi",*  and  Mr.  Pitt  and  his  friends  did  not  become  a  part  of  the  mi- 
nistry. Having  failed  m  the  attempt  to  procure  the  ministerial  services 
of  Mr.  Pitt  on  admissible  terms,  his  majesty  bestowed  a  considerable 
share  of  power  on  the  duke  of  Bedford  and  his  partisans,  making  the 
duke  himself  president  of  the  council.  The  accession  of  the  numerous 
connexions  of  the  Bedford  family  gave  Mr.  Grenville  an  assurance  of  a 
parliamentary  majority,  which  enabled  niini-slora  to  carry  their  projects 
into  execution. 

•  Various  rcporf9,»w«;re  disseminated  concerning  tliis  negotiation.  The  docu- 
ments on  wliic>i  it  chiefly  rests,  is  the  letter  ot  lord  Hurdwicke  to  his  son  lord 
Hoyslon,  ufierwards  publibl.cd. 


3763.— Chaf.  IV.  KEIGN  OF  CKtyRGF,  IH.  1 7.T 

[Parliament.  Proceedings  against  Mr.  Willccs.] 

The  session  opened  in#fovemhei-.  His  niajosl y  having  in  his  speech 
exhorted  parliament  to  cidtivate  the  hlcssin<>s  of  p<ace,  to  improve  the 
acqui.sition.s  which  they  had  made,  to  extend  (lie  cominerce,  in<Teascthe 
revenue,  and  reduce  the  deht  of  the  country,  in  tiie  close,  he  strongly 
inculcated  the  necessity  of  domestic  union,  and  the  repression  of  licen- 
tiousness. Before  the  speech  coidd  he  taken  into  consideration,  the  mi- 
nistor  delivered  a  message  from  tlie  king  to  the  following  efiect :  "  That 
his  majesty  having  been  informed  that  .(ohn  "Wilkes,  esq.  a  member  of 
that  house,  was  the  author  of  a  most  seditious  and  dangerous  libel,  he 
had  caused  the  said  John  Wilkes,  esq.  to  be  apprehended  aiiJ  secured. 
\n  order  to  take  his  trial  in  due  course  of  law  ;  and  Mr.  Wilkes  having 
been  discharged  out  of  custody  by  the  court  of  common  pleas,  on  accoinit 
of  his  privilege  as  a  member  of  that  hous(!,  an<l  having  since  refused  to 
answer  to  an  information  fded  ajiainst  him  by  the  attorney-general,  his 
majesty,  desirous  to  show  all  possible  attention  to  the  privileges  of  the 
house  of  commons,  and  at  the  same  time  solicitous  not  to  suffer  the  pub- 
lic justice  of  the  kingdom  to  be  eluded,  had  chosen  to  direct  the  said 
libel,  and  also  copies  of  the  examinations  upon  which  Mr.  Wilkes  was 
apprehended  and  secured,  to  be  laid  before  them." 

The  ground  which  administration  took  in  supporting  the  proceedings 
relating  to  Mr.  W^ilkes  was,  a  proposition  to  censure  a  work  as  false, 
scandalous,  and  seditious,  the  merits  of  which  were  actually  before  a 
court  of  justice  ;  and  that  very  day  Mr.  Grenville  proposed  the  following 
resolution  :  "  That  the  paper  entitled  the  North  Briton,  No.  45,  is  a 
false,  scandalous,  and  seditious  libel  against  his  majesty  and  both  house.*; 
of  parliament,  manifestly  tending  to  alienate  the  afi'ections  of  the  people 
from  his  majesty,  to  withdraw  them  from  their  obedience  to  the  laws,  and 
to  excite  them  to  traitorous  insurrection."  In  supporting  this  motion, 
the  friends  of  ministers  expatiated  on  the  nature  and  mischievous  ten- 
dency of  seditious  libels,  demonstrated  the  calumnious  falsehoods  of  the 
work  in  question,  contended  that  they  were  fitted  to  estrange  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people  from  the  king  and  legislature,  and  that  therefore  the 
author  deserved  the  strongest  marks  of  censure  that  could  be  passed  by 
ihe  house.  Opposition  endeavouring  to  extenuate  the  onbiice  of  Mr. 
Wilkes,  contended,  that  he  had  been  already  treated  with  such  illegality 
and  harshness  as  amounted  to  persecution  ;  that  the  decisions  of  the 
court  had  already  shown  his  treatment  to  have  been  oppressive  ;  and 
that  his  offence,  whatever  might  be  its  nature  or  heinousness,  was  now 
before  the  judicature  of  his  country,  whose  judgment  it  did  not  become 
a  branch  of  the  legislature  either  to  anticipate  or  to  influence  by  inter- 
ference. 

The  resolution  was  carried  by  a  great  majority  ;  and  immediately  after 
it  was"  resolved,  that  No.  45  of  the  North  Briton  should  be  burned  by 
the  hands  of  the  common  hangman ;  and  the  lords,  in  a  conference, 
agreed  to  the  resolution,  and  to  the  sentence.  On  the  26th  of  Novem- 
ber both  houses  joined  in  an  addresfc:,  expressing  their  indigi-.ation  at  the 
contumely  with  which  his  majesty  was  treated  in  the  libel,  and  at  the 
outrage  which  had  been  oflered  to  every  branch  of  the  legislature.  The 
next  question  relative  to  Mr.  Wilkes  was,  the  extent  of  parHamentary 
privilege.  Ministry  moved,  that  the  privilrfye  of  parliaiuenl  docs  iwt  ex- 
tend to  seditiotis  libels.  Opposition  argued,  that  many  authorities  in  law, 
particularly  the  late  decision  in  the  court  of  common  pleas,  established 


»r 


176  IIISTOUY  OF  TilK  Chap.  IV.— 1764 

[lie  is  expelled  the  house — retires  into  exile.] 

the  exlcusion  ol"  parliainentary  privilege  to  ewery  case,  except  treason, 
felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace.  Mr-  Pitt  declared  his  abhorrence  oi' 
the  paper  in  question  to  be  as  grt»at  as  any  man's,  "  but  (said  he)  let 
the  author  be  punished  ni  due  course  of  law,  according  to  the  amount  of 
his  guilt.  Do  not  let  us  sacrifice  the  privileges  of  parliament,  and  sub- 
lect  every  man  to  the  danger  of  imprisonment  wlio  may  happen  to  write 
against  ministry.  A  member  of  parliament  possesses  the  privilege 
clanned  by  Mr.  Wilkes,  and  admitted  by  the  court  of  common  pleas ; 
but  if  an  otfender  wished  to  slieltcr  himself  under  his  privileges,  the 
house,  from  its  regard  to  justice,  would  deliver  him  up  to  prosecution." 
The  friends  of  ministry,  in  reply  to  the  argument,  from  legal  authorities 
endeavoured  to  prove,  that  a  libel  was  a  much  more  hurtful  offence  than 
what  are  usually  called  breaches  of  the  peace,  and  even  than  several 
species  of  felony.  The  privilege  of  parliament  was  intended  merely  to 
prevent  a  member  from  being  distracted  in  his  attention  to  national  busi- 
ness, by  litigations  concerning  his  private  property,  but  not  to  prove  a 
protection  for  crimes.  The  resokition,  after  undergoing  a  very  violent 
contest,  was  passed,  and  carried  also  in  the  house  of  lords.  During 
these  proceedings,  a  personal  altercation  between  Mr.  Wilkes  and  Mr. 
Martin,  member  for  C'amelford,  produced  a  duel,  in  which  Mr.  Wilkes 
was  wounded  ;  and  the  house  delayed  farther  proceedings  until  he  should 
be  able  to  attend. 

In  the  Christmas  vacation  he  retired  into  France.  On  the  19th  of 
January,  1764,  the  last  adjourned  day  for  farther  proceedings  against 
him,  the  house  received  certificates  from  French  surgeons,  that,  from 
his  wound,  he  was  unable  to  return  to  England  ;  but,  conceiving  this  ex- 
cuse to  be  an  unfounded  pretence,*  they  proceeded  with  his  case.  On 
the  29th  of  tfanuary,  it  was  proposed,  "  That  John  Wilkes,  esq.  mem- 
ber for  Aylesbury,  being  guilty  of  writing  and  publishing  the  North  Briton, 
be  expelled  this  house."  In  this  debate,  opposition  was  very  moderate  ; 
the  evidence  was  so  unquestionable,  that  the  most  patriotic  members 
could  not  conscientiously  support  the  cause  of  Wilkes.  Disapprobation 
of  the  proceedings  of  ministry  as  illegal  and  violent,  was  not  incompa- 
tible with  a  thorough  conviction  of  the  wickedness  of  the  paper  in  ques- 
tion, and  the  unfitness  of  the  author  to  hold  a  place  in  the  house  of  com- 
mons ;  the  question  was  therefore  carried  in  the  affirmative,  and  Mr. 
Wilkes  was  expelled  the  house. 

The  same  day  that  he  was  deprived  of  his  seat  in  the  assembly  of  the 
commons,  he  underwent  an  accusation  from  the  peers.  He  had  written, "f 
and  privately  dispersed,  a  book,  entitled.  An  Essay  on  Woman,  being  a 
burlesque  on  Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  and  consisting  of  obscene  and  blas- 
phemous ribaldry.  To  this  production  he  had  subjoined  notes,  stated  in 
the  title  page  to  be  written  by  bishop  W^arburton,  so  eminent  for  learning 
and  virtue.  The  man  who  first  declared  his  abhorrence  of  such  an  of- 
fence against  dorency  and  piety,  was  the  earl  of  Snndivich.  His  lordship 
had  recently  been  extremely  intimate  with  Mr.  W^ilkes,  and  had  at  the 
very  time  thoroughly  establisliod  a  character,  of  which  holiness  and  vir- 
tue were  not  constituents  ;  but  he  was  extremely  active  in  procuring  evi- 

•  Uc  had  R'one  to  Paris  after  his  wound  :  and  his  return  thence,  it  was  appre- 
tiendeil,  ould  not  be  more  imprac.icable  than  his  journey  thither 

f  I  am  awnre  that  the  Kssay  on  AVoman  has  been  ascribed  to  a  different  author  ; 
H»it  the  proof  then  adduced  fixed  it  on  Mr.  Wilkes. 


1764.— Chap.  IV.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  I77 

[Imprudence  and  illegality  of  the  proceedings  against  Wilkes.] 

dence  to  fix  this  publication  upon  Mr.  Wilkes,  in  order  to  bring  to  condign 
punishment  the  violator  of  morality  and  religion.*  His  own  habits  of 
intercourse,!  and  sources  of  information,  peculiarly  fitting  his  lordship 
for  bringing  such  flagitiousness  to  light,  he  procured  a  copy  of  the  work, 
and  complained  of  it  in  the  house  of  peerS,  as  a  flagrant  outrage  against 
the  most  sacred  duties  both  to  God  and  man.  The  peers,  on  the  slight- 
est inspection,  saw  that  it  was  an  infamous  performance  ;  and,  in  the  at- 
tack upon  the  venerable,  excellent,  and  illustrious  prelate,  an  evident 
breach  of  the  privileges  of  the  lords  ;  they  therefore  addressed  his  majes- 
ty to  give  directions  for  prosecuting  the  author.  He  was  accordingly  in- 
dicted for  blasphemy,  while  the  proceedings  respecting  the  libel  were 
pending,  and,  on  the  21st  of  February,  tried  before  lord  Mansfield,  for 
republishing  the  North  Briton,  with  notes ;  and  on  the  same  day,  for 
printing  and  publishing  the  Essay  on  Woman.  Not  returning  to  receive 
sentence,  he  was  outlawed  ;  the  suits  carried  on  against  the  two  secreta- 
ries of  course  abated  ;  and  Wilkes  himself  might  have  been  forgotten,  if 
another  ministry  had  not  rekindled  the  popular  flame. 

The  votaries  of  a  favourite  hypothesis  endeavoured  to  make  every  fact 
and  case  bend  to  their  theory.  The  people  still  considered  Bute  as  the 
real  director  of  afTairs,  and  imputed  to  his  arbitrary  principles  the  acts  of 
the  Grenville  administration,  which  they  represented  as  unconstitutional 
and  tyrannical.  If  considered  impartially,  the  arrest  by  general  warrant 
is  foimd  to  be  a  mere  adoption,  by  this  ministry,  of  the  mode  followed  by 
all  ministries  since  the  revolution.  From  such  a  procedure,  therefore,  no 
inference  can  be  justly  drawn  that  their  intentions  were  tyrannical ;  but 
their  conduct  was  certainly  irregular,  and  was  also  very  unnecessary.  If, 
as  a  member  of  parliament,  Mr.  Wilkes  was  subject  to  any  warrant  for  a 
libel,  he  was  amenable  to  a  special  as  well  as  a  general  warrant.  To 
have  arrested  him  in  the  legal  way,  would  have  been  as  easy  and  expe- 
ditious as  in  the  illegal.  Mr.  Wilkes's  conduct  in  itself  was  a  gross  viola- 
tion of  law,  but  to  its  cognizance  the  courts  of  law  were  fully  competent. 
While  it  was  before  these  tribunals,  it  did  not  appear  consistent  with 
either  the  justice  of  the  minister  to  propose,  or  of  parliament  to  adopt, 
measures  that  might  tend  to  a  prejudication  of  the  case.  Conviction  must 
have  ensued  on  such  criminality,  established  by  indubitable  proofs  ;  and 
the  house  might  then  have  proceeded  with  much  greater  propriety  to  cen- 
sure or  punish  the  author.  The  impartial  historian,  though  he  find  in  the 
prosecutors  of  Wilkes  no  designs  or  intentions  hostile  to  constitutional 
liberty,  must  perceive,  that  a  considerable  part  of  their  conduct  was  to- 
tally inconsistent  with  prudence,  with  the  stability  of  their  own  power, 
and  with  the  tranquillity  of  government.  Wilkes  had  before  been  little 
known,  except  for  his  profligacy  ;  the  ministers  raised  him  to  eminence  ; 
discontent  was  before  very  great,  and  the  proceedings  against  him  made 
it  spread  with  accelerated  rapidity.     Though  not  justly  deemed  tyranni- 

•  The  earl  of  Chesterfield,  in  a  letter  to  his  son,  appears  to  think  equal  credit 
due  to  the  patriotic  commoner,  and  to  the  holy  peer.  "  Happy  (says  he)  it  is  for 
this  nation,  that  God  has  been  pleased  to  raise  up  in  Mr.  Wilkes  a  patriotic  defend- 
er of  our  rights  and  liberties,  and  in  the  earl  of  Sandwich  so  zealous  a  defender  of 
our  religion  and  morals.  " 

f  The  popular  writings  of  the  times  on  tltiis  occasion,  applied  to  the  peer  a  fic- 
titious character,  taken  from  a  very  celebrated  performance. 

Vol.  VII— 23 


]78  IIISTOUY  OF  THE        ^  Chap,  IV.— 1764. 

[Question  concerning  general  warrants] 

cal,  tlie  prosecution  of  Wilkes  by  the  Grenville  administration  was  un- 
wise at  the  time,  and  injurious  in  its  consequences. 

Though  Mr.  Wilkes  was  iiiinself  retired  I'roni  the  political  stage,  ques- 
tions lesulting  t'runi  his  case  continued  to  occupy  parliament,  and  to  agi- 
tate the  public  mind.     Members  of  opposition  now  proposed  the  ques- 
tion of  general  warrants  in  an  abstract  tbrm,  merely  as  a  point  of  consti- 
tutional law,  without  seeming  to  involve  in  it  any  particular  case.     On  the 
14th  of  February,  sir  William  Meredith  moved  a  resolution,  stating, 
"  that  a  general  warrant  for  apprehending  and  seiaing  the  authors,  prin- 
ters, and  publishers  of  a  seditious  libel,  together  with  their  papers,  is  not 
warranted  b\  law."      Ministry  conducted  themselves  with  great  dexterity 
concerning  this  question  ;   for  they  kept  aloof  from  the  position  itself,  and 
did  not  support  the  legality  of  such  warrants.      "  The  house;  of  eom- 
mous,"  they  said,  "  being  only  a  |)art,  and  not  the  whole  of  the  legisla- 
ture, cannot  declare  law  legislatively  ;  and  not  being  a  court  of  judica- 
ture, cannot  declare  it  judicially  :  the  assumption  of  such  a  power  would 
introduce  confusion  into  the  courts  of  law.     The  judges  considered  them- 
selves as  to  be  guided  only  by  the  whole  legislature.      If  the  commons 
were  to  declare  the  law,  their  declarations  might  be  different  from  what 
the  king  and  parliament  had  pronounced.      In  the  present  case,  it  would 
produce  not  only  general  confusion,  but  particular  injustice.     There  was 
a  bill  of  exemptions  de|)ending  before  the  ordinary  judges,  on  the  alleged 
illegality  of  general  warrants ;  and  the  proposed  resolution  would  in  a 
great  degree  prejudge  the  cause.     It  would  condemn  men  who  acted 
upon  the  most  numerous  precedents,  and  of  the  best  times ;  men  whose 
known  characters,  and  the  tenor  of  whose  conduct,  had  secured  them 
from  every  suspicion  of  an  ill  intention  to  liberty.     Though  the  words  of 
the  resolution  extended  only  to  the  case  of  libel,  yet  the  spirit  of  it  would 
apply  t'J  all  cases  whatsoever.   Such  warrants  bad  often  been  productive  of 
the  greatest  good,  and  had  nipped  in  the  bud  the  most  dangerous  conspira- 
cies.    If  general  warrants  are  illegal,  await  the  determination  of  the 
courts ;  if  the  decisions  of  the  courts  are  not  satisfactory,  declare  the 
law  by  act  of  parliament. " 

The  supporters  of  the  motion  argued  on  the  illegality  and  oppressive 
tendency  of  the  process  by  a  general  warrant.  Such  a  mode  let\  a  dis- 
cretionary power  over  the  liberty  of  the  subject ;  not  only  to  magistrates, 
whose  knowledge,  wisdom,  and  value  of  their  reputation,  might  moderate 
the  exertion  of  their  arbitrary  authority  :  but  to  the  inferior  olFicers 
of  justice,  ot'len  the  most  ignorant  and  profligate  of  mankmd.  The  ar- 
gument from  precedent  could  not  justify  what  was  contrary  to  law.  Ca- 
ses, it  was  admitted,  might  occur,  in  which  necessity  would  justify  gene- 
ral warrants  ;  4is  in  time  of  war  and  jiublic  danger,  wlien  issued  against 
the  persons  and  interests  of  the  enemy,  they  might  be  requisite  for  the 
preservation  of  the  country.  Mr.  Pitt,  in  a  speech  on  the  subject,  ac- 
knowledged that  he  had  signerl  two  of  them  himself,  though  aware  of 
their  illegality,  because  he  would  risk  his  head  for  the  public  safety ;  but 
in  the  case  of  a  libel,  there  was  no  such  necessity ;  every  purpose  of  pub- 
lic justice  might  be  fully  obtained  by  the  regular  process  of  law.  The 
house  of  commons  neithc-r  pretended  to  be  the  whole  of  the  legislative 
body,  nor  a  court  oi"  judicature  ;  but  it  was  their  imdoubted  right,  confirm- 
ed by  clear  and  unecjuivocal  precedent,  to  ocn.surc  every  illegul  practice, 


Ml 


1764.— Chap.  IV.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  179 

[Financial  schemes  of  Mr.  Grenville.] 

not  thorchy  declarinjr  law,  but  admonishing  courts  of  justice  and  execu- 
tive ofKccrs  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  law  as  already  established. 

Ministers  proposed  an  amendment,  stating  the  constant  and  uncensur- 
cd  practice  of  officers.  Tiiey  moved  that  the  question,  so  amended, 
should  be  adjourned  to  that  day  four  months  ;  tliat  is,  should  be  actually 
dismissed  :  and  a  motion  to  that  edect  was  carried  by  two  hundred  and 
tiiirty-four  against  two  hundred  and  twenty.* 

^Ve  have  hitherto  been  considering  acts  of  administration  which  ap- 
pear to  have  resulted  from  their  united  counsels  ;  we  now  come  to  mea- 
sures, in  which  the  lead  was  taken  by  Mr.  Grenville  himself,  belonging 
peculiarly  to  his  department,  and  deriving  their  nature  and  tendency 
from  his  character.  Mr.  Grenville  was  a  man  of  a  clear  and  sound  un- 
derstanding, of  great  parliamentary  experience,  indefatigable  application, 
and  extensive  knowledge,  especially  in  the  laws  of  his  country,  in  com- 
merce and  in  finance.  He  had  adopted  an  opinion,  that  the  resources  of 
the  country  were  in  a  very  exhausted  state  ;  that  therefore  the  chief  bu- 
siness of  a  prime  minister  was  to  tind  out  in  what  way  the  deficiencies 
might  be  supplied.  His  great  object  was,  the  improvement  of  the  reve- 
nue without  additional  burthens  on  the  country.  VV^ith  this  view  one  part 
of  his  policy  was,  to  restrain  smuggling  of  every  kind,  that  the  establish- 
ed imports  might  be  as  productive  as  possible  :  in  the  execution  of  his 
schemes  he  was  very  active  and  successful ;  and  farther  to  promote  his 
purpose,  he  had  recourse  to  the  aid  of  the  officers  of  the  navy.  A  nvun- 
ber  of  small  ships  of  war,  with  cutters  and  tenders,  were  stationed  on  tho 
coasts  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  similar  powers  conferred  on  them  with 
tliose  usually  given  to  revenue  officers.  Those  regulations  were  a  power- 
ful restraint  on  contraband  trade,  and  added  greatly  to  the  productive- 
ness of  the  revenue.  Having  thus  enlarged  the  products,  he  diminished 
expense  by  rigid  economy.  He  inquired  into  abuses  ■which  wasted  the 
public  money,  and,  by  correcting  them,  made  great  savings  ;  in  his  bar- 
gains for  the  public  with  monied  men,  he  procured  very  advantageous 
terms,  and  was  a  most  frugal,  faithful,  and  skilful  steward  to  his  country. 

By  these  means  he  was  able,  in  1764,  only  one  year  after  the  termina- 
tion of  so  expensive  a  war,  to  come  forward  with  a  scheme  of  finance 
which  precluded  the  necessity  of  additional  taxes.  One  part  of  the  debt 
was  1,800,000/.  in  exchequer  bills,  which  were  at  a  great  discount.  The 
bank  contract  was  to  be  renewed  »  Mr.  Grenville  stipulated,  that  the 
bank  should  take  1,000,000/.  of  these  bills  for  two  years,  at  an  interest 
reduced  by  one  fourth ;  and,  at  thejtpame  time,  should  pay  a  fine  on  the 
renewal  of  the  contract  of  100,000/.  The  residue  of  the  bills  were  re- 
iiewed  ;  and  another  floating  debt  of  2,000,000/.  still  remained  ;  to  its 
liquidation,  the  surplus  of  the  sinking  fund  was  applied,  and  also  700,000/. 
the  produce  of  French  prizes  taken  before  the  declaration  of  war.  Tlie 
savings  of  unnecessary  expenses,  the  increased  productiveness  of  the 
revenue  by  the  prevention  of  smuggling,  added  to  the  funds  before  esta- 

*  Among  those  wlio  voted  with  opposition  on  the  present  occasion  was  g-ene- 
ral  Conway,  who  was  presently  after  dismissed  from  the  command  of  a  re.^iment, 
and  other  military  as  well  as  civil  employments.  This  act  was  se\  erely  censured 
in  the  opposition  writings  of  the  time,  and  even  by  not  a  few  connected  with  no 
party.  This  dismissalis  the  subject  of  several  letters  by  Horace  AVaipole,  who 
also  wrote  a  pamphlet  upon  the  subject,  entitled,  "  An  address  to  the  public  on 
the  late  dismissal  of  a  general  officer ,  "  which  is  published  in  hik  works. 


jgQ  mSTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  IV.— 1764. 

[Regulations  for  preventing  smuggling.    Projects  respecting  America.] 

blished,  precluded  the  necessity,  not  only  of  a  new  loan  and  taxes,  but 
even  ol'a  lottery. 

The  state  ot'  supply  was  laid  before  the  commons  on  the  20th  of 
March,  and  the  friends  of  ministry  justly  gave  it  credit  as  a  display  of 
combined  skill  and  economy  in  the  administration  of  the  revenue,  and 
exulted  in  the  etlects  which  it  produced ;  nor  were  their  praises  contro- 
verted by  opposition  in  parliament.  The  plan  was,  however,  strongly  at- 
tacked in  anti-ministerial  publications,  in  which  it  was  attempted  to  be 
proved,  that  the  statements  were  fallacious,  and  the  alleged  savings  frivo- 
lous ;  but  the  objections  were  chiefly  founded  upon  hypotheses,  while  the 
arguments  in  favour  of  the  minister  were  supported  by  authentic  docu- 
ments ;  and,  indeed,  an  impartial  reviewer  of  this  part  of  Mr.  Grenville's 
ministry,  must  allow  him  the  praise  due  to  a  prudent  and  well  informed 
linancicr. 

To  promote  his  favourite  object,  of  increasing  the  productiveness  of 
revenue,  Mr.  Grenville  extended  the  collecting  powers  of  naval  officers 
to  America  and  the  West  Indies.  There  was  a  clandestine  trade  carried 
on  between  the  English  and  Spanish  colonies,  to  the  great  advantage  of 
both,  especially  the  latter,  and  even  of  Great  Britain  herself;  because 
through  this  channel  British  manufactures  were  introduced  into  the  Spa- 
nish settlements,  and  the  returns  were  made  principally  in  gold  and  sil- 
ver.* Though  this  traffic  was  not  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  any  act  of  par- 
liament, yet  the  officers  of  the  navy  appointed  to  prevent  smuggling,  not 
having  received  definite  instructions  from  home,  put  a  stop  to  the  inter- 
course, however  beneficial :  they  seized  indiscriminately  all  the  ships  em- 
ployed in  this  commerce,  whether  belonging  to  fellow  subjects  or  to  fo- 
reigners. The  North  Americans,  who  had  found  this  trade  extremely 
lucrative,  murmured  loudly  at  the  fatal  check  which  it  thus  received;  and 
Mr.  Grenville's  laudable  desire  of  increasing  the  revenue,  being  pursued 
too  exclusively,  produced  measures  which,  though  not  very  important  in 
their  financial  operations,  were  followed  by  political  consequences  of  the 
highest  moment.  He  formed  a  plan  to  oblige  the  inhabitants  of  the 
American  colonies  to  bear  a  share  in  the  expense  necessary  for  their 
protection,  by  paying  taxes  to  be  imposed  by  the  British  parliament.  A 
distinction  had  obtained  in  these  provinces,  between  duties  on  the  im- 
portation and  exportation  of  merchandise,  and  taxes.  Customs  had  been 
imposed  upon  certain  enumerated  goods,  if  carried  to  some  other  place 
instead  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  when  specific  articles,  the  produce  of  one 
colony,  were  to  be  exported  to  anotfeer,  they  paid  a  duty.f  To  these  im- 
ports, considering  them  merely  as  re<rulaliom  of  h'ude,  and  not  as  taxes, 
the  colonies  had  submitted.  Mr.  Grenville  therefore  proposed  a  devia- 
tion from  the  established  practice,  and  the  assertion  of  a  claim,  which  in- 
volved in  it  very  important  (piestioiis,  respecting  not  only  general  liberty, 
but  also  the  constitutional  freedom  of  a  British  subject.  Intended  by  him 
merely  as  a  scheme  of  finance  upon  old  and  established  grounds,  his  pro- 
ject proposed  a  political  change  founded  upon  now  principles,  of  which 
experience  had  afiTorded  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  operation  and  ef- 
fects.   It  was  a  much  more  important  and  more  complicated  proposition 

•  See  Stedman's  History  of  tlie  American  war,  vol.  j.  p.  14. 

f  Rum,  sugar,  and  molas>»c8,  for  instance,  imported  fioin  the  West  Indies  to 
North  America,  paid  a  duty  before  they  were  shipped  ;  as  did  also  tobacco  and  in- 
digo, imported  from  the  North  American  continent  to  any  of  the  other  plantations. 


1764— Chap.  IV.  IIEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  181 

[Innovating  system  of  taxation.    Dissatisfaction  of  the  colonies.] 

than  its  author  apprehended  ;  and  a  plan  for  making  an  inconsiderable 
addition  to  British  revenue  eventually  laid  the  foundation  of  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  momentous  revolutions  which  history  has  to  record. 

As  a  part  of  this  innovating  system,  Mr.  Grenville  moved  in  parlia- 
ment a  bill  for  granting  certain  duties  on  goods  in  the  British  colonies,  to 
support  the  government  there,  and  encourage  the  trade  to  the  sugar  plan- 
tations ;  and  on  the  6th  of  April,  this  proposition  was  passed  into  a  law. 
He  also  proposed  another  to  the  following  purport :  "  that  towards  fur- 
ther defraying  the  expense  of  protecting  and  securing  the  colonies,  it  may 
be  proper  to  charge  certain  stamp  duties  in  the  colonies."  He  postponed, 
however,  during  this  session,  the  introduction  of  a  bill  founded  on  the 
last  resolution,  that  the  Americans  might  have  time  to  offer  a  compensa- 
tion for  the  revenue  which  such  a  tax  might  produce.  The  colonial  as- 
semblies, during  the  war,  had  been  in  the  practice  of  issuing  bills,  which 
were  made  a  legal  tender  for  money  :  these  had  begun  to  be  attended 
with  great  inconvenience,  and  to  suffer  very  considerable  depreciation. 
To  remedy  the  evils,  a  law  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Grenville,  and  passed 
by  parliament,  for  preventing  such  bills  as  might  be  hereafter  issued  in 
any  of  his  majesty's  colonies  or  plantations  in  America,  from  being  made 
legal  tenders  in  payment  of  money.  The  restrictions  on  the  clandestine 
trade  had  given  great  umbrage  in  North  America  ;  the  law  obstructing 
their  paper  currency  added  to  the  dissatisfaction  ;  but  the  duties  actually 
imposed  upon  merchandise,  and  the  resolutions  concerning  the  stamp 
duty,  excited  a  loud  clamour.  The  New-Englanders  were  the  first  to  in- 
vestigate these  measures.  Conceiving  the  new  laws  to  be  part  of  a  gene- 
ral plan  for  assuming  a  power  not  heretofore  exercised  by  Britain  over 
her  American  colonies,  they  immediately  controverted  the  fundamental 
principle,  and  totally  denied  the  right  of  a  British  parliament  to  levy,  in 
any  form,  duties  or  taxes  upon  the  colonics.  The  exercise  (they  said) 
of  such  an  authority  was  a  violation  of  their  rights  as  freemen  ;  as  colo- 
nists, possessing  by  their  charters  the  power  of  taxing  themselves  for 
their  own  support  and  defence  ;  and  as  British  subjects,  who  ought  not 
to  be  taxed  but  by  themselves  or  their  representatives.  These  topics 
were  the  subjects  of  petitions  sent  over  to  the  king,  to  the  lords,  and  to 
the  commons. 

Placed  in  a  rigorous  climate,  and  on  a  soil  requiring  active  and  perse- 
vering industry  to  render  it  productive,  the  New-Englanders  were  stroilg, 
hardy,  and  capable  of  undergoing  great  labour  and  fatigue.  Having 
many  difficulties  to  overcome  and  dangers  to  encounter,  they  were 
formed  to  penetration,  enterprise,  and  resolution.  Their  country,  less 
bountiful  than  those  of  their  southern  neighbours,  rendered  recourse  to 
traffic  necessary.  The  puritanisra  which  they  inherited  from  their 
forefathers,*  with  its  concomitant  hypocrisy,  incorporated  itself  with  their 
commercial  conduct  ;  and  avarice  is  never  keener  than  after  a  coalition 
with  fanatical  austerity,  and  never  with  more  ardour  uses  the  ministry  of 
fraud,  than  when  arrayed  in  the  garb  of  sanctity.  The  trafiic  of  New- 
England,  of  a  minute  and  detailed  kind,  less  resembling  the  pursuit  of  an 
enlightened  merchant  than  a  petty  shop-keeper,  while  it  narrowed  liberal- 
ity, sharpened  artifice.  Inheriting  a  tinge  of  democratic  republicanism, 
the  people  submitted  with  reluctance  to  the  constitutional  authority  of  a 

*  See  the  Introduction,  p.  32, 


182  HISTORY  OF  TIIK  Chap.  IV.— 1764. 

[War  with  the  Indians.    Defeat  of  captain  Dalzell.] 

government  in  which  monarchy  made  a  considerable  part,  and  spurned 
at  the  idea  of  yielding  to  what  they  conceived  to  be  usurpation.  Avarice 
being  a  prominent  feature  in  their  characters,  they  were  peculiarly  jea- 
lous of  an  apprehended  usurpation,  which  was  calculated  to  affect  tiieir 
purposes.  As  their  sentiments  and  principles  prompted  tliem  to  oppose 
such  attempts,  tlieir  intelligent  and  bold  character  enabled  them  effectu- 
ally to  resist  tiiem.  In  the  middle  colniiios,  in  which  the  temperature  of 
the  climate  and  fertiHty  of  the  soil  easily  afforded  the  necessaries  and  ac- 
commodations of  life,  though  active  and  industrious,  the  inhabitants  were 
not  equally  hardy  and  enterprising :  they  were  less  austere  in  their  man- 
ners, admitted  luxury  and  relinement  to  a  much  greater  degree  than  the 
colonists  of  the  north,  and  were  attached  to  a  monarchical  form  of  "o- 
vernment.  The  southern  colonies  were  dissipated,  relaxed,  and  indolent ; 
and  therefore,  though  little  adapted  to  resistance  themselves,  were  well 
fitted  to  receive  impressions  from  more  vigorous  characters.  The  New- 
Englanders  were  extremely  active  in  diffusing  their  own  sentiments 
through  the  provinces  attached  to  the  mother  country  ;  till,  at  length,  the 
spirit  of  dissatisfaction  became  so  prevalent,  as  to  attract  the  notice  and 
animadversions  of  the  British  government. 

While  subjects  so  interesting  and  important  were  agitating  the  civilized 
parts  of  British  America,  government  was  disturbed  by  a  desultory  war- 
fare with  the  Indian  .savages.  British  settlers  had  impolitically  neglected 
the  means  of  gaining  the  affections  and  confidence  of  the  natives.  Seeing 
England  so  completely  established,  the  Indians  regretted  they  had  not 
been  more  active  in  supporting  the  French  interest.  The  cordon  efforts 
along  the  laUes  trenched  upon  their  hunting  grounds,  almost  the  sole 
resource  of  savage  life  ;  and  they  became  apprehensive  that  British  colo- 
nies would  be  planted  in  those  woods  from  which  they  now  derived  their 
subsistence.  In  the  midst  of  these  apprehensions,  a  report  was  spread, 
that  the  American  provinces  had  formed  a  scheme  for  extirpating  the 
Indian  tribes  ;  though  totally  unfounded,  this  rumour  was  believed  by  the 
natives,  and  had  no  small  share  in  inciting  them  to  hostilities.  A  confe- 
deracy was  formed,  and  a  sudden  attack  made,  during  the  harvest,  on 
all  our  frontier  settlements.  Before  the  design  was  suspected,  numbers 
of  planters  were  surprised,  and  put  to  death,  with  every  torture  that 
savage  ingenuity  could  devise  ;  their  effects  were  plundered,  their  houses 
Ijurned,  and  their  crops  destroyed.  The  itinerant  merchants,  who,  re- 
iyinw  on  the  general  peace,  traded  in  tJie  Indian  country,  were  murdered, 
and  their  effects,  valued  at  two  himdrcd  thousand  pounds,  plundered. 
The  western  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  were 
totally  abandoned  by  the  planters  ;  the  savages  had  surprised  three  of 
our  forts,  and  were  advancing  fast  to  our  principal  garrison.  Fort  Pitt. 
Informed  of  this  alarming  irruption,  general  Amherst  sent  a  strong  de- 
tachment against  the  Indians,  under  captain  Dalzell.  The  savages, 
however^  being  apprised  of  his  intentions,  attacked  the  king's  troops  on 
cverv  side,  and  Dalzell,  with  groat  difficulty,  made  his  retreat  to  Fort 
Detroit.  A  nurnerouH  body  of  Indians  now  surrounded  Fort  Pitt,  at 
which  re-enforcements  were  not  yet  arrived  ;  the  general  sent  to  its 
relief  a  strong  corps  under  colonel  Bouquet-  Informed  of  the  march 
of  this  detachment,  the  Indians  raised  the  siege,  with  a  view  to  attack 
the  Kriglish  ;  and  encountering  liouquct's  troops,  after  a  sharp  contest, 
pretended  to  retreat,  and  drew  their  adversaries  into  a  most  dangerous 


1764.— Chap.  IV.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  Ig3 

[Operations  of  colonel  Bouquet.     Riots  occasioned  by  the  cider  tax.] 

finibuscadc :  the  British,  however,  formed  themselves  into  strong  co- 
lumn.", and  preserving  the  strictest  order,  encountered  tomahawks  with 
i'l.ved  bayonets  ;  and  disciplined  valour  prevailing  over  savage  impetuosity, 
tliey  repulsed  the  enemy.  The  Indians  had  again  recourse  to  ambus- 
cade, to  which  their  country  is  so  peculiarly  favourable.  Our  comman- 
der wished  to  bring  them  to  a  close  engagement ;  but  the  enemy  with 
skilful  dexterity  eluded  battle.  In  his  attempts  to  effect  his  purpose, 
Bouquet  was  drawn  into  a  defile,  in  which  he  was  extremely  distressed 
for  want  of  water,  and  saw  that,  if  he  were  not  able  to  bring  the  Indians 
to  regular  action,  his  troops  must  moulder  away  for  want  of  provisions. 
The  enemy  had  increased  in  confidence  from  their  late  success  ;  and  the 
colonel  perceiving  this  boldness,  contrived  the  following  stratagem  for 
drawing  them  into  battle.  The  British  troops  were  posted  on  an  emi- 
nence, while  two  companies  were  stationed  in  more  advanced  situations. 
These  he  ordered  to  fall  within  the  circle,  as  if  retreating,  while  the  other 
two  were  drawn  up  so  as  to  appear  to  cover  that  retreat.  The  first  two 
companies  moved  behind  a  projecting  part  of  the  hill,  so  as  not  to  be 
perceived  by  the  enemy.  The  savages,  leaving  their  woods,  attacked 
the  two  companies  that  were  nearest  them  ;  but  while  they  pressed  for- 
ward, believing  themselves  sure  of  victory,  the  two  that  had  made  the 
feigned  retreat,  rushed  on,  and  attacked  them  in  the  flank,  while  the 
others  charged  them  in  front.  The  savages  were  defeated  and  routed  ; 
and  the  British  troops  arriving  at  Fort  Pitt,  secured  that  important  post. 
The  savages  now  made  an  attack  upon  Niagara,  and  carried  four  hun- 
dred men  in  canoes  across  Lake  Erie  ;  but  these  were  defeated  by  an 
English  schooner. 

General  Amherst,  aware  that,  though  the  disciplined  force  of  Britain 
must  ultimately  triumph  over  savage  ferocity,  the  inroads  of  the  Indians 
was  a  great  interruption  to  colonial  prosperity,  made  such  proposals  as, 
by  the  great  influence  of  sir  William  Johnstone,  were  accepted  by  the 
principal  tribes  ;  and  the  rest,  sensible  that  they  were  no  longer  able  to 
contend  with  the  British,  also  sought  and  obtained  peace. 

At  home,  little  happened  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  a  subject  of 
history,  except  the  proceedings  regarding  Mr.  Wilkes,  already  mentioned. 
The  cider  tax,  however,  occasioned  a  number  of  meetings  and  resolutions, 
and  some  riots.  The  crop  had  been  very  deficient,  and  the  dearness  of 
])rovisions  caused  great  discontent ;  which  was  increased  by  the  repre-^ 
sentations  of  demagogues,  imputing  the  scarcity  in  a  considerable  degree 
to  the  influx  of  Scotchmen,*  whom,  it  was  asserted,  lord  Bute  had  brought 
hither  to  eat  the  fruits  of  England.  The  dissatisfaction  in  many  places 
rose  to  tumult.  The  scarcity  also  contributed  to  a  different  evil,  the 
prevalence  of  robberies  to  a  very  alarming  degree  :  this  mischief  was 
farther  increased  by  the  discharge  of  numbers  of  soldiers  and  sailors  at 
the  peace,  who  had  not  since  that  time  got  into  a  regular  employmertt : 
indeed,  at  no  time  were  felonies  more  pregnant,  daring,  and  atrocious. 

•  The  poet  Cluircliill  was  peculiarly  zealous  and  successful  in  impressing  these 
ideas  on  those  credulous  readers  who  would  receive  the  colourings  of  fancy  for 
authentic  tn.th.  His  writings  were  highly  prized  by  critics  who  had  not  suffi-. 
cient  discrimination  to  perceive  the  difference  between  the  acrimony  of  malig- 
nant invective  and  the  strength  of  well-founded  satire  ;  who,  to  use  the  language 
of  Johnson  concerning  another  inciter  of  disaffection,  "  mistook  the  venom  of  the 
shaft  for  the  vigour  of  the  bow." 


184  HlSTOTiY  OF  THE  Chap.  IV.— 1764. 

[Abuses  In  mad-houses.    State  of  Europe.    France.] 

DurinjT  this  yoar  the  legishiture  was  informed,  that  very  shameful  prac- 
tices prevailed  in  private  mad-houses.  Committees  of  both  houses  in- 
quired into  the  subject,  and  found  that  these  pretended  receptacles  for 
lunatics  were  very  frequently  converted  into  prisons  lor  the  confinement, 
by  the  autliority  of  private  individuals,  of  persons  who  had  done  nothing 
offensive  to  the  laws  of  their  country ;  wives  who  interrupted  the  de- 
baucheries of  their  luisbands  ;  parents,  who  chose  to  manage  their  own 
aflliirs,  without  implicitly  submitting  to  their  children  ;  children,  sisters, 
and  wards,  who  did  not  implicitly  yield  to  parents,  brothers,  and  guar- 
dians ;  in  short,  whoever  opposed  the  will  of  relations  assuming  despotic 
power.  Individuals,  invested  with  no  authority  by  the  law  of  the  land, 
arrogated  to  themselves  a  power  not  granted  by  our  laws  to  any  part 
of  the  executive  government.  They  committed  fellow  subjects  to  gaol 
without  an  examination  :  they  suspended  by  their  sole  will  and  authority 
the  habeas-corpus  act ;  and  in  ellect  established  bastilcs  in  Britain.  It 
was  found,  that  the  keepers  acknowledged  this  absolute  power  of  indivi- 
duals ;  and,  without  any  inquiry,  received  whomsoever  their  lettres  de 
cachet  chose  to  send  in  confinement.  They  admitted  and  detained  per- 
sons in  their  perfect  senses,  requiring  notlnng  fiirthcr  than  to  be  paid  for 
their  maintenance.  The  legislature,  having  investigated  this  evil  and 
discovered  its  extent,  made  regulations  to  prevent  its  continuance  or  re- 
newal. 

During  this  year,  two  events  took  place,  which  were  important  to  the 
royal  family,  and  consequently  to  the  country.  The  hereditary  prince 
of  Brunswick,  who  hj;id  so  eminently  distinguished  himself  in  the  war, 
was  in  January  married  to  the  princess  Augusta,  eldest  sister  of  the  king. 
The  bishopric  of  Osnaburg,  which  was  alternately  in  the  gift  of  the  houses 
of  Hanover  and  Saxony,  becoming  vacant,  and  it  being  king  George's 
turn,  as  elector  of  Hanover,  to  present,  was  bestowed  upon  the  infant 
prince  Frederick,  second  son  to  their  majesties. 

Before  we  revert  to  the  internal  and  colonial  contests  which  agitated 
the  first  portion  of  the  present  reign,  it  seems  proper  to  take  a  short  re- 
view of  the  state  of  Kuro])e,  especially  of  those  parts  of  it  whose  acts 
must  always  be  important  to  Great  Britain. 

The  alliance  between  France  and  Austria  had  been  so  far  from  an- 
swering its  purpose,  that  its  consequences  had  left  both  the  contracting 
parties  in  an  exhausted  and  depressed  state.  The  family  compact  be- 
tween France  and  Spain,  which  was  intended  to  exalt,  had  humbled  both 
kinffdoms.  In  France,  internal  dissatisfaction  interrupted  the  measures 
of  governmeut  for  repairing  the  losses  sustained  l)y  the  war.  The  im- 
mense expenditure  of  France,  both  for  herself  and  her  allies,  had  involved 
her  in  the  greatest  pecuniary  difiiculties,  and  obliged  government  to  levy 
very  heavy  taxes.  The  parliament  of  l*aris  objected  to  some  of  the  new 
financial  decrees  ,'  and  fijrce  being  employed  to  reduce  them  to  compli- 
ance, they  resigned  their  offices.  Various  representations  were  made 
to  the  king,  to  justify  their  conduct.  The  duke  of  Fitz-james,  governor 
of  Languedoc,  imprisoned  some  refractory  members  of  the  parliament  of 
Thoulouse.  As  a  customary  mode  of  procedure  with  the  executorial  of- 
ficers of  the  king  of  Franc6,  this  act  might  indeed  raise  indignation,  but 
could  not  excite  surprise  ;  tlie  proceedings  of  the  parliament,  however, 
in  these  circumstances  were  unusual,  and  manifested  a  deviation  from 
the  spirit  by  whieii  that  country  had  been  actuated  ever  since  the  esta- 


ir64-CHAP.  IV.  in:iGN  OF  GEORGE  HF.  185 

[Austria.    Prussia.    Rising' greatness  of  Russia,] 

blishment  of  the  house  of  Bourbon.  The  parhament  of  Thoulouse  im- 
peached the  duke,  gave  orders  for  the  arrest  of  his  person  and  the  seques- 
tration of  his  estates,  and  referred  the  cause  to  the  cognizance  of  the 
parhament  of  Paris,  as  the  supreme  court  of  judicature.  That  body, 
accepting  the  appeal,  ordered  their  president  to  request  the  king's  pre- 
sence in  the  examination.  The  king  replied,  that,  as  the  duke  of  Fitz- 
james  represented  his  person,  he  would  lumself  take  cognizance  of  the 
cause.  To  this  intimation  the  parliament  returned  a  very  strong  remon- 
strance. The  death  of  Fitz-james  prevented  the  dispute  coming  to  issue, 
but  the  spirit  of  resentment  which  had  manifested  itself  did  not  evaporate. 

Austria  had  concluded  a  peace  with  the  kini^  of  Prussia  a  few 
months  after  the  treaty  of  Fontainbleau  ;  she  had  for  ever  renounced 
her  claim  to  Silesia,  and  by  her  supulalioiis  acknowledged  herself  to 
have  totally  failed  in  the  purposes  for  which  she  had  undertaken  the 
war.  By  her  ainbilious  projects  she  had,  during  the  contest,  incurred 
a  debt  amounting  to  twenty-live  millions  sterling;  which  was  to  her 
an  enormous  sum.  The  counsels  of  her  able  minislcr  Kaunitz  were 
necessarily  occupied  in  devising  means  for  the  diminution  of  this  bur- 
then. One  important  object  she  obtained  by  the  licaly  of  lluberts- 
burg,  in  the  express  consent  of  the  king  of  Prusbia  to  tiie  archduke 
Joseph,  eldest  son  and  heir  of  the  emperor  and  empress-queen,  being 
chosen  king  of  the  Romans,  and  the  election  took  place  in  April, 
1764. 

The  king  of  Prussia,  though  he  had  ov,ercon^e  all  his  enemies,  and 
dictated  the  termsof  peace,  equally  able  in  every  department,  had  been 
so  provident,  that  at  the  end  of  the  wau  he  had  not  contract- 
ED  A  SHILLING  OF  DEBT,  jud  hudcvcn  one  year's  revenue  in  his  trea- 
sury.* Frederick,  though  now  at  peace,  did  not  relax;  he  employed 
himself  in  cultivating  the  advantages  of  tranquillity,  reviving  indus- 
try, encouraging  agriculture  and  commerce,  improving  his  revenue, 
and  rendering  his  country  flourishing. 

Russia,  though  advancing  more  slowly  toward  civilization  than  the 
ardent  genius  of  czar  Peter  had  conceived,  was  rapidly  increasing  in 
the  solid  constituents  of  power.  Her  military  force,  arising  from 
such  extensive  resources,  was  extremely  strong.  In  hostilities  she 
had  commonly  been  subsidized  as  an  ayxiliary,  instead  of  contributing 
as  a  principal  ;  hence  the  wars  in  which  sl.c  had  been  engaged  exer- 
cised her  soldiers  witiiout  exhausting  her  finances.  Her  commerce 
was  extending  on  every  side  ;  not  only  from  her  pursuing  the  schemes 
of  Peter,  but  from  the  policy  of  other  countries.  During  the  present 
century,  more  than  at  any  preceding  peiiodj  the  nations  of  Europe 
had  sought  maritime  strength.  Russia  was  the  grand  magazine  of 
naval  stores  :  these  exports  increased  lier  wealth  ;  intercourse  with 
the  traders  enlarged  her  commercial  ideas,  and  more  strongly  impress- 
ed on  her  the  importance  of  maritime  iorce.  Her  marine  was  rapidly 
advancing  ;  and  from  her  various  resources  she  had  the  greatest  in- 
fluence with  nations  with  which  she  was  nearly  connected.  Such  was 
the  state  of  Russia  when  the  sceptre  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  princess 
thoroughly  qualified  by  understanding  and  temper  to  cultivate  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  country,  improve  and  multiply  its  resources,  and 

•      See  GlUles's  Frederick,  p.  364. 
Vol.  VH— 24 


186  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chip.  IV.— 1765. 

[Interference  of  Russia  in  the  affairs  of  Poland.    Corsica.] 

call  them  forth  to  beneficial  action.  The  empress  Catharine,  in  ihe 
beginning  of  her  reign,  appeared  so  much  occupied  with  her  own  do- 
minions, as  to  attend  little  to  foreign  transactions  ;  and  merely  to  wish 
to  be  on  terms  of  peace  and  amity  with  her  neighbours,  without  inter- 
fering in  any  of  their  contests  or  concerns.  She  had  made  a  defen- 
sive alliance  with  the  king  of  Prussia,  without  embroiling  herself  with 
Austria;  she  was  on  amicable  terms  with  Sweden  and  Denmark  :  she 
had  kept  totally  aloof  from  the  disputes  of  the  maritime  powers,  and 
professed  the  highest  regard  for  all  the  belligerent  parties,  and  the 
greatest  satisfaction  when  their  wars  were  at  an  end.  But  at  length 
an  event  took  place,  which  showed  that  her  ambitious  character  was 
destined  to  display  itself  in  other  countries  as  well  as  Russia.  On  the 
5th  of  October,  1763,  Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony  and  king  of  Poland, 
died;  and  his  son,  the  young  elector,  offered  himself  as  candidate  for 
the  throne.  The  king  of  Prussia,  very  anxious  to  prevent  the  crown 
of  Poland  from  becoming  hereditary  in  the  house  of  Saxony,  opposed 
the  choice  of  its  present  head.  The  Russian  empress  joined  Frede- 
rick in  his  opposition  to  the  house  of  Saxony,  and  recommended  count 
Poniatowsky,  a  Pole  by  birlh,  representative  of  a  powerful  and  illustri- 
ous family,  and  himself  a  man  of  gi'cat  virtues  and  accomplishments ; 
and  in  order  to  strengthen  his  interests  she  sent  a  powerful  army  in- 
to Poland.  Austria,  France,  and  Spain,  connected  with  the  house  of 
Saxony,  wished  success  to  the  elector,  but  had  neither  the  disposition 
nor  power  to  employ  force  in  his  favour.  Branitzky  and  Radzivil,  two 
Polish  chieftains  of  great  power  and  authority,  endeavoured  to  oppose 
Poniatowsky,  but  were  defeated,  and  driven  out  of  Poland  ;  and  Ponia- 
towsky was,  on  the  7lh  of  September,  1764,  elected,  by  the  title  of 
Stanislaus  II.  king  of  Poland. 

In  southern  Europe  a  war  had  subsisted  for  upwards  of  twenty 
years,  between  the  republic  of  Genoa  and  the  inhabitants  of  Corsica. 
The  islanders  had  been  at  first  headed  by  a  German  adventurer,whom, 
trusting  to  his  air-built  promises  of  interesting  the  great  powers  in 
their  favour,  they  chose  king,  by  the  title  of  Theodore  king  of  Corsi- 
ca. Finding  him,  however,  not  to  possess  the  power  and  influence  to 
which  he  had  pretended,  they  compelled  him  to  abdicate  the  throne 
and  retire  into  banishment.  The  Corsicans,  after  this  event,  chose  a 
native  chieftain,  named  Giacinto  Paoli,  general  of  their  armies,  and 
president  of  their  councils  ;  and  under  this  commander  they  were  su- 
perior to  the  Genoese  troops.  After  a  contest  of  many  years,  the 
senate  of  Genoa  applied  to  the  most  christian  king  for  assistance  ;  and 
in  August  1 764,  a  convention  was  signed  between  the  French  and  Gen- 
oese, by  which  the  king  of  France  guaranteed  the  island  to  Genoa,  and 
promised  lo  send  a  naval  and  military  force  to  assist  in  its  reduction. 
'1  he  Corsicans  applied  to  the  courts  of  Vienna  and  London  to  medi- 
ate for  lliem  with  the  French  monarch  ;  but  nothing  was  done  in  their 
behalf,  and  the  French  troops  took  possession  of  the  principal  for- 
tresses of  (Corsica. 

The  British  parliament  met  on  the  lOlh  of  January,  1765.  The 
question  of  general  warrants  was  early  in  the  season  brought  again 
before  the  house,  in  a  new  form,  and  on  the  29th,  underwent  a  very 
able  discussion,  in  which  many  ingenious  arguments  were  brought 
forward  o'}\  both  sides,  new  rather  in  detail  and  illustration  than  in 
principle.  The  speakers  of  opposition  showed  the  evils  which  might 


1765.— Chap.  IV.  UEIGN  OF  GEOTIGE  III.  |  g^ 

[Plan  of  taxing  America.     Difference  between  ancient  and  modern  coloniea.] 

arise  from  general  warrants  in  a  greater  multiplicity  of  lights  than 
before,  and  administration  enlarged  much  more  than  formerly  on  the 
impropriety  of  the  interposition  of  the  house  of  commons  in  declar- 
ing the  law  of  the  land  :  but  the  real  grounds  of  argument  on  both 
sides  were  and  must  have  been  the  same,  as  the  subject  had  been  so 
completely  debated  in  the  preceding  year.  After  a  very  warm  con- 
test, it  was  dismissed  by  the  previous  question. 

The  deliberations  of  parliament  were  now  turned  towards  Ameri- 
ca.    Both  the  justice  and  expediency  of  taxation  underwent  a  dis- 
cussion, on  much  more  comprehensive  principles  than  in  the  former 
year,  when  the  probable  efficiency  of  the  tax  appeared  to  be  the  sole 
consideration.     The  petitions  and  manifestos  from  the  American  co- 
lonies,  denying  the  right  of  the  British  parliament  to  tax  them,  being 
read,  the  minister  submitted  the  question  to  the  house.     A  more  im- 
portant subject  of  discussion  had  rarely  been  presented  to  the  British 
parliament.  It  was  a  question,  the  extent  and  consequences  of  which 
its  proposer  had  by  no  means  digested ;  it  involved  the  general  ob- 
jects of  colonization,  the  means  by  which  those  were  to  be  effected, 
and   the  particular  constitution,  slate,  and  sentiments  of  the  British 
colonies.     In  considering  this  subject,  many,  by  arguing  from  the 
practice  of  parent  countries   and  their  plantations  in  ancient  times, 
were  led  to  very  faulty  conclusions  respecting  the  question  between 
Britain  and  her  colonies.     The  motives  for  colonization  have  been 
extremely  different  in  different  ages,  countries,  and  circumstances  ; 
and  from  that  dissimilitude  arose  a  proportionate  diversity  of  relation 
and  reciprocal  interest  between  the  mother  country  and  the  planta- 
tions.    Small  states,  with  confined  territories  and  an  increasing  po- 
pulation, were  frequently  obliged  to  send  the  surplus  of  their  inhabit- 
ants in  quest  of   new  settlements.     This  was  the  cause  of  colonial 
establishments  from  Phenicia,  and  from  Greece  ;  whose  plantations 
in  Asia,  Africa,  Italy,  and  elsewhere,  were  from  their  nature  not  de- 
pendent on  the  parent  country.     They  often,  indeed,  retained  a  close 
intercourse  with  each  other,  from  identity  of  extraction  and  langu?ge, 
and  similarity  of  manners  and  government;  but  the  parent  country 
was  far  from  claiming  any  authority  over  its  emigrated  descendants. 
This  kind  of  colony  resembled  the  children  of  a  family  se-'ing  out  to 
seek  their  fortunes  abroad,  because  they  had  no  means  ^'f  subsistence 
at  home  :  settling  themselves  in  a  foreign  country,  st-osisted  and  pro- 
tected by  their  own  efforts;  consequently  no  long^^i'  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  parents,  whatever  their  affection  n-»sbt  be  for  them  and 
their  brethren.     The  colonies  of  the  Romans  vere  planted  from  other 
causes,  and  were,  in  consequence,  on  a  ver/  different  footmg.     1  he 
state,  increasing  at  home   in  population/  and   abroad  in  territories, 
found  conquered  countries  drained  of  inhabitants  by  long  wars,  but 
abounding   in   cultivated  land.     Th-^y  therefore   sent  settlers    from 
Rome*  to  occupy  the  lands,  whict  might  otherwise  have  been  in   a 
great  measure  waste  from  the  reduced  population.    Here  the  mother 
country  offered  comfortable  sr':)sistence  to  her  offspring  for  their  in- 
dustry, and   protection  for  -'tieir  allegiance.     The  Roman  colonists 
were  not  adventurers  sent  to  seek  their  fortunes  with  the  ''  world  all 
before  them,"  but  childr-n   settled  by  parents  in  farms  entirely  de- 

•  Smith  oi\  Colonies,  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  ii.  p.  346. 


188  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  IV.— 1765. 

[Principles  and  system  of  British  colonization.] 

pendent  on  themselves ;  and  these  plantations  were,  and  must  have 
been,  part  of  the  Roman  dominions.     Advocates  for  the  taxation  of 
the  British  colonies,  in  writings  and  speeches,  qtiotedthe  subjection 
of  the  Roman   plantations;  advocates  against  that  system  quoted  the 
independence  of  the  Grecian  emigrations  :  although,  in  reality,  nei- 
ther example  would  apply.   Modern  colonies  have  neither,  like  those 
from  Greece,  been  establishments  originating  in  necessary  separation, 
and  therefore  in  their  nature  independent ;  nor  like  those  of  the  Ro- 
mans, springing  from  specific  donative  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
donor,  and  therefore  in  tlieir  nature   dependent.     They  have  been 
setik'nients  formed  for  the  purposes  of  immediate  or  eventual  gain  ; 
and  they  proposed  the  accession  of  resources  to  the  parent  country. 
Tiie  great  and  leading  inquiry  was,  how  are  these  colonies  to  be  ren- 
dered most  beneficial  to  a  state  so  circumstanced  as  their  parent  coun- 
try ?     The  plans  of  different  European  nations  in  the  government  of 
their  colonics,  varied  according  to  the  general  policy  of  the   parent 
country,  the  circumstance*  of  the  settlements,  and  the  character  of 
particular  administrations.     The  constitution  of  the  American  colo- 
nies was  similar  to  the  polity  of  Britain,  in  established  provisions  for 
the  security  of  property,  liberty,  and  life  ;  they   therefore  possessed 
the  right  of  taxing  themselves  by  their  representatives.     This  was  a 
privilege  which  the  Americans  thought  inherent  in  them  as  British 
subjects,  and  confirmed  by  charters  admitted  by  the  mother  country  ; 
its  practical  enjoyment  constituted  a  great  part  of  their  comfort  and 
happiness;  and  teaching  them  to  value  themselves  and  their  respec- 
tive colonies,  inspirited  those  exertions  which  rendered  them  so  be- 
neficial to  the  British  empire.     The  actual  benefits  that  accrued  to 
Eiigland  from  her  colonies,  consisted  in  the  increase  of  people,  as 
the  means  of  security  and  productiveness  were  augmented  ;  and  in 
the  vast  and  rapidly  growing  accession  to  our  trade,*  to  supply  the 
wants  of  the  multiplying  colonies.     Commercial   benefits  were  the 
cJjjects  of  the  plantations  ;  the  question,  therefore,  to  be  considered 
simply  was,  how  are  these  advantages  to  be  most  effectually  promot- 
ed, ins-jrcd,  and  improved  ?  It  was  a  mere  question  of  expediency, 
requiring  no  metaphysical  disquisitions  about  abstract  right.     Expe- 
rience show^^ll  that  our  gains  had  been  very  considerable,  and  acquir- 
ed without  n>irmur  or  dispute,  by  the  old  plan,  of  profiling  from 
their  commerce, qnd  demands  for  our  productions:  wisdom  had  now 
to  delerminc,  wheP.er  an  adherence  to  a  system  of  experienced  benc- 

•  Tliis  was  sir  Uo!)crt  AVjfj^oIe'sview  of  the  subject,  declared  when.as  we  have 
already  oSserved,  he  w:is  cx|))<;ssin}^  liis  objections  to  taxin}(  America.  As  his 
opinion  was  iniicli  quoted  duriiij.tl,c  discussion  before  us,  it  may  not  be  foreign 
to  our  purpose  lo  repeat  it  in  Ids  ovn  words  ;  "  I  will  leave  the  taxation  of  Ameri- 
ca," said  he, '•  for  some  of  my  succt.sors,  who  may  iiave  more  courage  than  I 
have,  and  be  less  a  friend  lo  commerce  q,.,,!  f  am.  It  has  been  a  maxim  with  me, 
during  my  administration,  to  encourage  t.e  trade  of  the  American  colonies  in  tlie 
utmost  iaiitiide;  nay,  it  has  been  necessary  ti.  pass  over  some  irregularities  in  their 
trade  with  Kurope  ;  for,  by  encouraging  tlictr,  to  an  extensive  growing  foreign 
commerce,  if  they  gam  500,000/.  I  am  conviiict/1,  that  in  two  years  afterwards, 
full  250,000/.  of  their  gain  will  be  in  his  majesty  ;  exchequer,  by  the  labour  and 
product  of  this  kingdom  ;  as  immense  quantities  of  tvery  kind  of  our  manufactures 
go  thither;  and  as  they  incr<::isc  in  tlioir  foreign  y^jueiican  tr.ule,  more  of  our 
produce  will  be  wanted.  This  js  Uxxiw^  tiicm  more  aj^vecably  to  their  own  coii- 
•titutiun  and  to  ourb.'^ 


1765.— Cuir.  IV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  189 

[Bill  imposing  stamp  duties.    Arguments  for  and  against  the  bill.] 

fit  daily  increasing,  or  the  adoption  of  new  schemes  of  doubtful  ope- 
ration and  certain  opposition,  was  most  likely  to  continue  and  extend 
that  benefit  for  which  colonies  were  established. 

The  British  minister  preferred  the  untried  theory  to  the  essayed 
plan  ;  and  stated  to  parliament,  that  having  postponed  his  scheme  of 
taxation  till  this  session,  expecting  that  the  colonies  would  have  of- 
fered an  equivalent,  instead  of  a  compensation  they  had  sent  remon- 
strances. On  the  7th  of  February,  1765,  he  opened  his  system  to  the 
commons,  and  in  a  committee  moved  fifty-five  resolutions  for  impos- 
ing stani/i  duties  on  certain  papers  and  documents  used  in  the  colo- 
nies, and  introduced  a  bill  grounded  upon  the  propositions. 

Of  the  two  parties  which  opposed  government,  the  duke  of  New- 
castle's was  the  more  strenuous  in  combating  the  stamp,  act.     The 
principal  leaders  among  the  whig  party,  in  the  house  of  commons, 
were  general  Conway  and  Mr.  Dowdeswell.     Ministry  had  now  ac- 
quired a  very   powerful  auxiliary  in  the  brilliant  ingenuity  of  Mr. 
Charles  Townshend,  who  had  lately  come  over  to  their  side.     The 
supporters  of  British  taxation  asserted,  that  the  colonies  had  been 
planted  by  our  care,  and  nourished  by  our  indulgence  ;  and  that  as 
America  had  been  the  cause  of  great  expense,  it  was  but  reasonable 
that  she  should  contribute  toward  the  general  demands  of  the  empire, 
as  a  part  of  which  she  was  protected.     The  British  legislature  (they 
said)  had  a  right  to  enact  laws  for  every  settlement  within  the  British 
territories.     The  Americans,  though  not  nominally,  were  really  re- 
presented in  the  British  parliament,  and  thus  were  on  a  footing  with 
many  individuals  and  bodiesof  Britons,  who,  having  ostensibly  no  vote 
in  the  election  of  members,  were  equally  included  in  the  provisions 
of  the  legislature.     The  British  finances  were  exhausted  by  a  war  be- 
gun for  the  security  of  the  colonies  ;  it  was  therefore  not  only  equita- 
ble that  they  should  contribute,  but  extremely  ungrateful  in  them  to 
refuse.     The  nation  had  contracted  an  immense  debt  to  give  therii 
protection  ;  the  navigation  act,  that  palladium  of  British  commerce, 
had  been  relaxed  in  their  favour ;  in  short,  Britain  had  treated  them 
as  favourite  children. 

The  arguments  of  the  opposers  of  the  staafi  act  were  resolved  into 
two  heads;  the  right  of  Britain  to  tax  America,  and  the  expediency 
of  exercising  that  right.  The  sovereign  claim  of  taxation  proposed 
by  the  pending  bill,  was  totally  inconsistent  with  every  principle  of 
freedom  ;  it  would  undo  the  secu,rity  of  property,  and  was  contraiy  to 
the  rights  of  British  subjects.  The  perfection  of  the  representative 
system  is,  that  the  delegate  is  placed  in  the  same  situation  as  the  con- 
stituent, and  is  bound  himself  by  the  laws  which  he  has  a  share  in  en- 
acting. In  Great  Britain,  every  individual  may  be  said  to  be  virtu- 
ally represented;  as  every  law  and  impost  extends  equally  to  those 
who  have,  as  to  those  who  have  not  votes.  The  Americans  were  not 
even  virtually  represented,  and  so  far  were  members  of  British  par- 
liament from  being  interested  in  securing  tl>e  property  of  the  x^meri- 
cans,  that,  if  the  right  of  taxation  were  admitted,  by  increasing  the 
burthens  of  the  colonies,  they  would  relieve  their  own.  Such  were 
the  arguments  used  against  the  right  of  taxation.  On  the  ground  of 
expediency  it  was  urged,  that  fron)  the  established  system  we  had  de- 
rived very  great  benefits,  commercial  and  financial  ;  that  the  willinr: 


190  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  IV.— 1765. 

[Consequences  of  the  new  system  in  America.] 

conti'ibutions  of  the  colonics  in  demands  for  our  commodities,  though 
circuitously,  increased  our  revenue  much  more  than  any  direct  im- 
post would  augment  it,  since  it  was  already  manifest  that  they  would 
very  unwillingly  pay.  The  particular  regulations  of  the  act  itself  al- 
so underwent  a  severe  discussion.  But,  whatever  arguments  might 
be  forcibly  used  against  taxation  as  a  political  system,  the  stamp  act 
itself,  merely  as  a  measure  of  finance,  was  liable  to  little  objection. 
The  subjects  and  duties  were  extremely  clear  and  definite,  so  as  to 
preclude  arbitrary  exactions  ;  simple  and  practicable  in  its  operations, 
it  would  require  little  expense  in  the  collection  ;  and  equitable  in  its 
subject,  it  would  fall  most  heavily  on  those  who  were  ablest  to  bear 
its  burthen.  It  was  likely  to  be  productive  through  the  increase  of 
commerce,  and  consequently  of  engagements  subject  to  thexluty.  It 
bore  the  character  of  its  author,  skilful  in  finance  but  not  profound  in 
legislative  politics.  The  bill  was  carried  through  both  houses  by  a 
great  majority  ;  and,  on  the  22d  of  March,  passing  into  a  law,  became 
an  important  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  present  reign.  The  argu- 
ments on  both  sides  in  parliament  were  repeated,  and  enlarged  upon 
in  the  political  writings  of  the  times.  Opponents  to  government  re- 
presented the  act  as  not  only  iniquitous  iu  itself,  but  as  part  of  the  ge- 
neral arbitrary  system  of  lord  Bute,  whose  councils  they  conceived  to 
have  still  a  direction  in  government.  According  to  their  account, 
the  court  intended,  by  subduing  the  liberties  of  America,  to  prepare 
the  way  for  overturning  the  constitution  of  England.  These  allega- 
tions, little  as  they  were  justified  by  facts,  were  very  generally  believ- 
ed by  persons  already  disposed  to  impute  evil  designs  to  the  execu- 
tive government. 

The  American  agents  were  not  slow  in  transmitting  to  their  respec- 
tive colonies  an  account  of  the  stamp  act,  the  opposition  that  it  encoun- 
tered in  parliament,  and  the  dissatisfaction  which  prevailed  in  Eng- 
land. Prepossessed,  as  the  colonies  were,  with  a  notion  that  the  Bri- 
tish government  entertained  arbitrary  designs,  they  now  conceived 
that  America,  thus  taxed  without  her  consent,  was  intended  for  slave- 
ry ;  and  they  resolved  on  a  vigorous  resistance.*  They  saw  powerful 
opposition  in  parliament,  and  displeasure  throughout  the  nation  ;  they, 
therefore,  entertained  hopes  that  parliamentary  ability,  anti-ministe- 
rial publications,  and  popular  clamour,  might  bring  about  a  repeal;  and 
they  were  aware  that  a  ferment  in  the  provinces  would  powerfully 
promote  such  a  measure.  The  leaders  of  all  the  colonies  bestirred 
themselves  to  excite  the  indignation  of  the  people  ;  they  published  in 
pamphlets,  and  circulated  in  newspapers,  arguments  against  the  jus- 
lice  and  expediency  of  taxation,  and  represented  it  as  the  forerunner 
of  slavery.  The  provincial  assembly  which  first  met  after  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  stamp  act,  was  the  assembly  of  Virginia;  a  colony 
particularly  distinguished  for  loyalty  to  the  sovereign,  and  attachment 
to  the  mother  country  and  the  English  constitution.  Virginia,  in- 
deed, was  more  remarkable  for  a  sympathy  of  sentiment  with  Britain 
than  any  of  the  other  provinces,  and  had  received  the  impression  so 
prevalent  in  England  from  the  commencement  of  lord  Bute's  adminis- 
tration, that  the  constitution  was  in  danger ;  and  here  commenced 

•  bee  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  vol.  i.  p.  29. 


ir65.— CuAp.IV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  IH,  191 

[Annexation  of  the  Isle  of  Man  to  the  crown.] 

provincial  opposition  to  taxation  by  the  British  parliament.  The  as- 
sembly  having  met  on  the  29th  of  May,  after  a  very  warm  debate, 
passed  resolutions  disavowing  the  right  of  the  British  parliament,  or 
of  any  other  body  than  the  assembly  of  Virginia,  to  legislate  for  that 
colony.  The  grounds  of  the  disavowal,  however,  implied  their  attach- 
ment to  the  British  constitution ;  they  rested  their  claims  on  their 
RIGHTS  AS  BRITISH  SUBJECTS,  declared  and  confirmed  by  their  char- 
ters. The  assemblies  of  the  other  colonies  adopted  similar  resolutions 
against  the  stamp  act,  which  they  all  concurred  in  voting  to  be  a  most 
unconstitutional  law,  and  a  violation  of  their  rights.  The  assembly  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  had,  in  the  preceding  year,  taken  the  lead  in  de- 
nying to  the  British  parliament  the  right  of  taxation  ;  and  now,  seeing 
that  the  other  states  were  severally  strenuous  in  the  opposition, 'pro- 
jected a  general  concert  among  the  colonies.  For  this  purpose  they 
formed  a  resolution,  declaring  the  expediency  of  holding  a  congress  to 
consist  of  deputies  from  the  several  assemblies,  in  order  to  consult  on 
the  common  grievances  under  which  the  colonies  laboured  from  the 
late  acts  of  parliament,  and  frame  and  prepare  a  general  petition,  witli 
addresses,  to  the  king  and  queen,  and  to  both  houses.  Letters  sent 
to  the  different  assemblies  communicated  this  resolution,  and  invited 
the  other  provinces  to  meet  in  congress  at  New  York  on  the  12th  of 
October.  Such  of  the  colonial  assemblies  as  met  before  this  period 
acceded  to  the  proposition,  and  nominated  deputies ;  but  though  a  great 
ferment  arose  through  America,  yet  it  did  not  break  out  into  actual 
tumult  till  autumn.  The  people  then  threatened  to  discontinue  the 
use  of  British  manufactures  until  the  stamp  act  should  be  repealed  : 
yet  the  British  minister  meanwhile  acted  in  such  a  way  as  to  show 
that  he  had  no  apprehensions  of  any  serious  or  important  opposition 
to  the  execution  of  his  financial  scheme.  He  had  formed  no  measure 
to  enforce  its  operation;. from  his  conduct,  it  was  evident  that  he  con- 
sidered it  as  merely  a  tax,  which  though  it  might  be  somewhat  un- 
popular before  it  was  perfectly  understood,  would  soon  cease  to  be  a 
subject  of  complaint.  He  proceeded,  therefore,  in  his  favourite  pur- 
suit for  the  good  of  the  revenue.         j 

Mr.  Grenville  found  that  the  Isle  of  Man,  from  its  centrical  situa- 
tion, and  its  adjacency  to  such  a  line  of  coast,  was  a  great  receptacle 
for  smugglers:  an  evil  which  could  not  be  thoroughly  prevented  un- 
der its  existing  government,  as  the  sovereignty  was  not  vested  in  the 
crown,  but  in  a  British  subject.  It  had  originally  belonged  to  the  fa- 
mily of  Derby  ;  and,  by  the  affiance  of  a  daughter  of  that  house  to  the 
family  of  Athol,  had  descended  to  the  dukes  of  Athol.  Mr.  Grenville 
proposed  a  bill  for  annexing  the  sovereignty  to  the  crown  of  England, 
leaving  to  the  duke  the  estates  which  he  possessed  in  the  island,  and 
indemnifying*  him  for  the  rights  that  he  was  required  to  relinquish. 

•  The  terms  granted  to  the  duke  of  Athol  were  70,000Z.  besides  a  pension  for 
life  to  himself  and  to  the  duchess.  As  the  bargain,  on  the  part  of  his  grace,  was 
a  compulsory  sacrifice  to  the  good  of  the  state,  on  every  principle  of  justice  be- 
tween sovereign  and  subject,  he  ought  to  have  received  very  full  indemnification. 
It  was  alleged  by  the  duke's  friends,  that  the  compensation  was  not  adequate. 
His  son  and  successor,  the  present  duke,  having  afterwards  personally  examined 
and  inspected  the  state  and  resources  of  the  island,  and  the  advantages  of  which 
his  family  had  been  deprived,  applied  for  a  modification  and  amendment  of  the 
present  bargain ;  but  this  belongs  to  a  much  more  advanced  period  of  the  history. 


192  HlSTOnV  OF  THE  (^iiAp.TV.— 1765. 

[TndisposUion  of  the  king.     Kcgency  bill  ] 

The  bill  was  passed  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  followed  by  laws  for  pre- 
venting illicit  trade. 

Several  causes  now  combined  to  weaken  and  distress  administra- 
tion. The  stamp  act  was  very  unpopular  in  its  principle,  and  still 
more  obnoxious  from  the  apprehensions  that  were  entertained  of  its  ef- 
fects. The  threats  of  the  Americans  to  abstain  from  the  bse  of  Bri- 
tish manufactures,  caused  a  great  alarm  arrtong  manufacturers,  mer- 
chants, and  ship  owners  :  and  this  alarm  naturally  spread  among  all 
the  mechanics  and  labourers  dependent  on  those  three  .classes.  While 
afraid  that  they  would  be  deprived  of  work,  they  had  another  subject 
for  dissatisfaction  in  tlie  scarcity  of  bread,  and  high  price  of  provisions: 
evils  to  which  they  were  exposed  during  the  wliole  of  this  year,  and 
which  created  great  discontent  and  clamour.  Although  the  dearness 
of  tlicse  necessary  articles  could  not  justly  be  attributed  to  ministry, 
yet  by  the  populace  it  was  charged  to  their  account. 

With  these  causes  of  popular  discontent,  a  measure  relating  to  the 
royal  family  co-operated  in  accelerating  the  downfall  of  the  Grenville 
administration. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  session,  the  king  having  been  indisposed, 
a  very  great  alarm  took  place,  from  the  general  afleclion  with  which 
his  majesty's  virtues  were  regarded,  and  also  on  considering  the  long 
minority  which  must  have  taken  place  if  the  termination  had  been  fa- 
tal. The  king,  on  his  recovery,  having  gone  to  the  house,  in  his 
speech  took  notice  of  his  illness,  and  said,  "  that  though  not  attended 
with  danger,  it  had  led  him  to  reflect  on  the  state  in  which  his  family 
and  country  would  be  left,^hould  it  please  heaven  to  put  a  period  to 
his  life  while  his  sufccessor  was  of  tender  years.  For  that  reason  he 
recommended  to  parliament  to  make  such  provision  as  would  be  ne- 
cessary, should  any  of  his  children  succeed  to  the  throne  before  they 
respectively  attained  the  age  of  eighteen  yealfrs;*  and  proposed  to  their 
consideration,  to  empower  him  to  appoint,  by  instruments  in  writing, 
under  his  sign  manual,  either  the  queen,  or  any  other  person  of  the 
royal  family  usually  residing  in  Great  Britain,  to  be  the  guardian  of 
the  person  of  such  successor  and  the  regent  of  these  kingdoms,  until 
such  successor  should  attain  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  subject  to  the 
same  restrictions  as  had  been  provided  by  a  regency  act  whicji  had 
been  passed  on  the  death  of  the  late  prince  of  Wales."  A  bill  was 
proposed  in  the  house  of  lords,  in  consequence  of  his  majesty's 
recommendation,  that  the  council  of  regency  should  consist  of  the 
dukes  of  York  and  Gloucester,  his  majesty's  brothers  ;  the  duke  of 
Cumberland,  his  uncle  ;  princes  Henry  Frederick!  and  Frederick 
William,  the  king's  two  youngest  brothers  ;  and  the  chief  officers  of 
state  for  tlu;  time  being.  A  question  arose  in  the  house,  who  are  the 
royal  family  ?  The  law  lords  explained  it  to  be  the  descendants  of 
George  II.  ;  ministry  acquiesced,  and  the  bill  passed  the  house  of 
lords.  According  to  this  interpretation,  no  one  could  be  named  re- 
gent, except  the  queen  or  some  one  sprung  from  George  11. ;  her  roy- 
al highness  the  princess  dowager  of  Wales,  therefore,  was  not  includ- 
ed.    In  the  house  of  commons  this  omission  was  construed  to  be  an 

•  See  liis  majesty's  spr-ech,  state  papers,  1703. 
t  Late  duke  of  Cumberland. 


ires— CuAP.  IV.  KEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  193 

[Unpopulaiity  of  llic  atlministration.] 

indignity  to  her  royal  liighness  ;  and  a  molion  was  made,  that  the  name 
of  the  princess  should  be  inserted  immediately  after  the  name  of  the 
queen.  This  amendment  being  admitted,  the  bill  was  returned  to  the 
peers,  and  so  it  passed  into  a  law. 

The  administration  having  never  been  popular,  was  now  become 
very  obnoxious;  and  temporary  and  incidental  distresses  were  imput- 
ed to  their  misconduct  and  evil  designs.  Complaints  had  for  several 
months  prevailed  among  the  silk,  weavers  that  their  employment  had 
been  greatly  injured  by  the  encouragement  bestowed  on  French  ma- 
nufactures. Near  the  close  of  the  session,  their  murmurs  rose  to  tu- 
multuous expostulation  ;  and  in  numerous  bodies  they  surrounded  the 
palace  and  the  houses  of  parliament,  and  presented  a  petition  for  the 
redress  of  their  grievances.  A  mob  once  collected,  from  whatever 
cause,  raicly  confines  itself  to  just,  legal,  and  constitutional  opcratigns  ; 
these  persons  therefore  proceeding  to  various  outrages,  were  at  length 
repressed  by  the  interference  of  the  militai'y,  who  were  called  in  to  as- 
sist the  civil  power  in  the  re  establishment  of  order  and  tranquillity. 
Inimical  to  ministry,  great  numbers  of  the  people  and  some  of  the 
popular  leaders  ascribed  the  ground  of  complaint  to  their  misrule,  and 
severely  censured  the  means  that  were  necessarily  employed  for  the 
suppression  of  the  disorders. 

Other  circumstances  now  co  operated  with  the  popular  enmity  to 
administration.  The  cabinet  had  evidently  lost  the  tavour  and  confi- 
dence of  the  sovereign.  The  framers  and  supporters  of  the  hypothe- 
sis concerning  the  secret  supremacy  of  lord  Bute,  ascribed  the  de- 
clension and  decay  of  their  influence  to  the  suggestions  of  the  alleged 
favourite.  According  to  this  theory,  Mr.  Grenville  and  the  duke  of 
Bedford  had  not  been  such  subservient  tools  to  what  was  styled  the 
interior  cabinet  or  secret  junto,  as  was  expected  and  required,  and  had 
frequently  thwarted  the  sovereign  and  his  private  friends  and  coun- 
sellors both  in  measures  and  appointments.  The  popular  party  as- 
serted the  omission  of  the  princess  dowager's  name  in  the  first  bill  of 
regency,  to  have  been  regarded  by  the  court  as  an  intended  insult, 
and  as  such  to  have  been  resented.  But  it  has  never  been  proved 
that  lord  Bute  retained  the  alleged  power  and  influence;  and  there- 
fore no  conclusion  founded  on  such  a  supposition  can  be  admitted  as 
historical  truth.  That  the  king  might  be  more  attached  to  some  indi- 
viduals than  to  others,  independently  of  their  political  qualifications,  is 
no  less  probable,  than  that  a  sovereign  should  have  the  affections  of 
another  man.  It  is  equally  natural  and  allowable,  that  a  monarch  should 
wish  to  promote  the  interests  and  aggrandizement  of  the  objects  of  his 
attachment,  in  preference  to  indifTerent  persons.  The  duty  of  his  situ- 
ation precludes  not  the  bestowal  on  his  friends  of  oflQces  of  honour  or 
emolument,  for  which  they  may  be  respectively  qualified.  In  the  ma- 
ny departmerrts  of  executive  service,  there  are  offices  which  do  not 
require  an  equal  degree  of  ability  and  effort  as  others.  Places  of  high 
trust  a  patriotic  sovereign  will  bestow,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  on 
the  fittest  that  can  be  found  for  promoting  the  public  benefit ;  but  thci;e 
are  many  other  subordinate  appointments  which,  without  detriment  to 
the  public  good,  may  be  given  according  to  private  favour.  Agreea- 
bly to  the  principle  and  rule  which  directed  his  choice  of  ministers 
from  the  beginning,  the  king  chose  his  chief  otTicial  counsellors  ;  but 

Vol.  Vli.— 25 


194  HISTORY  OF  THE  [Chip.  IV.— 1765. 

[Dismission  of  the  Grenvilla  administration.] 

some  offices  of  less  importance  he  was  willing  to  bestow  according  to 
his  own  predilection.  It  appears,  that  after  the  duke  of  Bedford  liad 
firmly  established  himself  and  his  partisans,  one  of  iiis  chief  objects 
was  to  extend  his  own  patronage  by  donatives  to  iiis  creatures;  that 
he  strongly  thwarted  his  royal  master  ;*  and  that  the  other  chief  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet  joined  in  his  unaccommodating  and  refractory  op- 
position. Hence  was  thought  to  be  derived  their  procedure  in  the 
regency  bill ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  session,  ministers  possessed  no 
more  favour  with  the  king,  than  they  had  enjoyed  with  the  people  from 
the  commencement  of  their  administration.  Various  conferences  took 
place  between  the  chief  ministers  and  the  sovereign,  respecting  their 
continuance  in  office  ;  at  length,  according  to  general  and  uncontra- 
dicted report,  the  duke  of  Bedford  presumed  to  use  such  language  to 
hii. sovereign,  as  could  not  possibly  be  tolerated  ;t  and,  as  his  col- 
leagues adhered  to  the  president  of  the  council,  the  administration 
was  dismissed. 

Mr.  George  Grenville's  ministry  has  eventually  proved  a  very  im- 
portant era  in  the  history  of  this  reign.  He  himself  was  a  man  of 
good  understanding  and  upright  intentions  ;  possessing,  however,  that 
species  and  degree  of  ability  which  may  be  of  great  public  service  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  affairs,  he  by  no  means  rose  to  that  genius 
w  hich  can  adapt  its  exertions  to  situations  untried  |  Besides,  the  nev«r 
circumstances  which  Mr.  Grenville  encountered,  were  of  his  own 
creation  ;  he  assumed  an  hypothesis,  that  the  country  was  so  much 
exhausted  as  not  to  have  the  means  of  adequate  revenue  without  a 
new  source  ;  but  his  theory  was  demonstrably  erroneous:  such  a  re- 
venue was  raised  as,  exclusive  of  America,  and  during  the  continu- 
ance of  peace,  annually  reduced  the  national  debt.  Industrious  as 
Mr.  Grenville  showed  himself  in  his  inquiries,  and  accurate  in  finan- 
cial calculations,  as  a  politician  he  proved  himself  not  equal  to  the  situ- 
ation in  which  he  was  placed.  His  projects  to  produce  a  partial  in- 
crease of  revenue  drove  the  colonies  to  disaffection,  and  generated  a 
fatal  political  change,  without  obtaining  the  revenue  which  he  sought, 
and  which  might  have  accrued  circuitously  to  the  country  if  he  had 
left  the  subject  untouched.  Mr.  Grenville  has  been  charged  with  be- 
ing the  tool  of  lord  Bute  to  establish  absolute  power;  but  his  conduct 
affords  no  ground  to  justify  the  imputation  of  unconstitutional  views. 
The  proceedings  respecting  Wilkes  were  rash  and  precipitate,  butin- 
lerfeied  no  more  with  liberty  than  the  measures  of  every  minister 
had  done  since  the  revolution.  His  schenries  of  finance,  on  which,  in- 
cluding.^lnelican  taxation,  the  merits  of  his  ministerial  character  rest, 
display  an  iridusti  ious  man,  of  official  habits  and  expeiience,  conver- 
sant in  details,  without  lising  to  the  general  principles  of  political 
economy  ;  but  neither  in  their  pluD  nor  execution  do  they  manifest  ar- 

•  See  Life  of  lord  Chatham  ;  History  of  the  lafe  Minority  ;  and  Jiiniiis's  Letter 
to  the  duke  of  [iedtord.  "  Aficr  two  years  siibiTii.s.sio?)  (says  Junius)  yon  thonj^ht 
you  had  collected  a  strength  sufficit-nt  to  control  Ins  influence,  and  that  it  was 
your  turn  to  be  a  Ij  rant,  because  yon  had  been  a  .slave." 

f  See  political  writings  of  \765,pasnm;  also  Junius's  Letter  to  the  duke  of  Bed- 
ford,  in  a  note. 

t  See  the  admirable  character  of  Grenville,  drawn  by  Mr.  Burke,  in  his  speech 
on  American  liXaiion. 


1760.— CiiAr.  I.  liEIGN  OF  GKOKGE  III.  I95 

[Political  character  of  Mr.  Greriville.] 

bitrary  intentions.  In  his  acts  he  did  not  conceive  himselfto  be  vio- 
lating the  rights  of  Biitibh  subjects;  and  in  his  measures  for  the  ope- 
ration of  his  acts,  he  showed  no  intention  nor  disposition  to  give  ilicm 
effect  by  force.  Authentic  history  is  not  justified  in  exiiiljiiing  him 
as  the  promoter  of  ai  bitrary  power;  but  tlie  reviewer  of  his  adminis- 
tration, allowing  him  the  ci  edit  of  an  upriglit  public  steward,  will  dis- 
cern that  he  was  not  a  consummate  statesman,  and  must  regret  that 
political  measures  most  fatal  to  this  country  originated  in  the  minis- 
terial projects  of  Mr.  George  Grenville. 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.V.     1765. 


CHAP.  V. 


His  majesty  continues  to  desire  a  ministry  unconnected  with  party  politics. — Ap- 
plies through  lord  Hute  to  Mr-  Pitt  for  tliat  purpose— Mr.  Pitt's  propositions 
deemed  by  the  soverfig;n  inadmissible. — Frustrated  in  his  grand  object,  the 
king  commissions  tlte  duke  of  Cumberland  to  form  a  ministry. — Tlie  marquis  of 
Hockinglumi  and  the  whig  party  come  into  oflicc. — New  ministry  court  the 
popular  favour— but  want  the  support  and  co-opcriilion  of  Mr.  Pitt. — Sudden 
death  of  tiieir  patron,  the  duke  of  Cumberland. --Change  in  administration  en- 
courages in  America  opposition  to  the  stamp  act. — Colonial  concerts  and  as- 
sociations against  Hritish  commodities. — Outcry  in  Britain  against  i he  stamp 
act. — Meeting  of  Parliament. — American  aflfairs  chief  subjects  of  ministerial 
consideration. — Minister's  plan,  a  declaratory  law,  reserving  tlie  right  of  taxa- 
tion and  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act — plan  adopted — declaratory  law  passed — 
repeal  of  the  stamp  act. — Knckingliam's  ssstem  shows  good  intentions,  but 
temporizing  policy.— Series  of  popular  acts.— Phm  for  the  government  of  Cana- 
da.— Change  of  ministry. — Mr.  Pitt  receives  full  powers  to  form  a  new  admin- 
istration.-\iew  of  aflairs  in  lirilish  India,  from  the  close  of  the  war  with  France 
to  the  grant  of  tlie  Uewannc. — Character  of  the  system  pursued  b^  the  compa- 
nj's  servants  in  India  at  this  period. 

When  the  Grenville  administration  was  drawing  to  a  close,  offers 
had  been  again  madg  lo  Mr.  Pitt,  Bui  that  illustrious'  statesman,  con- 
sidering solely  the  good  of  his  country,  and  proposing  ministers  to  be 
appointed  merely  for  their  fitness,  made  no  allowance  for  pailicular 
predilections,  would  not  accede  to  any  terms  short  of  a  comiilete 
change  of  men,  measures  and  counsels,  and  would  not  even  gratify 
the  court  by  leaving  to  its  appointment  the  subordinate  offices.  His 
majesty  did  not  deem  it  expedient  to  purcliasc  at  such  a  price  even 
the  services  of  Mr.,  Pitt.  The  agent  in  this  last  negotiation  had  been 
the  duke  of  Cumberland,  who  was  now  employed  by  the  king  to  form 
anew  miniiliy.  The  duke  had  himself  been  much  connected  with 
the  whig  parly  ;  of  which  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  being  far  advanced 
in  years,  the  marquis  of  Rockingham,  an  upi  ight,  amiable,  and  well 
disposed  nobleman,  of  vt;ry  great  fortune,  was  now  reckoned  the  head. 
His  highness,  not  having  succeeded  in  his  application  to  Mr.  Pitt, 
made  proposals  to  tlic  marquis  of  Rockingham,  which  he,  without  any 
communication  with  that  great  man,  accepted.  The  marquis  of 
Rockingham  was  made  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  the  duke  of  New- 
castle lord  privy-seal,  Mr.  Dowdeswell  chancelioi-  of  the  exchequer, 
the  duke  of  Giafionand  general  Conway  principal  secretaries  of  state, 
and  the  carl  of  Xoihinglon  chancellor. 

This  administration,  considering  itself  as  the  whig  confederacy, 
•which  had  in  two  preceding  reigns  possessed  the  direction  ofuffair^, 
appeared  dele  imincd  lo  piocecd  upon  the  whig  principles,  and  to 
court  popular  favour;  for  al;ility  or  political  experience  none  of  the 
principal  ministers  were  distinguished  The  severest  accuser  of  lord 
Bute  would  i.ot  pretend  that  the  marcpiis  of  Rockingham  was  raised 
for  his  wisdom,  any  more  than  his  lordsliip;  so  far,  however,  as  pleas- 
ing manners  and  whig  principles,  with  moderate  talents,  fit  a  man 
for  conducting  the  affairs  of  a  great  nation,  the  marquis  was  qualified 


ir65.— Chai'.  V.  lir-lGN  OF  GEOKCJE  III.  197 

[Death  and  character  of  the  duke  of  Cumberland.] 

for  beinsi^  prime  minister.  This  cabinet  did  not  at  first  attain  the 
popularity  which  its  members  expected  from  the  appointment  of  a 
whig  connexion.  Why,  said  the  city  of  London  and  other  numerous 
bodies,  is  not  Mr.  Pitt  at  the  head  of  affairs  ?  The  marquis  ol  Rock- 
ingham may  be  a  very  well  disposed  man,  but  what  are  the  prool^of 
his  political  capacity  and  of  his  being  able  to  remedy  the  many  evils 
that  have  befallen  this  country  since  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Pitt? 
The  public  had  in  fact,  without  perceiving  it,  undergone  a  change  of 
opinion  as  to  the  constituents  of  a  beneficial  administration.  Men  no 
longer  considered  the  question,  Is  or  is  not  the  minister  connected 
Avith  the  great  whig  families  ?  but.  Is  he  or  is  he  not  fit  for  con- 
ducting the  business  of  the  nation  ?  It  was  apprehended  that  the  whig 
party  had  made  its  peace  with  the  secret  junto  by  which,  according 
to  the  prevailing  popular  hypothesis,  the  country  was  governed.  The 
chief  prop  of  this  ministry  was  the  duke  of  Cumberland,  who'was 
himself  a  most  zealous  whig,  with  all  the  principles,  sentiments  and 
prejudices  which  had  distinguished  tliat  parly  during  the  reign  of  his 
father  and  grandfather;  but  this  advantage  they  did  not  long  enjoy: 
on  the  31st  of  October  his  royal  highness  died  suddenly  of  an  apo- 
plexy, in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

William  Augustus  duke  of  Cumberland  was  a  man  of  very  res- 
pectable and  amiable  moral  qualities.  In  the  private  relations  of  life, 
his  conduct  was  highly  meritorious.  He  was  an  affectionate  broth- 
er and  uncle,  a  mild  and  generous  master,  a  sincere  and  ardent  friend, 
and  a  zealous  well  wisher  to  the  interests  of  his  country.  He  was 
charitable  to  the  poor,  liberally  bestowed  alms  on  those  who  could  not 
work  to  earn  their  bread,  and  devised  a  variety  of  employments  for 
those  who  could  labour.  He  was  a  brave,  intrepid  soldier  ;  and  if, 
as  a  general,  he  was  not  very  successful,  his  disappointments  could 
not  be  imputed  to  want  of  resolution,  activity,  or  enterprise.  His 
campaigns  in  Flanders  were,  no  doubt,  less  successful  than  the  ex- 
pectation of  the  country  anticipated  ;  but  those  were  too  sanguine.  It 
was  not  considered  that  his  highness,  when  commander-in-chief  of 
the  allied  army,  was  only  four-and-twenty  years  of  age,  with  few  ante- 
cedent opportunities  of  militcuy  experience,  and  had  to  combat  mar- 
shal Saxe,one  of  the  first  generals  of  the  time,  at  the  head  of  a  more 
powerful  army  than  France  had  ever  before  brought  into  the  field. 
His  conduct  during  the  rebellion  met  with  great  praise.  The  severi- 
ties that  followed  (and  which  the  perverse  malignity  of  Jacobites 
styled  cruelty,  and  no  doubt  exaggerated,*  in  order  to  render  the  heroic 
prince  unpopular)  were  perhaps  salutary  and  beneficial.  Fortune  does 
not  always  attend  the  brave.  The  campaign  which  ended  at  Cloister- 
seven  certainly  was  not  successful  :  his  highness's  retreat,  however, 
saved  a  number  of  brave  men,  who  might  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
French,  had  he  been  rash  enou.gh  to  continue  the  contest.  His  cau- 
tious prudence  preserved  an  army  destined  to  victory  under  another 
general,  and  actually  laid  the  foundation  of  prince  Ferdinand's  suc- 

•  The  report  generally  prevalent  in  Scotland,  concerning  the  stifTerings  of 
rebels  not  brought  to  trial,  are  so  totally  inconsistent  wldi  the  mild  and  benevo- 
lent character  of  the  royal  general,  and  are  founded  on  suppositions  so  repugnant 
to  law,  justice,  and  common  humanity,  that  they  carry  with  them  intrinsic  evi- 
dence of  their  falsehood. 


198  HISTOllY  OF  THE  Chaf.  V.— 1765. 

[Proceedings  in  America.     Congress  at  New  York.] 

cesses.  His  highness,  after  this  event  living  in  retirement,  was  emi- 
nent for  the  exercise  of  the  private  virtues  ;  and  so  liberal,  munificent, 
and  kind  was  lie  to  all  within  the  spliere  of  his  influence,  that,  al- 
though historical  readers  may  perhaps  not  immediately  discover  in 
his  life  the  ground  for  his  usual  title  of  the  gre  t  duke  of  Cumber- 
land, they  can  in  every  pint  of  his  character  find  facts  to  justiiy  the  ap- 
plication of  the  GOOD  duke. 

When  the  change  of  ministry  became  known  in  America,  the 
spirit  which  had  been  long  gathering  burst  into  open  violence;  first 
and  princijially  at  Boston,  and  afterwaids  in  several  of  the  other  colo- 
nies. At  Boston  the  fury  of  the  populace  was  directed  against  the 
officers  of  the  crown;  both  those  who  were  supposed  friendly  to  taxa- 
tion in  general,  and  those  who  were  appointed  for  executing  the 
stamp  act.  Their  houses  were  pillaged,  their  furniture  was  destroy- 
ed, their  oflicial  papers  were  committed  to  the  flames,  and  only  by 
concealment  did  they  save  their  persons.  The  governor  assembled 
the  council  of  the  province,  and  found  no  inclination  in  them  to  sup- 
press the  riots.*  He  attempted  to  muster  some  companies  of  militia 
in  order  to  keep  the  peace  ;  but  they  refused  to  obey  his  orders. 
The  stamp  officer,  seeing  the  danger  of  the  employment  which  he 
was  required  to  exercise,  resigned  his  office.  In  the  other  colonies 
the  disorders  were  not  so  outrageous  as  at  Boston,  but  were  suffi- 
ciently violent  to  frighten  revenue  officers  from  collecting  the  duty 
on  stamps.  No  duty  was  levied,  and  the  act  was  completely  ineffi- 
cient. Deputies  from  nine  of  the  thirteen  colonies  met  at  New  York, 
on  the  first  of  October  1765,  to  hold  a  general  congress. t  After  hav- 
ing spent  several  days  in  debate  and  deliberation,  the  delegates  drew 
up  a  declaration  of  the  rights  and  grievances  of  the  colonies.  Re- 
specting the  first  head,  their  rights^,  they  proceeded  more  on  the  mo- 
derate principles  of  Virginia  and  the  middle  colonies,  than  on  the  vio- 
lent republican  ideas  of  New  England  ;  the  rights  which  they  assert- 
ed, they  claimed  as  British  subjects,  and  according  to  the  British  con- 
stitution. The  declaration  set  forth,  that  they  owed  the  same  alle- 
giance to  the  sovereign  as  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  all  due 
subordination  to  parliament ;  that  they  wtfre  entitled  to  the  same 
rights,  privileges,  and  immunities,  as  their  fellow  subjects  ;  that  no 
taxes  could  be  imposed  upon  free-born  Britons,  but  by  their  own  con- 
sent, or  that  of  their  representatives  ;  that  the  colonies  were  not,  and 
could  not  be,  represented  in  parliament ;  that  the  only  representa- 
tives of  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  were  those  that  were  chosen  by 
themselves;  and  that  no  taxes  had  been  or  could  be  imposed  upon 
them  but  by  their  representatives  ;  that  all  supplies  to  the  crown 
were  free  gifts  from  the  people ;  that,  therefore,  it  was  unreasonable 
in  the  British  parliament  to  grant  the  property  of  the  inhabitants  of 

•  See  Stedman's  History,  p  39. 

f  "  Ti)e  four  colonies  not  represented  in  this  congress  were,  New-Mampshire, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  From  the  lastlliree  of  these,  deputies 
were  not  sent,  because  the  letters  from  Massachusetts  Bay  arrived  during  the  re- 
cess of  their  assemblies,  which  were  not  afterwards  permitted  to  meet  till  the  Ist 
of  October  had  passed  :  and  in  New-IIarnpshire,  the  assembly  did  not  think  fit  to 
appoint  deputies,  althougli  they  approved  of  the  holding  of  a  general  congres*. 
juid  signified  an  inclination  to  join  in  any  petition  that  should  be  agreed  upon  by 
the  deputies  of  the  other  colonics."    8ec  Stcdnian'»  History,  vol.  i.  p.  19. 


1765.— Chap.  V.  KEIGN  OF  GEOHGK  III  I99 

[Resolutions  against  imports  from  nritiiin.     I'lans  of  administration  ] 

the  colonics;  and  finally,  that  trial  by  jnry  was  the  riorht  of  a  British 
subject.  They  next  pioceeclcd  to  ihcii-  icnivuncnt :  the  stamp  act 
tended  to  subvert  the  risjhts  and  liberties  of  the  colonies;  the  duties 
imposed,  iinconstituiif)nal  in  their  principle,  were  oppressive  in  their 
operation,  and  the  paynieni  imprac;ic;jble  ;  the  British  manufactures, 
wliich  they  were  in  tiie  habit  of  purchasing,  contributed  greatly  to  the 
reveniie;  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  late  acts  would  disable  them 
from  purchasing  these  articles,  and  conseqtiently  yvould  materially 
injure  the  revenue  ;  the  inciease  and  prosperity  of  the  co.onies  de- 
pended on  the  fiee  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties:  and  these 
considerations  of  right  and  expediency  they  had  firmly,  but  respect- 
fully, urged  in  memorials  and  pe.iitions  to  the  king  and  both  houses  of 
parliament. 

Besides  the  actual  resolutions  formed,  an  importanfpoint  was  gain- 
ed by  the  meeting  of  this  congress,  in  the  establishment  of  a  corre- 
spondence and  concert  between  the  leading  men  of  the  several  colo- 
nies, which  paved  the  way  for  a  combination,  should  future  circum- 
stances render  their  joint  efforts  necessary  or  expedient.  The  mode- 
ration ot  their  proceedings,  the  alleged  grounds  of  their  claims,  the 
fairness  of  their  professions,  and  the  apparent  respectfulness  of  their 
statements  to  the  king  and  parliament,  manifested  a  sound  policy, 
much  more  formidable  than  tumultuous  violence.  Associations  were 
formed  for  prohibiting  the  importation  of  Biilish  manufactures  until 
the  stamp  act  should  be  repealed.  On  the  1st  of  November,  when 
the  act  was  to  commence,  neither  stamps  nor  distributors  were  to  be 
found.  CommeiceVas  at  a  stand,  because  the  instruments  vi-ere  want- 
ing that  were  now  to  legalize  its  transactions.  The  civil  courts 
could  not  proceed  for  the  same  reason.  The  customs  could  not  be 
levied  :  in  short  there  was  a  general  stagnation  of  business  ;  and  Mr. 
Grenville's  scheme  of  taxation,  so  far  from  improving  the  revenue, 
obstructed  one  of  its  principal  sources. 

In  Britain,  great  clamours  arose  against  the  stamp  act,  and  the  ma- 
nufacturing and  mercantile  interests  promoted  petitions  for  its  repeal. 
The  colonies  were  represented  as  grossly  injured,  and  the  violence 
which  had  been  committed  was  imputed  to  despair.  Britain  itself 
was  in  a  distressed  situation;  manufactures  were  at  a  stand,  com- 
merce was  stagnant,  provisions  were  at  an  enormous  price,  and  a  nu- 
merous populace  without  the  means  of  procuring  a  livelihood.  A 
great  part  of  our  evils  was  imputed  to  the  situation  of  America;  and 
liom  that  cause,  commercial  dillicuUies  were  likely  to  increase;  as 
vast  sums  were  owing  to  British  merchants  from  the  colonies,  which 
the  debtors  declared  an  inability  to  pay  in  their  present  situation. 

American  affairs  were  the  chief  objects  that  engaged  the  attention 
of  the  Rockingham  administration,  whose  situation  was  extremely  de- 
licate and  embarrassing.  On  the  one  hand,  the  Grenville  party,  the 
devisers  of  American  taxation,  and  the  framers  of  the  stamp  act,  in- 
sisted on  coercive  measures:  on  the  other,  Mr.  Pitt  and  his  adhe- 
rents  disavowed  the  right  of  taxing  America,  and  acquiesced  in  the 
revenue  circuitously  derived  from  her  by  commerce.  Ministry  pro- 
posed to  steer  a  middle  course,  which  they  thought  would  neither 
precipitate  disturbances  in  America  by  the  rashness  of  their  counsels, 
nor  degrade  the  dignity  of  the  crown  and  nation  by  irresolution  and 
weakness.     Mr.  secretary  Conway  wroteletters  to  this  purport  to  the 


200  TIISTOltY  OF  THE  Chap,  v.— 1766. 

[Meeting  of  parliament.    Evidence  of  Dr.  Franklin.] 

governors  of  the  chief  colonies,  expressing  at  the  same  time  a  dispo- 
sition to  grant  relief  to  grievances,  and  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the 
British  crown  and  parliament.  He  recommended  to  them  to  try  leni- 
ent measures  ;  but  if  they  ,-hould  fail,  to  use  the  force  with  which 
they  were  intrusted. 

Parliament  met  on  the  16th  of  December,  1765  ;  when  his  majesty 
in  his  speech  took  notice  of  important  occurrences  in  America.  He 
staled,  as  a  reasqn.  for  assembling  the  parliament  before  the  holidays, 
that  numerous  vacancies*  had  taken  place  in  the  house  of  commons, 
which  he  wished  them  to  have  an  opportunity  of  supplying,  that  they 
might  proceed  after  the  recess  to  a  great  variety  of  important  affairs. 
On  the  14th  of  January,  1766,  they  met  after  the  holidays  ;  his  majesty 
again,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne,  treated  chiefly  of  American  af- 
fairs, and  recommended  such  a  temperature  of  policy  as  might  re- 
store harmony  to  the  colonies,  without  detracting  from  the  rights  of 
Britain.  This  was  the  middle  course  which  ministry  adopted,  and  by 
which  they  hoped  to  satisfy  both  the  promoters  and  opposers  of  Ame- 
rican taxation.  The  beginning  of  the  session  was  employed  in  exa- 
mininga  great  variety  of  petitions  both  from  Americans  and  from  Bri- 
tish merchants  and  manufacturers  ;  the  object  of  which  was,  to  estab- 
lish the  evils  that  resulted  from  the  stamp  act.  The  original  propo- 
sers of  the  tax  contended,  that  these  petitions  were  procured  by  mi- 
nisterial artifice;  but  that,  even  if  trade  had  suffered  to  the  degree 
alleged  in  those  petitions,  it  would  be  better  to  submit  to  a  temporary 
inconvenience,  than  by  a  repeal  of  the  act  to  hazard  the  total  loss  of 
British  supremacy.  ^ 

To  ascertain  the  grounds  of  the  petitions  and  complaints,  and  also 
other  important  facts  respecting  the  colonies,  witnesses  were  exam- 
.  ined  by  parliament  ;  and  of  these,  the  most  distinguished  was  Benja- 
min Franklin.  Bred  a  printer,  this  extraordinary  man,  through  re- 
nins and  industry  regulated  and  directed  by  judgment,  rose  to  a  high 
pinnacle  of  physical  diacovery  :  he  soon  showed,  that  the  mind  which 
could  elicit  fire  from  the  heavens,  could  converge  xmd  reverberate 
the  rays  of  moral  and  political  light.  He  had  visited  and  inspected 
the  greater  part  of  the  colonies,  was  well  acquainted  with  the  best  in- 
formed and  ablest  men  in  all,  and  none  was  conceived  more  accurately 
to  know  the  circumstances  of  the  colonies  and  the  dispositions  of  the 
people,  or  more  ably  to  comjirelicnd  the  policy  which  in  such  circum- 
stances and  dispositions  would  be  most  suitable  and  beneficial.  High- 
ly estimated  among  his  coimtrymen,  he  had  been  appointed  the  pro- 
vincial agent  for  representing  to  the  British  government  the  evils 
that  must  accrue  from  the  new  system  of  taxation.  The  Grenville 
ministry  litUe  regarded  statements  lending  to  demonstrate  the  impo- 
licy of  their  own  measures.  By  the  Rockingham  admi)iistration  his 
accounts  were  very  differently  received,  and  he  was  called  to  give  evi- 
dence before  liie  house  of  commons.  His  testimony  tended  to  prove, 
that  the  colonists  were  well  affected  to  the  parent  country,  and  con- 
sidered the  interciils  of  Britain  and  America  so  closely  connected, 
that  they  could  not  be  separated  witliout  the  greatest  loss  to  both 
parties.  Impressed  as  they  were  with  this  truth,  and  attached  to  the 
parent  country,  theirs  was  the  affection  of-  British  subjects,  enjoying 

•  By  the  new  appoihtnients  and  the  change  of  ministry. 


1/66.— Chap.  V.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  201 

[Arguments  of  the  opponents  and  advocates  of  American  taxation.] 

constitutional  rights  :  the  new  system  of  taxation  and  the  stamp  act 
they  deemed  flagrant  violations  of  those  rights,  and  would  not  submit 
to  the  present  act,  or  any  other  proceeding  from  the  same  principle, 
unless  they  were  compelled;  a  conciliatory  system,  therefore,  begin- 
ning with  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  would  re-establish  tranquillity 
and  harmony.  Such  was  the  substance  of  Franklin's  evidence  ;  and 
from  its  intrinsic  prubabili'y  and  consistency,  as  well  as  the  character 
of  the  witness,  it  made  a  very  strong  impression  both  on  parliament 
and  the  public. 

Those  who  were  friendly  to  a  repeal  consisted  of  two  parties  :  the 
friends  of  ministry,  who  maintained  the  right  of  American  taxation, 
although  they  supported  the  expediency  of  rescinding  that  particuiai- 
act ;  and  the  votaries  of  Mr.  Pm,  who  entirely  denied  to  parliament 
the  right  of  taxation.  The  question  resolved  itself,  therefore,  into 
two  divisions  :  1st,  whether  Britain  possessed  the  right  of  taxing  the 
colonies  or  not  ?  2dly,  whether  the  stamp  act  was  or  was  not  expedient? 
The  first  question  depending  chiefly  upon  great  and  constitutional 
principles,  aff"orded  an  ample  field  for  political  reasoning.  The  de- 
niers  of  the  right  of  taxation,  after  prefatory  remarks  on  the  nature 
and  end  of  government,  and  the  component  principles  of  just  and  be- 
neficial polity,  took  a  view  of  the  constitution  of  England  in  the  means 
that  it  has  established  for  levying  taxes.  Tracing  our  history  up  to 
the  earliest  times,  and  pursuing  it  downwards,  they  contended  that 
no  British  subject  had  been  taxed  but  by  himself  or  his  representa- 
tives :  and  that  this  right  the  planters  of  colonies  carried  with  them 
■when  they  emigrated,  not  as  a  specific  charter  granted  to  those  colo- 
nies, but  as  a  general  right  of  British  subjects.  The  operation  of  this 
right  they  illustrated  in  a  great  variety  of  instances  ;  they  endeavour- 
ed at  the  same  time  to  make  a  distinction  between  what  they  called 
external  duties,  that  is,  restrictions  on  commerce  ;  and  internal,  to  be 
levied  on  the  body  of  the  people.  They  adduced  various  arguments 
from  the  practice  of  ancient  states  ;  and  quoted  modern  instances  of 
the  impolicy  of  coercive  measures  and  taxation  on  colonies. 

The  arguments  in  favour  of  taxation  were  less  forcible,  though 
more  extensive  and  detailed,  and  supported  by  a  great  variety  of  al- 
leged precedents  as  well  as  instances.  The  British  constitution  was 
in  a  fluctuating  state  ;  and  many  things  which  were  once  constitution- 
al were  no  longer  so  now.  Various  taxes  had  been  raised,  contrary 
to  law,  by  forced  benevolences,  ship  inoiiey,  and  other  means;  and 
the  connexion  between  the  representation  and  taxation  could  not  stand 
the  test  of  historical  inquiry  :  representation  was  very  arbitrary  and 
accidental;  whereas  taxation  was  general.  There  was  in  the  diff'er- 
ent  colonies  a  diversity  of  forms  and  regulations,  which  all  showed  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  mother  country,  exerting  itself  as  might  best  an- 
swer the  circumstances  of  the  case;  and  heretofore  duties  had  been 
levied  without  the  least  opposition.  The  navigation  act  shut  up  their 
commerce  with  foreign  countries;  but  did  they  ever  question  the  le- 
gality of  that  act  ?  Their  ports  were  made  subject  to  duties  which 
cramped  and  diminished  their  trade,  yet  it  never  was  maintained  that 
this  impost  was  illegal.  The  distinction  between  internal  and  exter- 
nal taxes  was  totally  unfounded  ;  if  a  tax  were  laid  on  any  article  at 
the  ports  of  New-England,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  or  any  other  colo- 
ny, its  operation  would  be  as  much  felt  as  if  it  were  raised  in  the  in- 

VoL.  VIL— 26 


20)^  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.  V.— 1766 

[Speech  of  Mr.  Pitt.     Repeal  of  tlie  stamp  act] 

land  part  of  the  country.  Respecting  the  representation  in  parliament, 
the  Americans  were  as  much  represented  as  the  g-eatcst  part  of  the 
people  of  England.  America,  it  was  alleged  by  the  Grenviile  paity, 
never  could  have  objected  to  taxation,  unless  they  had  been  encou- 
raged by  the  seditious  doctrines,  recently  so  prevalent  in  England. 
The  question  was  not  now,  what  was  law,  and  what  7t'a<  the  constitu- 
tion ?  but,  what  in  law,  and  what  is  the  constitution  ?  If  a  practice 
had  generally  prevailed,  had  been  held  to  be  law,  and  never  had 
been  questioned,  as  a  number  of  precedents  proved  this  to  be,  it  be- 
came law  and  the  constitution  by  that  very  admission.  Various  sta- 
tutes rcspectini;  Chester,  Durham,  and  other  places,  were  quoted, 
particularly  by  Mr.Gienville,  to  support  the  practice  of  taxing  without 
representation.  Protection  and  obedience  were  reciprocal  :  we  pro- 
tected America,  therefore  she  was  bound  to  obt-y  this  counvry,  and  she 
must  either  obey  in  all  points,  or  in  none.  When  was  America  eman- 
cipated ?   Was  she  not  still  dependent  on  the  mother  country  ? 

Mr.  Pitt,  who  had  spoken  with  his  usual  ability  on  the  opposite  side, 
replied  to  Mr.  Grenviile,  and  demonstrated  the  absurdity  of  arguing 
on  judicial  precedents  in  great  questions  of  legislative  policy  "I 
come  not  here  (he  said)  armed  at  all  points  with  law  cases  and  acts  of 
parliament,  with  the  statute  book  doul)Icd  down  in  dogs  cars,  to  defend 
the  cause  of  liberty  but  for  the  defence  of  liberty,  upon  a  general 
constitutional  principle;  it  is  a  ground  on  which  I  stand  firm  ;  on 
■which  I  dare  meet  any  man  "  He  contended,  that  if  America  had 
yielded  to  taxation  by  the  British  parliament,  in  which  she  was  not 
represented,  she  would  yield  to  slavery  ;  and  thatamyriad  of  judicial 
decisions  could  not  make  slavery  liberty,  nor  agreeable  to  the  consti- 
tution of  England.  He  insisted  that  there  was  a  dilTercnce  between 
internal  and  external  taxation  ;  the  first  being  imposed  lor  the  express 
purpose  of  raising  a  revenue,  and  the  second  for  that  of  regulating 
commeice.  Mr.  Grenviile  had  asked,  when  were  the  colonies  eman- 
cifiaed?  "When  said  Mr,  Pitt)  were  they  made  slaves?  America 
has  produced  to  this  country,  through  a  trade  in  all  its  branches,  a  re- 
venue of  two  millions  a  year  :  this  is  the  price  that  America  pays  you 
for  protection.  Are  the  proceeds  of  the  stamp  act  to  indemnify  us 
for  the  loss  of  that  revenue?  and,  as  she  has  shown  a  determination  to 
resist,  how  are  you  to  render  your  stamp  act  eflicient  ?  Is  it  by  force  ? 
force  will  destroy  the  value  of  the  ol^jcci  fur  which  you  are  contending: 
the  event  will  be  extremely  precarious, and  even  success  destructive  : 
if  America  falls,  she  will  fall  like  the  strong  man,  and  with  her  pull 
down  the  pillarb  of  the  constitution."  On  these  grounds,  Ik-  proposed 
that  the  stamp  act  shov.;ld  be  absolutely,  totally,  and  immediately  re- 
pealed. 

Ministry  introduced  a  prefatory  bill,  declaring  that  Britain  had  a 
right  ic  tax  Anicrica.  The  declaratory  act  passed  in  the  beginning 
of  March ;  ai»d  on  the  18ih  the  stamp  act  was  repealed,  by  a  majority 
of  275  to  167.*  Some  lime  after,  another  bill  was  passed  to  indem- 
nify those  who  had  incurred  penalties  on  account  of  the  stamp  act. 

The  great  oliject  of  the  Rockingham  ministry  appears  to  have  been 
popularity.  The  cider  tax  had  been  most  undeservedly  unpopular. 
To  court  the  favour  of  the  people,  they  proposed  and  procured  the 
repeal  of  this  tax,  though  equitable  and  productive.     Resolutions  of 

•  See  parliamentary  journals^ 


iree.—CHAp.  \.  ueign  of  geouge  hi.  20ti 

[Overtures  to  Mr.  Pitt  for  the  formation  of  a  new  ministry.] 

the  house  were  passed,  declaring  the  illegality  of  general  warrants 
and  the  seizure  of  papers.  They  proposed  and  procured  an  act  for 
restraining  the  importalion  of  foreign  silks,  and  thereby  excited  the 
joyful  gratitude  of  the  English  manufacturers.  The  price  of  corn 
still  continuing  high,  provisions  were  made  for  preventing  monopoly 
and  exports,  and  piocuring,  by  importation,  a  more  liberal  supply. 
They  promoted  the  extension  of  trade,  especially  by  a  commercial 
treaty  with  Russia.  Notwithstanding  these  popular  and  beneficial 
acts,  the  ministry  could  not  acquire  credit,  strength,  and  stability. 
The  votaries  of  the  hypothesis  concerning  secret  inlluence  represent- 
ed them  as  the  tools  of  lord  Bute,  who  employed  them  until  a  more 
efficient  cabinet  could  be  formed,  and  would  soon  abandon  them 
when  no  longer  necessary  for  his  purpose.  The  partisans  of  Mr. 
Pitt,  and  those  who  from  patriotism  wished  the  reins  of  government 
to  be  placed  in  the  ablest  hands,  desired  that  he  should  bepiime 
minister;  and  before  the  termination  of  the  session,  a  great  majority 
of  the  nation  wished  and  expected  a  speedy  change  of  ministry. 
Their  immediate  dissolution  is  generally  believed  to  have  been  ac- 
celerated by  the  chancellor  Northington.  After  the  prorogation  of 
parliament,  ministers  projected  a  plan  for  the  civil  goveri.ment  of 
Canaila.  The  new  system  proposed  to  leave  to  the  natives  their  an- 
cient rights  of  property  or  civil  laws,  and  to  temper  the  rigour  of  theii; 
criminal  code  by  the  more  equitable  and  liberal  system  of  English  ju- 
risprudence. The  chancellor  represented  the  scheme  as  theoretical, 
visionary,  and  totally  unworthy  of  practical  statesmen  ;  and  declared 
he  could  no  longer  be  member  of  so  incapable  an  administration.  His 
majesty  was  convinced  of  their  incompetency  to  carry  on  with  bene- 
ficial effect  the  functions  of  administration.  He  made  overtures  to 
Mr.  Pitt,  containing  ample  powers  to  form  a  ministry,  and  on  the 
12th  of  July  the  administration  of  the  marquis  of  Rockingham  ter- 
minated. 

Rockingham's  ministry  had  been  formed  on  a  principle  which  pre- 
vailed during  the  greater  part  of  the  two  preceding  reigns.  It  was 
conjposed  of  what  was  called  the  tvhig  connexion^  but  certainly  show- 
ed neither  ability  nor  efficiency  that  could  make  it  permanent.  The 
extraordinary  powers  of  Burke,  which  were  employed  in  its  defence, 
endeavoured  to  impute  its  dissolution  to  the  interior  cabinet,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  he  assumed,  and  the  fancied  operation  of  which  he 
described  with  such  strength  and  brilliancy.*  But  it  really  fell  from 
its  own  weakness  :  in  the  most  important  offices  there  was  neither 
great  talents,  political  knowledge,  nor  official  experience.  The  mar- 
quis himself  was  a  very  upright  and  disinterested  man,  and  his  co- 
leagues  possessed  fair  and  respectable  characters  ;  but  they  do  not 
appear  to  have  acted  from  their  own  judgment :  they  wished  to  please 
all  parties,  a  sentiment  indicating  more  of  an  amiable  disposition  than 
of  profound  wisdom,  and  leading  to  indecisive  and  consequently  inef- 
fectual measures.  Of  this  kind  was  their  principal  policy,  that  as- 
certained the  character  of  their  administration — the  law  which  declar- 
ed the  British  right  of  taxing  America,  and  the  repeal  of  the  stamp 
act.t     Their  less  important  measures  were  popular  rather  than  able. 

•  In  his  Thoughts  on  the  Discontents. 
The  reader  will,  I  hope,  pardon  me  for  repeating  what  I  had  formerly  writ 


;i04  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  V.— 1766. 

[Affairs  of  India.    Transactions  in  Bengal] 

They  certainly  were  very  moderate  in  the  bestowal  of  lucrative  ap- 
pointmentb  on  themselves  or  their  friends;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  claims  on  public  gratitude  were  not  great.  Perhaps,  indeed,  it 
will  be  difficult  to  find,  in  the  history  of  mini*>ters,  a  set  of  mm  more 
respectable  for  private  characters,  or  more  inefficient  as  public  ser- 
vants, than  the  marquis  of  Rockingham's  administration. 

Before  v.e  proceed  with  British  affairs,  it  is  necessary  to  take  a 
view  of  India.  On  the  coasts  of  Coromandel  and  Mulabar,  we  have 
brought  the  narrative  of  those  India  transactions  in  which  France  was 
concerned,  to  the  close  of  the  war.  Those  of  Bengal,  to  which  her 
power  and  influence  in  the  last  years  of  hostiliiies  very  little  extend- 
ed,  we  have  not  pursued  to  so  late  a  period,  but  left  them  at  the 
perfect  establishment  of  the  company's  power.  Meer  Jaffier  Ally 
Cawn,  the  viceroy  of  these  provinces,  elevated  by  the  English,  and 
dependent  on  them,  found  himself  by  his  elevation  surrounded  by  dif- 
ficulties and  dangers.  The  relations  of  his  deposed  predecessor  re- 
garded with  resentment  the  man  whom  they  deemed  the  nmrderer  of 
their  kinsman,  and  the  usurper  of  his  power.  The  sums  stipulated 
to  indemnify  the  English  hud  cxhuusted  his  treasury;  and  the  com- 
mercial privileges  granted  to  them,  diminislied  the  revenue  by  which 
he  might  have  repaired  his  finances.  To  relieve  his  necessities,  he 
betook  himself  to  unwarrantable  and  tyrannical  methods  of  levying 
money,  and  thus  lost  the  affections  of  his  subjects.  From  the  indi- 
gence and  dissatisfaction  of  his  people,  he  was  u.^able  to  procure  or 
extort  the  supplies  that  he  required ;  his  troops  wei  e  ill  paid  and  use- 
less; and  his  principal  lords  not  only  resisted  his  arbitrary  exac- 
tions, but  refused  the  just  and  accustomed  tribute.  Thus  distressed, 
he  tried  to  relieve  himself  by  infringing  on  the  privileges  and  ex- 
emptions granted  to  the  servants  of  the  India  Company,  and  thereby 
alienated  the  affections  of  those  who  alcne  were  able  to  defend  him 
against  his  enemies.  In  the  year  1758,  the  mogul  or  emperor  of  Hin- 
dostan  had  been  deposed  by  a  conspiracy,  headed  by  the  vizier,  and 
assisted  by  the  Mahraiias,  and  not  long  after  his  deposition,  he  died 
in  prison.  His  eldest  son.  Shah  Zadda,  endeavoured  to  assert  his  right 
to  the  throne  of  Hindostan,  and  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Law,  a  French 

(en  on  this  subject,  as  it  illustrates  the  grounds  on  which  1  formed  a  judgrnent  of 
the  marquis  ofltockingham's  ministry. — "An  attempt  to  satisfy  two  parliesof  to- 
tally contrary  views,  by  not  deciding  tlie  point  at  issue,  is  rarely  either  the  off- 
spring of  wisdom,  or  the  parent  of  success.  Such  temporizing  indecision  gene- 
rally dissatisfies  both  parties,  and  keeps  the  differences  alive.  The  stamp  act 
had  been  opposed  in  America,  not  as  inexpedient,  but  as  unjust.  They  had  not 
pretended  tliey  could  not  pay  the  impost,  but  that  the  imposers  had  no  right  to 
tax.  Litlier  tfu'  stamp  act  was  a  grievance,  or  was  not:  if  a  grievance,  the  re- 
dress did  noi apply  to  the  subject  ot  coniplainl :  if"  not  a  grievance,  why  ofler  re- 
dress? It  the  objections  of  the  colonies  were  groundless,  it  would  have  been 
just  in  par'ianicnl  to  disregard  them  ;  and  wise  or  unwise,  according  to  the  value 
of  the  object,  means  of  coercion,  and  probable  result.  If  liie  riglit  was  ascertain- 
ed, and  \\e  thought  coercion  prudent,  Ific  repeal  would  be  absurd;  if  not,  the 
declaration  of  riglit  would  be  a  mere  impotent  bravado.  If  the  complaints  of  A- 
merica  were  well  grounded,  then  it  woidd  have  been  jii.sl  and  wise  to  renounce 
the  exercise  of  an  unjust  power.  Here  was  tlie  maiiitenancc:  of  an  obnoxious 
speculative  principle,  with  the  abandonment  of  practical  benefit,  for  which  only 
it  could  deserve  support.  The  declaratory  law  tended  to  oouuteract,  in  America, 
the  cflects  of  the  repeal  The  measures  of  the  Ko'.l<i;ic;|,:im  administration  were 
esteemed  the  result  of  good  intentions,  but  of  feeble  and  short  sighted  policy." 
Life  of  Uurke,  Ist  edition,  j).  70. 


1766.— Chap.  V.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  Ilf  205 

[New  x'evolution  in  Bengal] 

gentleman,  who,  with  about  two  hundred  of  his  countrymen,  after  tho 
conquest  of  the  French  setllemenls  in  Bengal  by  the  English,  had  re- 
tired among  the  natives.  Shah  Zadda  marched  toward  the  frontiers 
of  Bengal  Ramnorain,  the  nabob,  or  governor  of  Palna,  within  Jaf- 
fier's  viceroyalty,  had  refused  to  acknowledge  his  authority,  until  the 
approach  of  colonel  Clive  and  the  English  army  intimidated  him  to 
submission.  When  Shah  Zadda  readied  the  vicinity  of  Patna,  Ram- 
norain thought  the  present  a  good  opportunity  to  render  himself  in- 
dependent of  the  viceroy  of  Bengal,  and  declared  for  the  prince  of 
Hindostan.  Jaffier  was  again  obliged  to  apply  to  the  English  coun- 
cil. Colonel  Clive  marched  towards  Patna;  Ramnorain  proposed  to 
return  to  his  allegiance  ;  and  Shah  Zadda  retired,  sending  at  the  same 
time  a  letter  to  colonel  Clive,  representing  his  distressed  situation, 
and  declaring  that  he  did  not  mean  to  disturb  Jaffier's  government, 
but  wished  to  collect  a  force  against  the  Uaurperof  his  father's  throne. 
Colonel  Clive,  finding  on  inquiry  that  it  would  be  impolitic  to  inter- 
fere in  his  behalf,  sent  him  a  very  polite  answer,  declining,  in  the 
company's  name,  to  take  any  share  in  the  dispute  concerning  the  suc- 
cession. Soon  after,  on  the  14ih  of  January,  1760,  colonel  Clive  re- 
signed the  command  to  colonel  Caillaud,  and  returned  to  Europe. 

Shah  Zadda,  despairing  of  assistance  from  the  English,  took  the 
advantage  of  the  interval  between  the  departure  of  colonel  Clive  and 
the  arrival  of  his  successor.  Attacking  and  defeating  Ramnorain, 
he  besieged  Patna ;  but  colonel  Caillaud,  with  the  European  troops, 
having  come  to  its  relief,  he  raised  the  siege.  The  prince,  now  by 
the  death  of  his  father  declared  emperor  of  Hindostan,  by  the  name 
of  Shah  Allum,  was  assailed  by  the  British  and  Bengal  troops,  and  en- 
tirely defeated. 

In  the  summer  of  1760,  Mr.  Vansittart  arrived  at  Calcutta  as  gov- 
ernor-general, and  successor  to  colonel  Clive,  when  a  new  scheme  of 
politics  was  adopted.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  council,  that  the  war 
in  support  of  Meer  Jaffier  was  extremely  imprudent ;  that  he  was  un- 
worthy of  the  protection  of  the  English;  that  he  was  altogether  des- 
titute of  gratitude  for  the  favours  which  he  had  received  ;  that  he  and 
his  son  were  endeavouring  to  dissolve  the  connexion  ;  that  the  young 
mogul's  affairs  wore  a  favourable  aspect  in  his  own  country;  that  it 
would  be  wise  in  the  company  to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  the  heredi- 
tary prince ;  and  that  if  established  on  the  throne  of  Delhi,  he  might 
be  a  most  beneficial  ally.  To  this  alliance,  the  enmity  between  Shah 
Allum  and  Jaffier  was  a  great,  but,  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  council, 
not  an  insuperable  obstacle.  It  appeared  to  the  governor-general  and 
council  of  Calcutta,  that  Jaffier  was  totally  unfit  for  the  viceroyalty  ; 
and  therefore  it  was  expedient  that  he  should  have  a  protector,  invest- 
ed with  full  powers  to  guide  him  to  the  best  and  most  salutary  coun- 
sels. The  fittest  person  for  this  office  was  conceived  to  be  Cossim 
Ally  Khan,  son-in  law  to  the  viceroy;*  to  arrange  and  execute  the 
proposed  change,  therefore,  governor  Vansittart  and  colonel  Caillaud 
marched  to  Moorshedabad,  surrounded  his  palace,  and  demanded  that 
he  should  dismiss  evil  counsellors,  and  instantly  place  his  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  his  son-in-law  ;  threatening,  in  case  of  refusal,  to 
storm  the  palace.  Jaffier,  knowing  that  he  was  incapable  of  resistance 

*  His  own  son  had  been  killed  by  a  flash  of  lightning. 


206  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chip.  V.  -1766 

[Cossim  Ally  Khun.    Preparations  for  war.] 

against  such  force,  yielded  to  their  request,  and  beseeched  them  to 
grant  him  an  asylum  in  Calcutta  ;  to  which  they  assented,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  would  entirely  abdicate  the  viceroyalty  Cossim  was  pro- 
claimed subali  of  the  three  provinces,  havinj^  previously  stipulated, 
as  a  recompense  for  this  ^reat  service  done  to  the  provinces,  the  en- 
tire resiijnaiion  to  the  India  company  of  a  consideiable  part  of  the 
revenue.  Tlie  new  viceroy  generously  bestowed  a  present  for  the 
use  of  the  army,  amounint;;  to  five  lacks  of  rupees,  about  62  500'.  and 
further  added  a  ij;ift  of  twenty  lacks  of  rupees,  about  225,000'.  to  gene- 
ral Vansittait,  and  three  other  members  of  a  select  committee  which 
had  concerted  the  plan.  There  were,  however,  members  of  the  coun- 
cil, and  others,  who  did  not  approve  of  these  transactions.  Juffier's 
viceroyalty  had  been  guaranteed  by  a  treaty,  of  which  there  was  no 
evidence  to  show  any  violation  on  his  part,  no  proof  that  he  hac*  con- 
spired against  the  English  interest.  Nothing  cot.ducue  to  the  gene- 
ral advantage  of  the  company  could  be  rationally  expected  from  such 
a  revolution,  as  no  successor  could  ])e  more  completely  subject  to 
tlicm,  from  his  want  of  personal  capacity  or  iinportance  :  and  this  last 
reasoning  was  found  by  experience  to  be  just 

Cossim  Ally  Khan  was  of  a  character  very  different  from  that  of  his 
father-in-law.  Bold,  subtle,  enterprising,  and  ingenious,  he  conceived 
the  design  of  freeing  himself  from  dependence  on  the  English.    Not 
ascribing  to  generosity,  services  for  which  he  had  paid  so  high  a  price, 
he  did  not  think  that  he  owed  a  return  of  gratitude.     Thontrh  deter- 
mined, however,  to  attempt  his  own  entancipation,  he  did  not  pre- 
cipitately discover  his  intentions.     He  availed  himself  of  their  as- 
sistance, defeated  Shah  Allum,  and  drove  him  from  the   frontiers  of 
his  province.      He  also  reduced  the  refractory  rajahs,  who  had  icl^el- 
led  against  the  feeble  administration  of  Jciffier,  and  compelled  them 
to  make  good  the   payment  of  their  tribute  ;   repaired  the  exhausted 
Tinances,    conilrmed    the  discipline  and  fidelity  of   his  troops,  and 
brought  Iiis  territories  to  peace  and  obedience.  Having  thus  secured 
himself  at  home,  he  began  to  prepare  for  shaking  off  his  dependence 
on  the  English.     He  first  removed  from   Moorshedabad,  where   his 
conduct,  from  his  vicinity  to  Calcutta,  was  exposed  to  the  vigilant 
and  jealous  inspection  of  the  company;  and  in  1761,  pitched  his  re- 
sidence at  Moogheer,  two  hundred  miles  farther   up  the    Ganges, 
which  he  strongly  fortified.     He  also  began  to  new  model  his  army, 
and  tried  to  overcome  the  timidity  that  made  them  stand  so  much  in 
awe  of  British  soldiers.     Sensible  of  the  superiority  of  lluropean  dis- 
r.ipline,  he  studied  it  with  great  attention,  taught  it  to  his  soldiers, 
and  introduced  the  European  modes  and  construction  of  fire-arms. 
He  changed  the  muskets  from  match-locks  to  fire-locks ;  and,  alter- 
ing the  cannon,  formed,  according  to  the  English  pattern,  a  powerful 
train  of  artillery.  Aware  of  the  nuschicfs  from  treachery,  so  frequent 
in  India,  he  endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  chief  men  of  his  court,  and 
confined  or  cut  off  those  whom  he  apprehended  to  be  insincere.  Hav- 
ing thus  strengthened  himself,  he  began  gradually  to  throw  off  the 
musk.     Ill  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1762,  he  insisted  that  the  Eng- 
lish private  traders  should  be  subjected  to  tlie  regular  payment  of  du- 
ties throughout  his  dominions.     This  step  alarmed  the  factory,  and 
Mr.  Van.sittart  himself  went  up  to  Mongheer,  to  expostulate  with  him 
on  the  subject.     The  viceroy  answered  with  great  firmness,  that  if 


1766.— Chap.  V.  KEIGN  OF  GLOHGE  Ilf.  207 

[Military  operations.    Defeat  of  Cossim.j 

the  Enp;lish  were  permitted  to  trade  without  paying  of  customs,  they 
would  in  time  monopolize  the  commerce  of  his  country,  and  conse- 
quently annihilate  that  part  of  his  revenue.  Should  this  be  the  case, 
it  would  be  much  more  for  his  interest  to  lay  his  trade  entirely  open, 
which  would  draw  a  greater  number  of  merchants  into  his  dominions, 
promote  the  sale  of  their  produce  and  manufactures,  enrich  his  terri- 
tories, and  improve  his  revenue.  He  added  that  it  would  also  effec- 
tually cut  off  the  principal  subjects  of  dispute  between  him  and  the 
English,  an  object  which  he  professed  to  have  very  much  at  heart. 
The  governor,  sensible  that  an  open  trade  was  in  the  viceroy's  pow- 
er, and  that  it  would  be  a  great  loss  to  the  private  traffic  of  the  com- 
pany's servants,  thought  it  expedient  to  agree  to  certain  restrictions. 
The  factory  of  Calcutta,  informed  of  this  agreement,  was  enraged  ; 
and  it  was  now  generally  regretted  that  Jaffier  had  not  been  suffered 
to  continue  upon  his  throne.  On  the  17th  of  January,  1763,  the  coun- 
cil ot  Calcutta  publicly  disavowed  the  treaty  concluded  by  the  gov- 
ernor, not  only  as  having  been  made  without  authority,  but  as  being 
dishonourable  to  the  English  name  and  pernicious  to  the  English  in- 
terest. Great  disputes  arose,  commerce  was  interrupted,  and  appli- 
cations were  made  to  Cossim  to  enter  into  a  new  agreement ;  but  con- 
fident of  his  strength,  he  peremptorily  refused,  and  even  returned  u 
very  haughty  answer:  both  sides  now  prepared  for  war. 

The  English  struck  the  first  blow,  by  surprising  Patna  on  the  25th 
of  June  (763;  but  the  conquerors,  despising  the  enemy  too  much, 
neglected  prudent  precautions.  In  their  eagerness  to  pillage  that 
opulent  city,  they  dispersed  themselves  on  every  side.  The  Indian 
governor,  informed  of  the  disorder  of  the  enemy,  and  re  enforced  by 
the  country,  returned  to  Patna,  attacked  the  scattered  English,  de- 
stroyed many  of  them,  and  compelled  the  rest  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
fort.  Finding  themselves  unable  to  defend  the  place,  they  abandoned 
it,  crossed  the  Ganges,  and  marched  downwards  toward  Calcutta. 
On  the  first  of  July  they  were  overtaken  by  the  enemy  in  great  force, 
and  after  an  obstinate  resistance,  entirely  defeated.  About  this  time 
the  deputies  that  had  been  sent  to  iVlongheer,  returned  to  the  presi- 
dency, and  were,  with  their  attendants,  treacherously  murdered.  Ma- 
jor Adams  now  took  the  field,  with  one  regimentof  the  king's  forces, 
a  few  of  the  company's,  two  troops  of  European  cavalry,  ten  companies 
of  sepoy3|  and  twelve  pieces  ol  cannon.  The  English  commander 
was  anxi*us|y  desirous  to  bring  the  enemy  to  battle  ;  and,  l)y  his  ju- 
dicious manoeuvres,  succeeded  (July  19)  in  compelling  them  to  an 
action  at  Ballasora  on  the  Ganges,  about  forty  miles  below  Moor- 
shedabad.*  Cossim's  troops,  elated  with  recent  victory  and  improv- 
ed in  discipline,  received  the  Europeans  with  great  firmness,  but 
were  at  lusl  completely  defeated.  Maj'n-  Adams  losing  no  time,  pro- 
ceeded immediately  to  Moorshedabad,  but  found  a  considerable  body 
of  the  enemy  intrenched  before  the  place.  Their  intrenchments 
were  fifteen  feet  high,  and  defended  by  numerous  artillery:  the 
English  commander,  therefore,  had  recourse  to  stratagem.  On  the 
23d  of  July,  in  the  evening,  with  a  small  body,  he  made  a  feint  of  an 

•  The  reader,  who  has  not  attended  minutely  to  the  geograpliv  of  Bengal, 
■vill  be  pleased  to  observe,  that  this  is  not  BaUasore,  which  is  atttie  njouth  oftlie 
'ianges. 


208  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  V.— 1766. 

[Cossim  expelled  from  Bengal,  seeks  refuge  in  Oude.] 

attack  upon  the  part  where  the  enemy  was  strongest;  and  the  same 
night,  while  the  Indians  were  amused  on  that  side,  he  led  the  main 
body  of  his  troops  round  to  the  weakest  and  least  defensive  part  of  the 
intrenchmentb.  The  Indians  in  the  morning,  astonished  and  frigh- 
tened by  tnis  mo\cment,  abandoned  their  position,  and  left  Moor- 
shedabad  to  the  English.  Miijor  Adams,  without  slackening  his  dili- 
gence, pursued  the  viceroy  through  marshes  and  forests,  across  many 
wide  branches  of  the  Ganges.  Cossim,  with  great  judgment,  ab- 
staining from  a  decisive  engagement,  defended  his  dominions  post  by 
post,  and  in  various  detachments.  On  the  2d  of  August,  however, 
they  were  so  strongly  stationed  on  the  bank-)  of  Nullas.  one  of  the 
tributary  rivers  of  the  Ganges,  that  they  resolved  to  await  the  attack 
of  the  enemy  A  very  obstinate  battle  took  place,  in  which  at  last, 
the  English  obtained  the  victory.  The  Indians  agam  made  a  stand 
at  a  strong  fort  called  Audanulla,  covered  in  front  by  a  considerable 
swamp,  on  one  side  by  mountains,  and  on  the  other  by  the  river.  To 
this  natural  security,  they  added  very  strong  fortifications,  amounting 
to  100  pieces  of  cannon,  and  surrounded  l)y  a  deep  ditch,  fifty-four 
feet  wide,  and  full  of  water,  except  on  the  side  of  the  mountains. 
The  only  dry  ground  by  which  the  English  could  carry  on  their  ap- 
proaches, was  a  small  part  between  the  swamp  and  the  river.  Having 
invested  the  place  on  this  side  for  a  fortnight,  without  much  progress, 
major  Adams  tried  another.  Observing  that  the  Indians,  who  trusted 
to  its  remoteness  and  natural  strength,  were  negligent  on  the  side  of 
the  mountain,  he  detached,  during  the  night  of  the  4ih  September, 
major  Irvine,  to  attack  that  post ;  and  before  day-break,  followed  with 
the  rest  of  his  troops.  By  this  unexpected  movement  the  Indians 
were  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion  :  the  intrenchments  were  car- 
ried sword  in  hand,  and  great  slaughter  ensued.  They  abandoned 
the  place,  and  made  no  farther  stand  until  they  came  to  Monghecr, 
the  viceroy's  residence.  Major  Adams  followed  them,  and  on  the 
2dol  October  invested  the  town,  which,  after  nine  days  siege,  surren- 
dered at  discretion.  The  last  strong  post  of  Cossim  now  was  Patna, 
which  was  well  fortified  and  defended  by  ten  thousand  troops  within 
the  city,  with  large  bodies  of  horse  in  the  neighbourhood,  to  annoy 
the  besiegers.  Cossim  had  about  two  hundred  English  prisoners, 
taken  in  the  defeat  at  Patna,  whoiTi  he  cruelly  murdered  :  but  they 
were  not  long  unrevenged.  He  had,  indeed,  made  skilfuL  disposi- 
tion-  for  the  defence  of  his  city,  but  not  sufficient  to  witjistand  Eng- 
lish force  and  art,  so  well  conducted.  G:^  the  6th  November,  after 
a  sitge  of  eight  days,  major  Adams  took  the  city  by  storm  ;  and  thus, 
first  of  Europeans,  effected  the  entire  conquest  of  the  kingdom  of 
Bengal.  He  fought,  in  four  months,  four  decisive  battles,  forced  the 
strongest  iiurenchments,  took  two  regularly  fortified  places,  with 
great  rjUdntuic*  of  arms  and  stores,  and  subdued  the  ablest,  most  skil- 
ful, cautions  aii'l  resolute  enemy  which  Britain  had  yet  encountered 
in  India. 

Driven  fiom  his  own  territoiies,  Cossim  sought  refuge  with  Sujah 
Doula,*  riubob  of  (Jude  in  the  norlh-wtst  vicinity  of  Bengal,  and  here- 
iiitary  vizier  to  the  great  mogul.    The  subali  of  Oude  afforded  an  asy- 

•    This  prince,  fiom  tlie  similarity  of  names,  is  often  confounded  with  Surajah 
Uov.!:.  '.lie  viceroy  of  iJ*;ngal,  who  was  displaced  by  colonel  Clive. 


17C6.-CHAP.V.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  209 

[War  between  the  English  and  Siijah  Dovvla.] 

liim  to  Cossim's  person,  but  would  not  admit  tlie  remains  of  his  army. 
Being  unwilling  rashly  to  embroil  himself  with  so  formidable  a  pow- 
er, he  declared  that  he  wished  peace  to  continue  between  Oude  and 
the    English.     Notwithstanding    these    professions,  however,   Sujuh 
Dowla  saw  the  advances  of  such  neighbours  wiih  a  jealous  eye.     A 
negotiation  was  set  on  foot  between  bin)  and  Shall  Allum,  for  uniting 
to  restore  Cossiiii.     Encouraged  by  the  assistance  of  these  powers 
Cossim  ijrew  together  a  considerable  force  ;  and  meanwhile  the  coun- 
cil of  Calcutta  issued  a  proclamation  for  restoring  Jatficr.     Major 
Adams    being    now  dead,    was    succeeded   by  'major    Hector  Mon- 
ro ;  and  the  new  commander,  wiih  great  spirit,  activity,  and  military 
skill,  marched  against  the   Iiulian  confederates  in    1764.      His  whole 
army  consisted  of  Hfteen   hundicd   Europeans,  and  seven    thousand 
five  hundred  native  troops.    It  was  the  '22d  of  October  belbre  he  could 
come  up  with  the  enemy,  who  weie  posted  at  a  place  called  Buxard, 
on  the  confines  of  Bahar  and  Oude.     The  major  perceiving  their  si- 
tuation to  be    very  strong,  deferred  an    attack  until  he  had  explored 
their  force   on   every  side,  keeping  himself  prepared,  however,  lest 
they  should  anticipate  his  intentions.      His  precaution   was  not  unne- 
cessary": the  following  day  the  Indians  advanced  to  his  camp,  and,  af- 
ter a  contest  of  three  hours,  were  completely  defeated.     The  major 
attacked  Chi-iidageer,  a  fort  about  fifty  miles  farther  up  the  country, 
and  being  repulsed,   found   it  expedient  to  raise  the  siege.     Dowla 
soon  afterwards  collected  his  scattered  and  defeated  troops.     Major 
Monro  was  at  this  time   recalled  home,  and  major  Carnac  appointed 
his  successor;  but  before  he  arrived,  sir  Robert  Fletcher,  second  in 
command,  wishing  to  signalize  himself,  attacked  and  routed  Dowla's 
army,  and- stormed  the  fort  of  Chandageer  on  the  14th  of  January, 
1765,     Sir  Robert  proceeded  to  Eliabad,a  large  city  on  the  Ganges, 
and  the  enemy's  capital,  which  he  soon  reduced.    In  this  state  major 
Carnac  found  affairs  on    his  arrival  in  April,  when   he  took  the  su- 
preme command.     Sujah  Dov/la  was  now  abandoned  by  the  mogul  ; 
who,  observing  the  signal  successes  of  the  English,  made  overtures 
for  a  treaty.     Dowla,  a  man  of  courage,  resolution  and  policy,  did  not 
yield  to  despair  ;   he  collected  his  scattered  troops,  and  also  interest- 
ed the  Mahrattas  in  his  favour.     These  tribes,  inhabiting  the  moun- 
tains of  India,  more  active  and  warlike  than  their  neighbours  on  the 
plains,  entered  Oude.     Terrible  to  the  other  Indians,  the  Mahrattas 
were  of  little  efficacy  when   opposed   to   the   valour  and  discipline 
of  English  soldiers.     On  the  20th  of  May,  Carnac  attacked  the  In- 
dians at  a  place  called  Calpi,  and  gained  a  decisive  victoiy.     Sujah 
Dowla  now  surrendered  at  disci'etion  to  the  English  comminder. 

Jaffier  AlljCawn,  having  returned  to  Moorshedabad  as  siibah  of  Ben- 
gal, died  in  the  beginning  of  February  1765.  He  was  a  weak  and  cru- 
el tyrant;  and  in  his  protnotion,  depression,  and  restoration,  the  m^re 
tool  of  the  English  council.  A  short  time  before  his  death,  he  nominat- 
ed his  second  son,  Nazim  111  Dowla,  then  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
his  successor,  in  preference  to  Miram,  the  heir  of  his  deceased  eldest 
son.  Knowing  the  moderate  talents  and  character  of  the  youth,  the 
council  supported  him  in  the  succession,  previously  stipulating  the  terms 
of  their  protection.  His  father  had.  been  obliged\y  treaty  to  maintain 
an  army  of  twelve  thousand  horse,  and  as  manv  foot:  but.  as  the  mili- 
tary establishment  had  not  been  kept  up  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
Vol.   YII.— 27 


210  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  V.— 1766. 

[Lord  Clive  returns  to  ImVu^.     Uapacity  of  the  Engl'ish  ] 

afrrepment,  the  company  abandoned  them  entirely,  and  took  on  tliem- 
felves  the  care  of  defendiii'-;  tlie  prince  au;ainst  all  his  enemies?  as  a 
recompense  for  which  spontaneous  protection,  he  was  to  pay  seventy 
lacks  of  rupees*  annually.  Having;  made  this  provision  for  his  security, 
they  did  not  lose  sij^ht  of  his  instruction  and  internal  accommodation. 
The  father's  chief  favourite  had  been  Nunducomar,  his  prime  minister, 
who  held  the  same  place  in  the  esteem  of  the  son.  This  officer,  a  man 
of  considerable  ability,  was  discovered  to  have  strongly  uiged  the  subah 
to  shake  oft"  his  dependence  on  the  company,  and  was  suspected  of  car- 
rying <»n  a  correspondei\cc  with  Sujah  Dowla.  The  company  insisted 
that  this  minister  should  be  dismissed,  and  that  another  person,  to  be 
appointed  by  them,  should  act  in  the  double  capacity  of  minister  and 
tutor.  The  young  prince  objected  strongly  to  these  regulations,  and 
contended  earnestly  for  having  the  appointment  of  his  o\yn  'servants. 
This  was  a  license,  however,  which  the  council  thought  it  by  no  means  fit- 
ting to  grant,  and  he  w  as  obliged  to  sign  the  agreement  according  to  their 
dictation.  The  contract  so  formed  was  said  to  be  the  most  advantageous 
for  the  English  that  had  ever  been  concluded  with  an  Indian  power. 
Nunducomar  was  sunnnoned  to  Calcutta,  to  stand  his  trial  for  treason, 
and  underwent  an  examination  by  aselect  committeej  to  whom  he  advan- 
ced such  convincing  arguments  in  favour  of  his  innocence,  that  he  was 
allowed  to  depart  untried. 

The  company,  informed  of  the  wars  that  had  broken  out  in  India, 
sent  over  lord  Clive,  with  powers  to  act  as  commander  in  chief,  pre- 
sident, and  governor  of  Tiengal.  His  lordship  arrived  at  Calcutta  on  the 
3d  of  May,  1765.  The  business  to  be  performed  was  intricate;  the  per- 
sons with  whom  he  would  be  obliged  to  contend,  were  able,  active, 
powerful,  and  habituated  to  the  highest  exertions  of  authority,*  it  was 
therefore  expedient  to  send  a  personage  of  the  highest  name  in  British 
India.  Lord  Clive  discovered  that  the  acceptance  of  presents  was  be- 
come extremely  prevalent  among  the  company's  servants:  this  mode  of 
opening  business  had  obtained  time  out  of  mind  in  the  east,  and  was 
found  not  disagreeable  to  its  visitors  from  the  west.  A  select  committee 
was  formed,  with  lord  Clive  at  its  head,  for  scrutinizing  the  gifts;  but 
the  investigation  was  by  no  means  pleasing,  either  to  the  council,  or  to 
many  of  tlie  principal  officers.  It  was  alleged  on  one  side,  that  luxury, 
corruj)tion,and  extreme  avidity  for  making  immense  fortunes  in  a  little 
time,  had  so  totally  infected  the  com])any's  servants,  tliat  nothing  less 
than  a  general  reform,  and  an  eftectual  eradication  of  those  vices,  could 
preserve  the  settlements  from  certain  and  immediate  destruction.  For- 
tunes, lord  Clive  said,  of  100,000/.  had  been  obtained  within  two  years; 
and  individuals,  very  young  in  the  service,  w^ere  returning  home  with  a 
million  and  a  half.  It  was  answered  that  the  gentlemen  in  question 
had  done  the  greatest  services  to  the  country;  tnat  its  present  happy 
situation  was  owing  to  their  efforts;  that  the  presents  were  conformable 
to  the  custom  of  India,  and  not  being  accepted  till  after  the  negotiation 
was  concluded,  had  no  influence  on  tlie  teims;  that  the  salaries  allowed 
by  the  company  were  so  small  as  to  be  no  inducement  to  men  of  talents 
to  run  the  risk  of  their  lives  in  so  remote  a  situation,  without  other  ad- 
vantages; and  filially,  that  those  who  objected  to  the  presents,  had 
made  their  own  fortunes  by  the  same  means.     Regardless  of  these  re- 

•  About  875,000/. 


ir66.— Chap.  V.  REIGN  OF  GEOUtit:  III.  211 

[They  obtain  the  collection  of  the  revenue.     Spirit  of  their  transactions  in  India.] 

monstrances,  and  of.all  personal  allusions,  lord  Clive  framed  regulations 
calculated  to  restrain  the  rapacity  of  the  company's  servants. 

Havinj;  adopted  this  measure  for  the  civil  government  of  the  pro- 
vince, he  joined  the  army  at  Kliabad,  to  conclude  the  peace  with  Sujah 
Dowla.  On  his  arrival,  he  found  that  the  success  of  the  English  arms 
in  that  quarter  promised  nothing  but  future  wars;  that  to  ruin  Oude, 
would  break  down  the  barriers  between  the  Mahrattas  and  Bengal;  and 
that  therefore  it  was  prudent  to  leave  to  Dowla  considerable  power. 
Accordingly,  peace  was  concluded  with  that  prince;  and  the  nabob 
agreed  to  pay  fifty  lacks  of  rupees  to  the  company,  as  an  indemnifica- 
tionfo  r  the  expenses  of  the  war.  A  treaty  with  the  mogul  was  also  con- 
cluded on  the  1 1th  of  August,  1765,  by  which  the  company  were  ap- 
pointed perpetual  collectors  of  the  revenues  for  Bengal,  Bahar,  and 
Orissa;  lor  which  privilege  they  were  to  pay  twenty-six  lacks  of  rupees 
annually.  Tiie  revenue  accruing  to  the  company  by  this  treaty,  after 
all  deductions,  amounted  to  1,700,000/.  a  year;  and  lord  Clive  having 
established  peace  on  such  profitable  terms,  made  several  judicious  regu- 
lations for  securing  and  im]>roving  it  to  the  greatest^  ad  vantage. 

Thus  have  we  seen  a  mercantile  company,  in  less  than  ten  years, 
acquire  by  war  and  policy,  more  extensive  possessions,  and  a  richer 
revenu*;  than  those  of  several  European  monarchs.     This  was  an  epoch 
in  tile  history  of  conquest.     Nations  of  merchants  had  before  conquered 
very  extensive  dominions,  but  this  was  a  mere  corporate  body  of  private 
subjects.     The  principles  on   which   the   servants  of  this  company  of 
meicliauLs  procci-dcd,  were  formed  in  a  great  degree  by  the  habits  and 
conditions  of  the  masters.     The  leading  ^(»bjcct  was  gain;    ambition 
was    oidy   secondary  and  instrumental:    power   and   dominion  were 
esteemed  merely  as  the  means  of  profit.      Where  the  Romans  carried 
their  arms,  they  sought  warlike  glory,  victory,  and  the  splendour  of  tri- 
lunph,  as  well  as  i\\^.  gains  of  jjlunder;  they  took  their  sujierstition  w^ith 
them:  and   from  the  conquered  countries  made  additions  to  tlveir  gods, 
as  well  as  to  tlieir  treasury.     The  Spaniards,  the  creatures  of  gloomy 
bigotry,  carried  to  Mexico  their  zeal  for  making  converts,  as  well  as  for 
aopiiiingsilver  and  gold.    These  and  many  other  victors  were  actuated 
by  varictus  passions:   but  the  British  com[uerors  in  India  directed  their 
pursuits  to  one  object  exclusively, — the  acquisition  of  money.     They 
considei-cd,    in   every  transaction    of  war,  peace,    or  alliance,    what 
money  could  he  drawn  from  the  inhabitants.     In  their  modes  of  exac- 
tion from  tlic  feeble  natives,  they  observed  the  systematic  regularity  of 
commercial  habits;   they  made  bargains;  and  for  the  money  received, 
stipulated  value  delivered.     They  pillaged,  not  with  the   ferocity  of 
soldiers,  but  with  the  cool  exactness  of  debtor  and  creditor.     Instead  of 
saying  to  the  sovereign  of  Hindostan,  "  You  have  a  very  rich  territory 
and  we  must  have  a  great  part  of  the  product,''  (which  might  have  ap- 
peared the  language  of  robbers,)  they  adopted  a  mercantile  mode;  "  We 
shall  collect  your  revenue  for  you,  reserving  to  ourselves  only  eighty 
per  cent,  for  factorage:"  this  was  the  S[)irit  of  their  agreements.     Before 
they  planned  aggression,  they  calculated  the  probable  proceeils,  the 
debts  that  they  might  extinguish,  and  the  addition,  on  the  balance  of 
accoun<s,  whicli  they  might  make  to  the  sum  total.     They  considered 
war  with  the  natives,  merely  as  a  commercial  adventure:  by  so  much 
risk  encountered,  a  certain  cjuantity  of  blood  spilt,  and  a  certain  ex- 
tent of  territory  desolated,  great  sums   were  to  be  gained.    In  all 
their  intercourse,  however,  with  the  natives,  in  the  plans  which  ihey 


212  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  V.— 17t)6. 

[Unfitness  of  mercantile  companies  to  exercise  sovereignty.] 

devised,  and  the  eftbrts  wliich  they  employed  for  the  accumulation  of 
wealth,  thev  manirested  the  immense  superiority  of  the  British  character 
with  a  rapidity  o(  success,  that  brouglit  an  unprecedented  influx  of  opu- 
lence to  this  country,  and  eftected  a  considerable  change  in  the  senti- 
ments, habits,  and  pursuits  of  Englishmen. 

The  sufferings  of  Ilindostan  attached  no  blame  to  the  nation^  thev 
merely  demonstrated,  that  a  copartnery  of  trading  subjects  is  not  fit  to 
exercise  sovereignty.  Even  if  their  schemes  of  policy  were  wise  and 
equitable,  thoy  ilid  nut  possess  a  sulfioient  control  over  their  servants 
to  ensure  the  execurKin.  To  supj)lv  this  deliciency  was  afterwards 
the  work  of  legislative  wisdom. 


ir66.— Chap.  VI.  KEIGN  OF  GF.OKGR  111.  213 


CHAP.  YI. 


Mr.  Pitt  receives  unlimited  powers  to  form  an  administration — differs  with  carl 
Temple  concerning' tlie  appointments. — Temple  refuses  any  office. — Duke  of 
(irafton  first  lord  of  tlie  treasury. — Cltarles  Townsliend,  chanceiior  of  the  ex- 
chequer.— Pitt,  lord  privy-seal,  and  created  earl  of  Chatliam. — King  of  Den- 
mark marries  princess  Matilda  of  Ent^land. — ^State  of  parties.— High  price  of 
provisions — order  of  council  to  prevent  exportation  and  engrosjsing. — Procla- 
mation discussed  in  parliament. — Lord  Mansfield  proposes  an  act  of  indemnity, 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  its  illegality — resisted  hy  ministers. — Parliament  in- 
quires into  the  affairs  of  the  India  company — rescinds  the  proposed  increase  of 
dividends — an  opinion  started  that  territorial  possessions  belong  to  the  crown, 
alarms  the  company. — Mr.  Townshend  opposes  the  prime  minister  on  a  question 
of  land  tax. — Mr.  Townshend's  new  scheme  for  raising  a  revenue  from  Ameri- 
ca.— Session  rises. — Affairs  on  the  continent — France — Germany — Prussia — 
Russia — Poland. — Suppression  of  the  Jesuits  in  Spain. — Death  of  the  duke  of 
York — of  Charles  Townshend. — Earl  Chatham  by  ill  health  prevented  from 
taking  an  active  share  in  public  affairs. — Weakness  and  distraction  of  minis- 
try.— Short  meeting  of  parliament — dissolution. — Review  of  Irish  affairs. 

Mr.  Pitt  projected  an  administration  that  should  indude  men  of  all 
parties.  He  proposed  lord  Temple  to  be  first  commissioner  of  the  trea- 
sury ;  but  that  nobleman,  being  now  politically  connected  with  his  bro- 
ther, wished  for  a  greater  share  of  power  to  the  Grenville  supporters 
than  Mr.  Pitt  thought  expedient ;  and,  as  they  could  not  agree  on  the 
terms  of  the  other  appointments,  his  lordship  would  not  accept  of  the 
proffered  office.  At  length  the  duke  of  Grafton,  who  had  been  secretary 
of  state  in  the  marquis  of  Rockingham's  administration,  was  made  first 
lord  of  the  treasury,  and  general  Conway,  another  member  of  the  whisj 
party,  was  continued  secretary  of  state ;  his  colleague  was  the  earl  of 
Shclburne,  a  nobleman  of  considerable  abilities,  possessing  a  great  ex- 
tent of  literary  and  political  information,  a  warm  admirer  and  zealous 
supporter  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and  an  adopter  of  his  opinion,  that  neither  whig 
confederacies  nor  court  cabals,  but  talents  assisted  by  public  opinion,  at 
once  participating  and  directing  its  energies,  ought  to  govern  this  coun-^ 
try ;  and  that  appointments  of  trust  in  the  various  departments  of  the 
state  should  be  conferred  according  to  tlie  appropriate  fitness  of  the- 
person  to  be  nominated.  Mr.  Charles  Townshend,  recently  a jneraber  of 
the  Grenville  party,  was  appointed  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  ;  lord 
chief  justice  Pratt,  created  lord  Camden,  was  made  chancellor;  his  pre- 
decessor, the  earl  of  Northington,- became  presidqnt  of  the  council ;  and 
Mr.  Pitt  himself  took  the  privy-seal.  He  was  now  called  to  the  upper 
house,  under  the  title  of  the  earl  of  Chatham ;  but  his  acceptance  of  a 
peerage  lessened  the  popularity  of  this  illustrious  statesman.  If  the  case 
be  impartially  considered,  the  first  man  of  his  age  and  country  accepting 
high  rank  affords  no  ground  for  censure.  On  the  verge  of  sixty,  and  op- 
pressed with  bodily  infirmity,  he  had  become  less  fit  than  formerly  for  the 
vehement  and  contentious  eloquence  of  the  house  of  commons.  His  wis- 
dom and  patriotism  might  operate  iri  the  upper  as  well  as  in  the  lower 


214  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  VI.— 1766. 

[Marriage  of  the  princess  Matilda.    Parliament.] 

house ;  and  the  office  which  he  held  in  administration  had  no  connexion 
with  one  house  more  than  with  tlie  other.  There  is  nothing  inconsistent 
with  true  gteatness,  in  desiring  to  tbund  a  family ;  and  the  peerage  can 
never  receive  more  honourable  accessions,  than  from  those  who  have  ex- 
erted distinguished  ability  in  performing  eminent  services. 

During  this  year,  the  distresses  from  the  high  price  of  provisions  con- 
tinued to  increase,  and  excited  commotions  and  riots.  The  populace, 
thinking  that  certain  dealers  were  engrossing  and  using  other  illegal 
means  to  enhance  the  price  of  provisions,  took  upon  themselves  to  regu- 
late the  markets  and  punish  alleged  delinquents,  and  proceeded  to  fla- 
grant violence,  which  proved  fatal  to' several  lives.  Special  conmiissiona 
were  appointed  to  try  the  otfenders,  of  whom  the  ring-leaders  were  capi- 
tally condemned  ;  but  most  of  them  were  afterwards  reprieved  and  par- 
doned. On  the  11th  of  September,  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  enfor- 
cing the  law  against  forestallers,  regraters,  and  engrossers  of  corn.  By 
not  a  few  it  was  apprehended  that  this  denunciation  would  do  more  harm 
than  good,  as  it  presumed  the  scarcity  to  be  artificial  which  actually 
arose  from  real  want.  As  the  price  of  wheat  continued  to  increase,  an- 
other proclamation  was  issued  on  the  26th,  prohibiting  the  exportation  of 
grain,  and  an  embargo  was  laid  on  all  outward-bound  ships  laden  with  corn. 

The  opponents  of  the  present  ministry  consisted  of  two  parties,  the 
Grenville  and  the  Rockingham.  A  coalition  was  attempted  between  the 
former  and  the  mmistry,  but  without  effect.  Meanwhile  Charles  Towns- 
hend  was  intriguing  with  the  Rockingham  party,  and  tr)^ing  to  effect  the 
removal  of  the  duke  of  Grafton  ;  and,  though  he  did  not  succeed,  the  ad- 
ministration was  evidently  discordant.  Lord  Chatham,  on  account  of 
the  bad  state  of  iiis  health,  could  not  control,  as  formerly,  the  jarring 
elements. 

This  summer  there  happened  an  event  which  was  very  interesting  to 
the  royal  family.  The  princess  Matilda,  posthumous  daughter  to  the  prince 
of  Wales,  and  sister  to  his  majesty,  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  her  age,  was 
married  to  her  cousin,  the  king  of  Denmark.  This  treaty  was  expected  to 
strengthen  the  connexion  between  the  two  countries,  and  in  that  view 
was  deemed  politically  advantageous  to  both;  and  to  Denmark  it  brought 
pecuniary  emolument,  as  a  portion  of  100,000/.  was  bestowed  on  her 
liighness.  Frederick  William,  the  king's  youngest  brother,  was  now 
dead,  and  the  income  which  had  been  enjoyed  by  William  duke  of  Cum- 
berland, amounting  to  45,000/.  a  year,  was  divided  between  his  majesty's 
surviving  brothers  ;  the  youngest  of  whom,  Henry  Frederick,  was  cre- 
ated duke  of  Cumberland. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  the  chevalier  de  St.  George,  pretender  to 
the  crown  of  13rifain,  died  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age,  leaving 
two  sons,  Charles,  who  headed  the  rebellion  in  1745,  and  the  secoiid  a 
Romish  cardinal. 

On  the  11th  of  November  parliament  met,  and  the  principal  subject  of 
hi.s  majesty'.s  speech  was  the  high  |»rice  of  provisions,  with  the  measures 
which  he  had  embraced,  the  disturbances  which  had  arisen,  and  the  or- 
ders that  had  been  issued.  The  proclatnation  laying  an  embargo  upon 
corn,  occasioned  a  discussion  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  and  was 
represented  as  an  assumption  by  the  council  of  a  power  to  dispense  with 
the  laws,  a  practice  which  was  effectually  precluded  by  the  revolution. 
Tlie  measure  was  allowed  to  be  expedient,  and  even  necessary  ;  but  to 


1766.— Chap.  VI.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  111.  215 

[Discussion  of  Indian  affairs  in  parliament.] 

prevent  its  establishment  as  a  precedent,  it  was  susgested  that  an  act  of 
in(h;muity  should  be  passed  to  protect  iVom  punishment  tlie  (Vamers  and 
executors  of  an  illegal  order.  A  bill  to  that  effect  was  accordingly  pro- 
posed, which  caused  warm  debates,  especially  in  the  house  of  peers. 
Ijords  Chatham  and  Camden  contended,  that  a  dispensing  power  in  cases 
of  state  necessity  was  an.inherent  prerogative  in  the  crown  :  a  power  to 
provide  for  the  public  safety  in  cases  of  emergency,  must  be  lodged 
somewhere  :  by  our  constitution  it  was  lodged  in  the  king,  only  to  be 
exerted  under  great  necessity  occurring  during  the  recess  of  parliament, 
and  to  last  only  until  parliament  could  be  assembled.  It  was  answered, 
that  necessity  was  the  principle  by  which  all  the  evil  practices  of  the 
Stuarts  were  justified.  The  exception  of  necessity  had  been  proposed  as 
a  clause  to  the  petition  of  rights  ;  the  lords  had  agreed  to  it ;  but,  on  a 
conference  with  the  commons,  it  had  been  rejected.  If  a  necessity,  of 
which  the  executive  government  is  to  judge,  be  admitted  as  a  reason  for 
deviating  from  the  established  law,  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  people 
may  depend  on  the  discretion  of  the  crown.  The  proposed  mode  of  a  bill 
of  indemnity  asserts  the  general  constitutional  law,  while  it  excuses  the 
deviation,  after  parliament  has  on  inquiry  discovered  that  the  alleged 
necessity  did  exist.  These  arguments  were  chiefly  supported  by  lord 
Mansfield,  and  were  evidently  more  agreeable  to  the  precision  with 
which  prerogative  is  defined  by  the  British  constitution,  than  the  oppo- 
site reasonings  ;  and  lords  Chatham  and  Camden  were  charged  with  de- 
serting their  former  principles.  The  two  patriots,  indeed,  appear  to  have 
been  carried  by  the  heat  of  debate  into  speculative  error ;  but  the  gene- 
ral tenor  of  their  respective  conduct  through  the  whole  of  their  political 
history,  affords  the  best  proof  that  they  intended  no  violation  of  British 
liberty. 

The  late  immense  acquisitions  in  India  rendered  that  country  and  the 
company's  atTairs  objects  of  the  highest  importance  to  lawgivers  and 
statesmen  ;  and  this  year,  for  the  first  time,  oriental  concerns  occupied 
the  chief  time  and  attention  of  parliament,  but  not  till  they  had  under- 
gone a  contentious  discussion  in  the  East  India  house. 

When  the  late  acquisitions  that  accrued  from  the  peace  and  treaties  of 
lord  Clive  were  known  in  England,  it  was  generally  expected,  that,  as 
the  possessions  had  so  much  increased  in  value,  there  would  be  a  propor- 
tionate rise  in  the  dividends;  thence  India  stock,  in  July,  1766,  had 
risen  from  a  hundred  and  eighty-eight  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-one. 
The  Dutch  company  had,  in  April,  declared  a  dividend  of  twenty  per 
cent. ;  and  their  po.ssessions  and  revenues,  it  was  contended,  were  far 
surpassed  by  the  English.  Our  India  company,  theretore,  (the  proprie- 
tors asserted,)  could  afford  a  much  gieater  dividend  than  six  per  cent. 
On  this  ground  they  urged  the  directors  to  declare  an  increase,  but  were 
answered,  that  though  many  advantages  had  been  acquired,  great  debts 
had  also  been  incurred :  and  that,  both  in  justice  and  prudence,  the 
payment  of  debts  ought  to  precede  the  division  of  profits.  If  we  make 
a  great  increase  in  our  dividends,  (said  they,)  we  may  give  an  ideal  value 
to  stock,  which,  as  it  cannot  be  supported,  will,  like  the  South  Sea  bub- 
ble, burst  upon  our  heads.  But  not  convinced  by  this  reasoning,  the  pro- 
prietors charged  the  directors  witli  an  intention  of  limiting  dividends,  to 
increase  their  own  riches.  On  the  24th  of  September,  at  a  general  quar- 
terly court  of  the  proprietors,  it  was  proposed,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of 


21f,  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  VI.— 1766. 

[Agreement  between  government  and  the  company.] 

most  of  Ihc  director.^,  that  the  yearly  dividend  should  be  increased  from 
six  to  ten  per  cent.  Two  days  after,  the  question  was  put  by  ballot,  and 
carried  in  the  allirniative,  340  aoainst  231.  Government  at  that  time 
sent  a  message  to  the  directors,  informinif  them,  that  parhament  was  to 
examine  the  state  of  Indian  alTairs,  and  directing  them  t6  haVe  their,  pa- 
pers readv  for  in.^pcction.  •    ,  -, 

On  the  25th  of  November,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  inspect  the 
state  of  tlie  company *s  atfairs,  com^nercial  and  territorial.  Orders  were 
given,  tlial  every  account,  letter, 'treaty,  or  document  of  any  kind,  should 
'be  laid  before  the  committee.  The  court  of  directors  presented  a  peti- 
tion, setting  foith  the  great  injury  thf\t  it  would  be  to  the  company,  and 
the  many  ill  conseiquonces  which  would  pr-<jbably  attend  the  publication 
of  the  private  correspondence  between  them  jind  tiieir  servants  :  and  after 
a  considerable  debate,  it  was  agreed  that  tliu  private  correspondence  should 
not  be  printed.  The  statements  before  parliament,  however,  wnere  so 
important,  as  to  introduce  questions  much  more  comprehensive -than  any 
hitherto  discussed  by  tlie  legislature  concerning  British  India.  Havinc 
viewed  and  cxanjined  the  management  of  the  commercial  and  territ^orial 
possessions,  several  mennbers,  and  among  them  loid  Cliatham,  'denied 
the  riirht  of  the  company  to  have  territorial  posses.sions,  as  such  were  not 
convoyed  by  their  charters,  and  were  totally  foreign  to  the  nature  and 
object  of  a  trading  corporation.  Even  if  it  were  legally  just,  and  politi- 
cally expedient,  that  an  associated  body  of  merchants  should  be  sove- 
reigns of  those  extensive  dominions,  the  great  expense  of  government  in 
the  protection  of  that  company  entitled  it  to  th&revenucs,  for  the  purpose 
of  indemnification. 

The  supporters  of  the  opposite  opinion  denied  that  the  charter  restrict- 
ed its  hnlders  from  acquiring  territory;  and  contended,,  (hat  if  govern- 
ment had  a  right  to  the  late  acquisitions  in  India,  it  ought  to  submit  its 
claim?  to  a  court  of  law.  Towards  the  en,d  of  the  session,,  the  cpinpanv 
proposed  a  convention  with  government  coficerning  the  disputed  domi- 
nions ;  that  an  agreement  should  be  made  between  government  and  that 
body,  concerning  the  territorial  acquisitions ;  and,  after  -various  over- 
tures, the  following  terms  were  accepted,  presented  to  parliament,  and 
passed  into  a  law  on  the  24th  of  June  ;  being  entitled,  "  A  bill  for  es- 
tablishing an  agreement  between  government  and  (he  East  India  compa- 
ny." By  this  stipulation,  the  chartered  corporation  .engaged  to  pay  to 
government  400,000/.  yearly  for  two  years,  by  half-yearly  pavments : 
during  which  time  tlie  territory  and  revenues  lately  obtained  were  to  con- 
tinue in  the  hands  of  the  present  possessors  5  but  if  they  were  deprived 
of  any  of  them  by  a  foreign  power,  .1  proportional  abatement  was  to  be 
made  in  the  annual  payments ;  and  money  wrongfully  paid  was  to  bo 
refunded.  Meanwhile  the  couipany.  lifld  a  general  court  on  the  Gth  of 
May,  in  which  the  half-yearly  dividend  from  midsummer  to  Christmas 
was  declared  to  be  G^,  being  one-fourth  beyond  that  of  the  preceding 
half  year.  Ministry  had  .«!ent  a  message,  advising  the  company  not  to 
increase  their  dividend  until  their  affairs  were  farther  examined  ;  but  find- 
ing that  the  recommendation  had  not  produced  the  desired  efl^ect,  the 
duke  of  Grafton  proposfjd  a  bill  to  prevent  ti'.em  from  rai.^ing  their  divi- 
dends before  the  meeting  ol  the  nextses.sion  of  parliament.  The  object 
avowed  by  his  graae  and  the  supporters  of  the  bill,  was  to  prevent  such 
augmentations  as  might  rai.se  the  imaginary  value  of  the  stock  far  beyond 


Chap.  VI.— 1767.  RKIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  217 

[New  imposts  on  Ameiic.i.     Proceedings  of  the  New  York  assembly.] 

its  real,  so  as  to  introduce  stock-jobbing  speculations,  which  had  been 
so  fatal  in  a  former  reign ;  that  besides,  government  was  interested  in 
preventing  such  increase  of  dividend  as  might  diminish  the  value  of  the 
territorial  revenue  ;  to  which  the  claims  of  the  state,  though  postponed, 
had  not  been  relinquished  :  moreover,  the  rapid  rise  in  India  stock  would 
diminish  the  price  of  the  other  funds.  The  opposers  of  tlie  bill  contend- 
ed, that  the  circumstances  of  the  company  fully  justified  the  proposed 
addition,  and  that  means  qould  easily  have  been  ennployed  to  prevent 
any  farther  rise  ;  that  a  legislative  interposition  for  controlling  the  divi- 
dend of  a  trading  company,  legally  made  by  those  in  whom  the  power 
was  by  law  vested,  and  when  no  abuse  was  alleged,  was  an  ex  post  facto 
law,  that  infringed  the  rights  of  property  ;  and  by  tending  to  lessen  the 
security  and  freedom  from  the  control  of  government,  which  made  the 
British  funds  so  much  the  repositories  of  continental  money,  it  might 
affect  the  national  credit.  The  rescinding  bill  passed  into  a  law  after  a 
very  powerful  opposition,  in  which  two  of  the  ministers,  general  Conway 
and  Mr,  Townshend,  joined  :  in  the  house  of  lords  a  strong  protest  was 
made  by  the  united  force  of  the  Grenville  and  Rockingham  parties. 

In  another  motion  the  prime  minister  was  entirely  defeated.  It  had 
been  uniformly  the  practice,  at  former  periods  of  peace,  to  reduce  the 
land  tax  from  four  to  three  shillings  in  the  pound  ;  but  since  the  peace  of 
1763,  the  state  of  the  public  finances  was  not  thought  to  admit  of  this 
reduction,  and  accordingly  it  had  not  been  proposed  by  either  of  the  suc- 
cessive administrations.  This  year,  when  the  chaticellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer moved  the  annual  bill,  there  was  a  strong  opposition ;  and  it 
was  carried  against  ministry,  that  the  tax  should  be  no  more  than  three 
shillinffs.  Mr.  Townshend  was  on  this  occasion  accused  of  not  being 
sincere  and  earnest  in  his  professed  exertions  :  there  was  evidently  in 
his  character  a  great  degree  of  instability  ;  but  whether  his  fluctuations 
arose  chiefly  from  an  understanding  more  brilliant  than  solid,  or  from 
some  other  cause,  the  time  during  which  he  acted  a  conspicuous  part  on 
the  political  stage  was  too  short  to  ascertain.  Fertile  in  devising  ex- 
pedients, rather  than  wise  in  choosing  the  most  beneficial  ends,  Mr. 
Townshend  this  session  proposed  a  scheme  for  raising  a  revenue  from 
America,  whicli  he  conceived  would  be  productive,  without  being  ob- 
jectionable on  the  same  ground  as  the  stamp  act.  The  reader  will  re- 
collect the  alleged  difference  between  external  and  internal  taxation  :  has- 
tily assuming  this  principle  Mr.  Townshend,  with  the  ardour  of  in- 
considerate ingenuity,  deduced  from  it  a  theory,  and  projected  a  plan  to 
which  his  specious  and  brilliant  eloquence  gave  a  great  appearance  of 
plausibility.  He  proposed  a  bill  for  imposing  certain  duties  on  glass, 
paper,  paste-board,  white  and  red  lead,  painter's  colours,  and  tea,  pay- 
able on  the  importation  of  these  articles  into  the  American  colonies  ; 
which  duties,  when  collected,  were  applied  to  making  provision  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  and  the  support  of  civil  government,  in  the 
colonies  in  which  it  should  be  necessary  ;  and  the  residue  was  to  be  paid 
into  the  exchequer  in  England.  The  bill  was  passed  into  a  law ;  and, 
as  might  easily  have  been  foreseen,  was  regarded  by  the  Americans  as 
a  mere  variation  of  mode,  and  not  a  change  from  the  principle  that  had 
produced  the  stamp  act :  its  effects,  however,  shall  be  hereafter  men- 
tioned. 

The  conduct  of  New  York  underwent  severe  animadversion  in  this 
Vol.   VIT.— 28 


2\S  IIISTOHY  OF  THE  Chaf.  VI.— ircr. 

[Continental  affairs.     Disputes  between  the  king' and  parliament  of  France.] 

session  cf  parliament.  A  new  regulation  had  been  made  in  the  preced- 
ing session,  concerning  the  quartering  of  troops  in  America,  and  the 
additional  articles  of"  salt,  vinegar,  beer,  or  cider,  were  required  to  be 
tumishcd  bv  the  colonists.  The  governor  of  New  York  communicated 
this  change  to  the  assembly ;  and  the'  next  day  some  forces,  who  hap- 
pened to  arrive  in  the  city,  found  it  necessary  to  apply  to  them  for  the 
accommodation  provided  by  the  new  law,  particularly  specifying  their 
requisite  articles.  The  assembly  postponed  the  consideration  of  the 
message,  and  meanwhile  furnislied  the  troops  with  such  necessaries  as 
they  had  before  been  accustomed  to  atford,  but  did  not  supply  the  new 
requisitions.  After  various  messages  and  addresses,  the  assembly  po- 
sitively refused,  alleging  that  the  principle  was  exactly  the  same  as  of 
the  stamp  act,  since  it  taxed  theni  without  their  own  consent.  This  re- 
fusal being  represented  to  parliament,  a  bill  was  passed,  by  which  the 
governor,  council,  and  assembly,  were  prohibited  from  passing  or  as- 
senting to  any  act  of  assembly,  for  any  purpose  whatsoever,  till  they 
had  in  every  respect  complied  with  all  the  terms  of  this  act  of  parliament. 
Unfortunately  tor  the  nation,  the  earl  of  Chatham,  from  his  ill  state  of 
health,  could  at  that  time  rarely  attend  either  the  council  or  senate  :  had 
he  possessed  his  wonted  vigour,  he  might  successfully  have  reprobated 
such  temporising  and  trifling  measures  as  merely  tended  to  irritate  with- 
out being  ctTicient.  If  America  aflorded,  through  our  manufactures  and 
trade,  a  very  great  revenue,  as  could  be  and  was  proved,  it  was  a  puerile 
policy  to  hazard  its  productiveness,  rather  than  let  glass  and  paste-board 
be  duty  free,  and  pay  tor  our  soldiers  the  cost  of  their  salt,  vinegar,  and 
small  beer.  There  was  a  littleness  in  a  considerable  part  of  our  pro- 
ceedings respecting  America,  as  inconsistent  with  the  digjiity  of  a  pow- 
erful, as  with  the  policy  of  a  wise  nation.  This  long  and  important  ses- 
sion closed  on  the  3d  of  July,  1767. 

While  so  many  internal  and  colonial  objects  engaged  the  attention  of 
Britain,  she  had  no  reason  to  apprehend  any  disturbance  of  the  peace 
from  foreign  countries.  The  French  court,  soon  after  the  peace,  had 
been  occupied  in  disputes  with  the  provincial  parliaments,  in  which  bo- 
dies a  spirit  of  resistance  began  to  manifest  itself  of  a  different  cast  and 
character  from  any  displayed  since  the  time  of  Henry  IV.  The  parlia- 
ment of  Brittany  having  rendered  itself  peculiarly  disagreeable  to  the 
monarch,  was  dissolved,  and  all  its  decrees  were  annulled.  The  other 
assemblies  showed  a  disposition  to  combination  and  remonstrance  ;  the 
parliament  of  Rouen  reminded  the  king  of  his  coronation  oath,  and  in- 
timated, that  there  was  a  compact  between  him  and  bis  people  ;  they 
also  made  decrees  in  favour  of  the  parliament  of  Brittapy.  The  king 
answered,  **  The  oath  which  I  have  taken,  is  not  to  the  nation,  as  you 
presume  to  say,  but  to  God  alone."  Tlie  several  parliaments  immedi- 
ately began  to  question  the  royal  doctrine  and  theory,  and  evinced  them- 
Bclves  not  disinclined  to  dispute  it  in  practice  ;  but  strong  measures  re- 
pressed their  boldness,  and  in  the  year  17G7thoy  were  tolerably  quiet. 
If  Louis  XV.  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  had  for  his  directors  wise, 
upright,  and  intrepid  advisers,  he  might  even  then  have  been  taught  to 
perceive  a  channe  in  the  public  sentiment.  To  meet  with  safety  the  new 
doctrines,  would  have  rendered  moderation  in  the  exercise  of  his  power 
expedient.  However  imprudently  the  court  might  be  employed  in  its 
proceedings  with  parliament,  in  otlier  respects  it  e.terted  itself  wisely  for 


ire r.— Chap.  VI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  219 

[Joseph  emperor  of  Germany.     Improvements  of  Frederick.] 

the  encourafTcment  of  manufactures,  commerce,  naval  force,  and  re- 
venue. Agriculture  had,  by  tne  partial  system  of  Colbert,*  been  very 
much  neglected  as  a  subject  of  political  economy;  a  new  set  of  philo- 
sophical economists  inculcated  its  exclusive  cultivation,  as  the  sole  |)hy- 
sical  means  of  prosperity.  Extravagant  and  visionary  as  they  were  in 
their  theories,  yet  the  novelty  of  them  made  a  great  impression  upon  the 
French,  and  was  to  a  certain  extent  useful  in  making  agriculture  a  much 
more  fashionable  and  popular  pursuit  than  it  h;id  formerly  been.  France, 
thus  occupied  with  the  schemes  of  internal  improvement,  appeared  to 
have  no  disposition  to  quarrel  with  her  neighbours  ;  she  was  more  clpsely 
than  ever  connected  with  Spain,  which  from  a  variety  of  rauses  was  no 
less  disposed  to  peace,  and  her  alliance  continued  unbroken  and  unin- 
terrupted with  the  court  of  Vienna. 

The  emperor  Francis  was  now  dead,  and  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son 
Joseph  on  the  Imperial  throne  ;  while  Leopold,  his  second  son,  filled 
the  place  of  Joseph  as  grand  duke  of  Tuscany.  The  young  emperor 
regarded  the  king  of  Prussia  with  the  greatest  veneration  ;  and,  soon 
after  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he  privately  gave  Frederick  to  under- 
stand, that  he  wished  every  subject  of  future  dispute  to  be  at  an  end,  and 
desired  to  cultivate  the  strictest  friendship  with  his  majesty  ;  but  he  inti- 
mated, that  it  would  be  necessary  to  conceal  some  of  his  intentions  from 
his  mother,  who  still  retained  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  house  of 
Austria.  The  empress  dowager  found  full  employment  in  recovering 
from  the  disasters  of  the  war. 

The  king  of  Prussia,  in  his  political  economy,  displayed  a  genius  that 
insured  success  in  every  thing  which  he  chose  to  pursue.  Aware  that 
wealth  is  the  result  of  productive  industry,  he  was  far  from  imagining 
those  trades  always  the  best  which  produce  the  greatest  quantity  of  mo- 
ney. He  considered  chiefly  the  physical  and  moral  efl^'ects  of  the  work 
done,  upon  the  workman.  He  thought  that  the  labour  which  invigorated 
the  body  and  emboldened  the  mind,  was  more  productive  of  the  real 
constituents  of  national  prosperity,  than  labour  which  enervated  and  re- 
laxed the  operator,  though  the  latter  might  be  the  more  lucrative.  "  He 
perceived  (says  his  philosophical  biographer)  that  great  differences  ob- 
tained in  populousness  and  prosperity,  according  to  the  various  employ- 
ments of  agriculture  and  manufactures  ;  that  even  in  agriculture,  greater 
exertions  and  purer  manners  might  be  expected  from  men  who  cultivate 
corn,  than  from  those  who  rear  the  vine  ;  and  that  in  manufiictures,  the 
hardy  workmen  in  wood  metal  supplied  very  different  citizens,  and  very 
different  soldiers,  from  those  furnished  by  the  mechanical  operations  of 
sedentary  drudgery."!  In  the  modern  systems  of  political  economy,  the 
short-sightedness  of  avarice  regards  nothing  but  the  labour  effected  ;  and 
whether  it  be  effected  by  machines,  or  by  men  little  better  than  machines, 
appears  a  matter  of  small  moment.  But  Frederick  having  provided  am- 
ply for  the  subsistence  and  defence  of  his  subjects,  thouglit  that  he  had 
yet  done  nothing  for  their  happiness,  until  he  had  improved  their  physi- 
cal and  moral  state,  procured  them  rational  enjoyments,  trained  them  to 
virtuous  habits,  and  directed  them  to  useful  and  honourable  pursuits  ;  he 
imitated  the  neighbouring  nations  in  the  institutions  in  which  they  re- 

•  See  Smitli's  Wcaltli  of  Nations,  vol.  iii.  {>.  l. 
f  GiUicb's  rrcderick,  p.  ZSO. 


220  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  VI.~1767. 

[Russia.     Enlightened  views  of  Catharine.] 

spectivcly  excelled  ;  bis  plans  of  rural  economy  he  formed  chiefly  on 
the  model  of  England  ;  and  in  dividing  unappropriated  lands,  he  adopted 
the  mode  of  the  British  parliament.  Peace  at  this  time  was  his  main 
object,  although  by  his  financial  and  military  economy  he  was  well  pre- 
pared for  war. 

The  character  of  the  empress  of  Russia  was  now  developing  itself, 
and  she  became  conspicuous  for  the  force  and  solidity  of  her  genius,  the 
extent  of  her  capacity,  tlie  greatness  of  her  views,  and  the  adaptation  of 
her  measures  to  the  circumstances  in  which  she  was  placed.  Sovereign 
of  an  immense  empire,  she  comprehended  the  state  of  her  dominions  ; 
she  saw  its  resources  and  susceptibility  of  improvement ;  and,  great  as 
its  strength  was,  how  much  was  wanting  to  make  Russia  what  it  might 
become.  The  substantial  amelioration  of  her  country  and  people,  was 
the  object  to  which  she  evidently  directed  her  principal  altention.  She 
accurately  studied  the  materials  with  which  she  had  to  work,  discrimi- 
nated the  state  in  which  she  found  the  people,  accommodated  herself  to 
their  notions,  won  their  affections  and  veneration,  and  by  her  conduct 
was  as  absolute  in  authority  as  in  power.  Dissipated  as  she  might  be 
in  her  private  life,  she  did  not  sufier  pleasure  to  interfere  with  the  per- 
formances of  her  imperial  duties.  Wishing  to  promote  in  her  country, 
commerce,  navigation,  and  all  the  useful  arts,  she  sought  a  close  corre- 
.spondence  with  the  most  commercial  and  enlightened  nations  ;  with  Bri- 
tain she  concluded  a  commercial  treaty,*  in  principle  and  detail  very  be- 
neficial to  both  nations.  Desirous  also  of  introducing  the  elegant  arts 
and  erudition  at  her  court,  she  invited  thither  eminent  artists  and  scho- 
lars, and  established  literary  institutions  for  the  advancement  of  know- 
ledge and  science.  Although  from  the  time  of  czar  Peter  the  Great, 
considerable  advances  had  been  made  in  the  internal  improvement  of 
Russia,  yet  that  ought  to  have  been,  much  more  exclusively  the  object 
of  her  princes  and  government  than  it  actually  had  been.  Extension  of 
territory  was  by  no  means  wanting,  for  her  dominions  were  enormous 
already.  Consummate  wisdom  would  have  withheld  Catharine  from 
projects  of  foreign  conquest ;  but  that  a  bold  aspiring  princess  with  such 
power,  should  not  project  an  increase  of  her  territories,  was  rather  to  be 
wished  from  the  highest  practical  exercise  of  political  philosophy,  than 
to  be  expected  from  sovereign  ambition,  possessing  so  fully  the  means 
of  gratification.  We  have  already  seen  her  interference  in  foreign  affairs 
in  the  management  of  Poland  ;  but  disturbances  were  there  rising,  which 
soon  brought  her  farther  into  action,  and  more  openly  manifested  her 
encroaching  character. 

In  the  south  of  Europe  an  event  took  place  this  year,  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  domestic,  civil,  religious,  and  political  society;  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Jesuits  from  Spain,  the  country  whose  superstition  had 
rendered  it  so  much  sul)joct  to  that  extraordinary  order.  The  great, 
energetic,  versatile,  and  skilfully  directed  ability  of  that  singular  frater- 
nity, had  extended  their  authority  and  power  very  widely  in  all  Roman 
catholic  countries.  Their  talents  for  calling  forth  abilities,  their  great 
skill  in  every  species  of  political  intrigue,  and  their  dexterity  in  every 
kind  of  business,  spread  their  influence  among  many  others  beside  the 
gloomy  votaries  of  depressing  superstition.     Their  authority  had  long 

•  See  this  volume,  p.  203. 


1767.— Chap.  VI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  221 

[Expulsion  of  the  Jesuits.] 

been  very  prcat  amidst  the  gay  splendour  of  the  French  court,  as  well 
as  in  the  sequestered  retirements  of  Spanish  cloistcr.s.  But  their  most 
uncontrollable  power  was  in  South  America  ;  where  it  must  be  admitted, 
by  their  eflbrts  among  the  natives,  they  contributed  very  eflcctually  to 
the  civilization  and  industry  of  those  tribes,  though  they  bore  a  sway 
dangerous  to  any  state  in  the  heart  of  its  dominions.  The  authority 
acquired  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  course  of  two  centuries  was  so  exorbitant, 
that  monarchs  began  to  regard  them  witli  a  very  jealous  eye.  They 
saw  that  they  really  did  much  incidental  good,  and  were  extremely  sub- 
servient ;  but  that  they  were  acquiring  the  means  of  becoming  imperious. 
As  in  France  there  was  more  of  united  genius  and  energy  than  in  any 
other  popish  country,  there  first  Romish  fraternities  were  attacked.  Louis 
XIV.  had  from  parade  and  ostentation  cherished  literary  efforts,  though 
in  his  time  they  were  <;hiefly  confined  to  subjects  of  taste,  sentiment, 
and  physical  research,  without  extending  to  theological  and  political  phi- 
losophy. Once  set  in  motion,  however,  genius  would  not  limit  itself  to 
prescribed  operations.  The  very  enormous  extent  to  which  superstition 
had  carried  the  influence  of  the  church,  attracted  sagacious  speculatists, 
who  proposed  to  inquire  how  far  the  various  privileges  claimed,  doetrines 
inculcated,  and  observances  enjoined,  by  the  clergy,  were  consistent 
with  natural  religion,  truth,  and  reason;  how  far  the  lives,,  sentiments, 
and  opinions  of  churchmen  were  agreeable  to  the  dictates  of  virtue  and 
common  sense  ;  and  how  far  their  system  of  faith  and  practice  was  con- 
ducive to  the  public  welfare.  They  easily  discerned,  that  in  the  doc- 
trines, institutions,  and  practices  of  the  Roman  catholic  church,  there 
were  parts  totally  incompatible  with  reason,  moralify,-  and  enlightened 
policy ;  but  in  the  volatile  violence  of  Frenchrnen,  they  carried  their 
animadversions  infinitely  farther  than  truth  admitted.  Confounding  re- 
ligion itself  with  its  abuses,  they  charged  against  Christianity  the  errors 
and  mischiefs  of  popish  corruptions  ;  imputing  to  our  Saviour  and  his 
apostles,  the  consequences  of  the  ignorant,  superstitious  and  usurping 
institutions  of  popes  and  cardinals.  Deism,  and  infidelity  of  all  kinds 
became  very  fashionable  in  France  ;  and  in  a  prevailing  dislike  of  reli- 
gious establishments,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  Jesuits  should 
escape ;  as,  beside  the  imputations  common  to  other  monastic  orders, 
there  were  such  strong  objections  attaching  peculiarly  to  themselves ; 
their  principles,  their  activity,  their  enterprise,  their  corporate  ambition, 
and,  above  all,  their  casuistical  morality,  leaving  a  wide  field  open  for 
palliating  every  crime.  That  enmity  to  the  Jesuitical  order,  which  virtue 
justified,  if  not  arising  from  a  sense  of  the  hurtful  arts,  and  policy  required, 
was  in  fact  owing  in  a  great  degree  to  infidelity.  But  other  causes  co- 
operated :  the  order  of  Jansenists  had  become  very  successful,  and  had 
acquired  great  influence  ;  the  Jesuits  were  known  to  be  extremely  rich, 
and  the  public  treasures  were  very  much  exhausted.  Ideas  were  long 
entertained,  for  these  various  reasons,  of  suppressing  this  order ;  and,  in 
October  1763,  they  were  actually  crushed  in  France  and  all  the  French 
territories.  The  following  year  they  Avere  suppressed  in  Portugal  and 
all  its  dependencies  ;  in  Spain  they  had  been  suffered  to  exist  some  years 
longer  ;  but  the  influence  of  French  caunsels  at  the  court  of  Madrid,  the 
example  of  his  neighbours,  jealousy  of  their  power,  and  avidity  for  their 
riches,  determined  Charles  to  extiniruish  that  order  throuch  all  his  do- 
minions.     Accordingly  it  was  in  January  1767  ordained,  that  the  Jesuits 


222  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.  ¥1.-1767. 

(Death  of  the  duke  of  York  and  of  Charles  Townshend.] 

should  be  expelled,  and  their  whole  property  seized  for  the  king's  use. 
The  Jesuits,  notwithstanding  tlieir  sagacity  and  extraordinary  intelligence, 
had  not  the  least  idea  that  any  such  scheme  was  in  agitation  ;  and,  during 
the  months  of  February  and  March,  they  went  on  with  the  usual  zeal 
and  ardour  in  their  ordinary  occupations,  totally  unsuspicious  of  the  im- 
pending blow  that  was  to  crush  tliem  for  ever,  where  their  power  had  been 
strongest. 

On  the  31st  of  March,  about  midnight,  the  six  houses  of  the  Jesuits 
in  Madrid  were  surrounded  at  the  same  time  by  detachments  of  military, 
who  opened  the  outer  doors,  secured  the  bells,  and  placed  a  sentinel 
before  each  cell.  These  precautions  being  taken,  the  brothers  were 
ordered  to  rise ;  and  when  assembled,  being  informed  of  his  majesty's 
commands,  they  assisted  in  packing  up  a  few  moveables  necessary  for 
their  journey.  Meanwhile,  a  suflicient  number  of  coaches,  chaises,  and 
wagons  were  secured,  and  without  loss  of  time,  they  were  conveyed 
under  a  strong  guard  towards  Carthagena.  This  revolution  was  con- 
ducted with  such  order  and  silence,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Madrid  knew 
nothing  of  what  had  taken  place  till  they  were  informed  of  it  in  the  morn- 
ing :  three  days  after,  the  expulsion  and  confiscation  were  carried  into 
execution  in  every  part  of  Spain,  and  in  the  month  of  July  in  Mexico 
and  Peru.  The  confiscated  estates  and  effects  of  the  Jesuits  in  Europe 
and  the  Indies,  amounted  to  above  thirty  millions  sterling ;  and  thus  did 
a  government,  at  one  sweep,  deprive  a  corporation  of  its  subjects,  and 
of  an  immense  property,  without  any  proof  of  guilt.  However  just  the 
political  reasons  for  suppressing  the  order  might  be,  the  rapacious  seizure 
of  their  property»-wtis  inconsistent  with  every  principle  of  justice,  and 
could  not  have  taken  place  under  any  equitable  system  of  polity.  In 
Naples,  and  other  catholic  countries,  the  Jesuits  were  suppressed  with 
similar  circumstances  of  tyranny. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  the  royal  family  of  England  received  a  very 
afflicting  blow  in  the  sudden  death  of  the  duke  of  York,  eldest  brother  of 
the  king.  His  highness  had  been  travelling  through  France,  Germany, 
and  Italy ;  and  at  Monaco  was  seized  with  a  putrid  fever,  which  termi- 
nated fatally  on  the  7^h  of  September.  He  belonged  to  the  navy,  and 
had  served  dining  the  war ;  he  was  esteemed  a  prince  of  good  accom- 
plishments, amiable  disposition,  and  affable  manners,  and  was  beloved 
by  those  who  had  the  chief  access  to  his  confidence  and  intimacy.  He 
died  in  the  29th  year  of  his  age,  and  his  remains  were  brought  home  and 
interred  in  Wpstrninster-abbey.  About  tlie  same  time,  died  a  gentleman 
who  was  rising  fast  into  the  first  political  eminence,  the  honourable 
Charles  Townshend,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  Lord  Chatham's  in- 
firmities had  for  some  time  almost  entirely  prevented  him  from  taking 
any  efficient  share  in  administration  ;  during  his  lordship's  inaction,  Mr. 
Townshend,  with  shining  and  versatile  talents,  was  the  most  active  mem- 
ber of  the  ministry,  and  was  taking  a  lead  in  the  management  of  alTairs. 
He  was  a  personage  of  very  considerable  abilities;  prompt,  brilliant,  witty, 
and  eloquent;  not,  indeed,  very  select,  either  in  the  measures  which  he 
proposed,  or  the  arguments  that  he  employed,  but  extremely  happy  in 
the  art  of  giving  the  best  colour  to  the  sentiments  and  opinions  which  he 
happened  to  adopt.  Although  a  man  of  genius,  he  appears  to  have 
been  rather  more  fit  for  literary  than  political  attainments,  or  much  more 
anxious  about  currency  of  opinions  than  their  weight ;  he  was  extremely 


irer.— Chap.  VI.  REIGN  OF  GEOltGE  III.  223 

[Weakness  of  administration.     Parliament.] 

inconstant.  When  the  stamp  act  was  popular  in  tJie  house,  he  declaimed 
in  its  lavour ;  when  it  lost  its  popularity,  he  voted  for  the  repeal ;  and 
when  the  repeal  was  afterwards  a  subject  of  complaint,  he  proposed  a 
new  plan  for  raising  a  revenue.  He  took  no  time  to  form  general  and 
comi»rehensive  views,  and  had  no  fixed  principles  of  policy.  As  an 
orator,  he  was  an  ornament  to  the  house  of  commons  ;  but  mu^t  have 
entirely  changed  his  modes  and  habits,  before  he  could  be  a  very  advan- 
tageous accession  to  the  councils  of  his  country  as  a  principal  states- 
man. 

Ministry  was  now  weak  and  distracted  ;  various  plans  of  coalition  and 
comprehension,  to  give  it  strength,  were  proposed ;  but  the  negotiations 
were  unsuccessful.  Several  partial  changes  were  made,  in  which  the  of- 
fices were  filled  by  noblemen  and  gentlemen  connected  with  the  house  of 
Bedford.  Lord  Weymouth  was  appointed  secretary  of  state  in  the  place 
of  general  Conway,  who  had  been  advanced  in  his  professional  line.  A 
new  office,  of  secretary  of  state  for  the  colonies,  was  created,  and  be- 
stowed on  lord  Hillsborough.  The  earl  of  Northington,  loaded  with 
years,  retired  from  his  place  of  president  of  the  council,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  earl  Gower.  Besides  these  promotions  of  the  friends  of  the 
Russel  family,  Frederick  lord  North,  eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Guilford, 
was  made  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  The  venerable  earl  of  Chatham 
had  been  consulted  previous  to  the  proposed  alterations,  and  had  declared 
that  the  state  of  his  health  rendered  his  interference  impracticable.  He, 
indeed,  had  no  share  in  the  appointments,  and  from  this  time  cannot  be 
considered  as  making  one  of  the  Grafton  ministry,  or  responsible  for  any 
of  its  acts. — The  scarcity  of  corn  continued  ;  and  from  the  distresses  of 
the  poor,  great  riots  took  place  in  the  manufacturing  towns. 

On  the  24th  of  November  parliament  met.  Nothing  from  abroad  (his 
majesty  said)  appeared  likely  to  disturb  the  public  tranquillity,  or  to  di- 
vert their  attention  from  the  internal  atiairs  of  the  kingdom.  The  sole  ob- 
ject specifically  recommended  to  their  notice  was,  the  scarcity  and  deaith 
of  corn.  Interference  in  the  pi-ice  df  provisions  on  the  part  of  govern- 
ment, is  extremely  delicate  and  difficult ;  nor  can  the  legislature  easily 
adopt  any  eflectual  mode  for  that  purpose,  except  by  the  encouragement 
of  importation  in  times  of  exigency,  and  the  promotion  of  agriculture  to 
prevent  their  recurrence.  Parliament  renewed  the  regulations  of  the  for- 
mer year,  adding  to  them  a  bill  for  importing  wheat  and  flower  from  Af- 
rica ;  and  an  act,  similar  to  the  law  of  the  preceding  session,  was  passed 
for  limiting  the  dividends  of  the  East  India  Company. 

The  most  important  measure  discussed  in  tliis  session  of  parliament 
was,  a  law  proposed  by  opposition  for  limiting  the  period  of  resuming 
crown  grants  to  sixty  years.  This  bill  originated  in  a  transaction  affecting 
two  private  individuals.  William  III.  had  made  a  grant  to  the  first  earl 
of  Portland,  of  the  honour  of  Penrith  in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  with 
the  appurtenances  thereunto  belonging.  The  forest  of  Inglewood,  and 
the  manor  and  castle  of  Carhsle  were  considered  as  parts  of  this  grant, 
and  had  been  accordingly  enjoyed  by  the  family  by  the  same  tenure  and 
in  the  same  quiet  possession  as  the  rest.  These  last  tenements,  how- 
ever, were  not  specified  in  the  grant ;  and  sir  James  Lowther,  being  ac- 
curately informed  of  this  circumstance,  in  summer,  1767,  presented  a 
memorial  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury,  stating,  that  he  had  discovered  that 
the  forest  of  Inglewood,  and  the  soccagc  of  the  castle  of  Carlisle,  had 


224  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  TI.~1767. 

[UesumpUon  of  crown  grants.    Review  of  parliamentary  proceedings] 

been  long  withheld  from  the  crown  without  its  receiving  any  benefit  from 
them,  nnd  therefore  praved  a  lease  of  three  lives.  Having  consulted  the 
surveyor  of  crown  lands,  they  granted  the  possessions  in  question,  not- 
withstanding the  representations  of  the  duke  of  Portland.  His  grace  now 
stopped  progress  in  the  exchequer  oflice  ;  the  cause  was  tried  before  the 
barons  of  exchequer,  and  sir  Janios  Lowther  was  nonsuited.  Upon  this 
attempted  resumption,  tiic  bill  was  founded.  Opposition  insisted,  that  the 
attemi)t  was  a  revival  of  the  obsolete  and  tyrannical  law,  milium  iempiis 
occun'it  rcg-i,  by  which  no  length  of  time  or  possession  can  be  a  bar 
against  the  claims  of  tlie  crown.  "The  exercise  of  any  right  upon  this 
maxim,  it  was  shown,  was  practised  only  by  the  most  arbitrary  princes, 
and  even  by  them  with  caution,  as  they  were  sensible  of  the  general  ab- 
horrence which  every  act  of  the  kind  excited.  It  was  farther  said,  that 
the  present  grant  was  founded  on  a  most  unconstitutional  motive,  to  ob- 
tain a  party  and  undue  influence  in  the  general  election ;  and  that  the 
avowed  opposition  of  interests  in  the  same  country  between  the  parties, 
and  the  particular  connexions  of  one  of  them,  left  no  room  to  doubt  that 
this  was  the  object  in  view.  On  the  other  side  it  was  observed,  that  the 
tenements  in  question  wereneither  specified  nor  understood  in  the  grant; 
that  they  belonged  to  the  crown,  not  by  resumption,  (for  there  had  been 
no  alienation,)  but  by  original  right ;  and  the  crown  was  no  more  to 
blame  for  taking  possession  of  its  own  property,  than  a  private  person. 
The  carl  of  Portland  and  his  family  bad  been  sufficiently  compensated 
for  their  services  ;  and,  after  seventy  years  possession  of  an  estate  to 
which  tliey  had  no  right,  they  might  contentedly  resign  it  to  the  true 
owner,  when  there  was  no  demand  made  upon  them  for  the  past  issues. 
Ministry  after  finding  their  arguments  against  limitation  of  resumptions 
not  likely  to  be  successful,  changed  their  mode  of  procedure,  and  pro- 
j)oscd  that  the  bill  should  be  postponed  till  the  next  year,  and  this  mo- 
tion was  carried  by  ^  majority  of  twenty  ;  but  the  supplies  being  settled, 
and  other  business  finished,  an  end  was  put  to  the  session,;  and,  on  the 
tenth  of  March,  parliament  was  dissolved. 

The  first  parliament  of  George  HI.  exhibits  no  distinguishing  marks 
of  legislative  wisdom.  Its  chief  objects  were,  individual  prosecution 
and  colonial  regulation  :  respecting  Wilkes,  and  other  persons  involved 
in  his  publications,  the  majority  of  its  members  proceeded  with  the  pas- 
sion of  partisans,  and  not  the  cool  policy,  of  senators  ;  and  towards 
America,  the  conduct  of  this  body  was  a  succession  of  contradictocy 
measures,  neither  effectual  in  coercion  nor  concession.  They  irritated, 
conciliated,  and  irritated  again  ;  and  left  the  colonies  ill-affected  to  the 
country,  sowing  the  seeds  of  the  American  war.  liut,  though  their  ag- 
grcirato  policy  was  citlicr  inefficient  or  hurtfid,  yet  they  contained  a  con- 
siderable rlegroe  of  individual  ability.  In  the  latter  years,  mature  and 
formed  clocpiencc  was  most  conspicuous  in  the  house  of  peers.  In  the 
house  of  commons,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Townshend,  the  ablest  ora- 
tors had  not  arrived  at  the  perfection  which  they  were  severally  destined 
to  attain.  The  eloquence  at  that  time,  thougli  brilliant,  animated,  and 
impressive,  Tlid  not,  either  in  closeriess  and  force  of  reasoning,  compre- 
hensiveness of  views,  or  political  philosophy,  equal  the  efforts  of  more 
recent  periods. 

Having  brought  the  first  British  parliament  of  his  majesty  to  a  conclu- 
sion, we  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  afiaira  of  Ireland,  which, 


irer.— ciup.  vi.  iieign  of  geouge  hi.  225 

[Original  state  of  Ireland.     Impolitic  conduct  of  England.] 

from  the  commencement  of  the  reign,  were  of  more  than  usual  impor- 
tance, and  since  that  time  had  become  extremely  interesting.  To  com- 
prehend the  passing  transactions  of  the  sister  kingdom,  it  is  necessary 
to  take  a  short  retrospective  survey  of  causes  and  events,  which  power- 
fully affected  the  state  of  the  country  and  the  character  of  the  people. 

The  Irish  were  originally  sunk  in  barbarism,  far  beneath  any  other 
inhabitants  of  middle  Europe,  even  in  their  most  uncivilized  ages.* 
Never  conquered,  nor  even  invaded,  by  the  Romans,  they  continued 
still  in  the  most  savage  state  ;  and  were  distinguished  by  those  vices,  to 
which  human  nature  is  always  subject,  when  it  is  neither  tamed  by  edu- 
cation nor  restrained  by  laws.  The  small  principalities  into  which  they 
were  divided,  exercised  perpetual  rapine  and  violence  against  each  other; 
the  uncertain  succession  of  their  princes  was  a  continual  source  of  do- 
mestic convulsions  ;  the  usual  title  of  each  petty  sovereign  was  the 
murder  of  his  predecessor  ;  courage  and  force,  though  exercised  in  the 
commission  of  crimes,  were  more  honoured  than  any  pacific  virtues. 
The  most  simple  arts  of  life,  tillage,  and  agriculture,  were  almost  wholly 
unknown.  They  had  felt  the  invasion  of  the  Danes,  and  the  other 
northern  tribes ;  but  these  inroads,  which  had  spread  barbarism  into  the 
rest  of  Europe,  tended  rather  to  improve  the  Irish  ;  and  the  only  towns 
which  were  to  be  found  in  the  island,  had  been  planted  along  the  coast 
by  the  freebooters  of  Norway  and  Denmark.  The  other  inhabitants 
exercised  pasturage  in  the  open  country ;  sought  protection  from  any 
danger  in  their  forests  and  morasses  ;  and  being  divided  by  the  fiercest 
animosities  against  each  other,  were  still  more  intent  on  the  means  of 
mutual  injury,  than  on  the  expedients  of  common,  or  even  private  inter- 
est. So  situated  and  disposed,  when  they  were  conquered  by  Henry 
II.,  the  Irish  did  not  improve  from  their  connexion  with  a  less  barbarous 
nation. 

Although  no  country  had  been  blessed  with  a  greater  proportion  of 
able  sovereigns  than  England,  from  the  time  of  Henry  II.  to  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII.,  yet  no  policy  could  be  more  absurd  and  prejudicial,  than 
the  system  which  had  been  uniformly  pursued  respecting  Ireland.  The 
conquerors  not  only  took  no  pains  to  communicate  to  the  conquered 
their  own  progressive  civilization,  but  even  prevented  those  advances 
which  the  latter  might  have  themselves  made.  While  from  the  close  of 
the  eleventh  century,  other  countries  were  emerging  from  that  profound 
ionorance  in  which  Europe  was  then  sunk;  that  unfortunate  island, 
possessing  eyery  natural  means  of  improvement,  a  climate  temperate 
and  salutary,  a  fertile  soil,  a  maritime  situation,  numberless  harbours, 
a  people  sprightly,  ready  in  apprehension,  having  a  fire  of  ingenuity  that 
beamed  through  the  thick  fogs  of  their  ignorance,  with  every  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual  capability  of  improvement,  they,  from  political 
debasement,  were  in  a  condition  of  stationary  savageness.  Such  men, 
strangers  to  arts  and  industry,  were  naturally  prone  to  disorder  and  in- 
surrection. To  quell  revolt,  and  prevent  its  recurrence,  Henry  VII. 
proposed  the  extension  of  English  jurisprudence  to  the  appendent  island. 
Poyning,  lord  deputy  to  the  king,  procured  the  enactment  of  that  me- 
morable statute,  which  bears  his  name,  by  which  all  the  former  law.s 

•  See  Strabo,  who  describes  the  rish  as  infinitely  more  savage  than  the  Gauls, 
Germans,  or  Britons. 
Vol.  Vll— 29 


226  HISTORY  OF  the  Chaf.  VI. --17 

[Improvement  of  Ireland  under  Jarres  I.] 

should  be  of  force  in  Ireland,  and  that  no  bill  could  be  introduced  into 
the  Irish  parliameiit,  unless  it  had  previously  received  the  sanction  of  the 
council  of  England.  Tlie  purpose  of  tliis  ordinance  was  evidently  much 
more  to  ensure  dominion  than  to  impart  civilization  ;  and  though  the  com- 
munication of  J^nglish  Jaws  might  ultimately  tend  to  infuse  a  portion  of 
English  arts,  manners,  and  industry,  yet  its  direct  and  immediate  ten- 
dency was  to  trench  upon  Irish  independence ;  and  they  long  continued 
discontented  and  turbulent.  After,  the  reformation  was  established  in 
England,  theological  ditVerence  inflamed  the  discontents.  If  men  so 
uncultivated  possessed  any  vestiges  of  Christianity,  being  totally  unfit 
for  the  genuine  wisdom  and  goodness  of  that  divine  system,  they  must 
have  received  it  with  the  grossest  corruptions  which  it  had  acquired  from 
interested  imposture,  oscitant  negligence,  or  torpid  stupidity.  "  Super- 
stition (says  one  of  the  glories  of  that  country,  after  Irish  genius  had 
begun  to  show  its  strength  and  brilliancy*)  is  the  only  religion  of  ignorant 
minds."  Devoted  to  the  most  abject  popery,  the  Irish,  during  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth,  were  easily  the  dupes  of  all  the  artifices  of  the  Romish  com- 
bination :  discontent,  bursting  out  in  partial  insurrection,  spread  to  ge- 
neral rebellion.  The  vigour  and  prudence  of  Mountjoy  crushed  revolt ; 
but  a  more  ditlicult  task  still  remained,  to  civilize  the  inhabitants,  to  re- 
concile them  to  laws  and  industry,  and  to  render  their  subjection  durable 
and  useful  to  the  crown  of  England.  King  James  proceeded  in  tliis  work 
by  a  steady,  regular,  and  well  concerted  plan,  and  made  greater  advances 
towards  the  reformation  of  that  kingdom,  than  had  been  achieved  during 
the  four  hundred  and  forty  years  which  had  elapsed  since  the  conquest. 
The  act  of  Poynings  had  given  authority  to  English  laws,  and  rendered 
future  statutes  of  Ireland  dependent  on  the  English  government,  but  had 
not  abolished  the  Irish  customs,  which  supplied  the  place  of  laws,  and 
were  calculated  to  keep  the  people  in  perpetual  barbarism  and  disorder. 
Of  these  usages,  the  most  noted  respecting  penal  proceedings  was  the 
brehon,  by  which  every  crime,  even  murder  itself,  was  punished,  not  with 
death,  but  by  a  fine  or  pecuniary  mulct,  vviiich  was  levied  upon  the  cri- 
minal. In  the  distribution  of  property,  the  customs  of  p^uvelkind  and 
taniitr]j  were  no  less  inimical  to  the  purposes  of  civilized  society :  the 
land,  by  the  custom  of  gavelkind,  was  divided  among  all  the  males  of  the 
sept  or  family,  both  bastard  and  legitimate  ;  and,  after  partition  made,  if 
any  of  the  sept  died,  his  portion  was  not  shared  out  among  his  sons  ;  >but 
the  chieftain,  at  his  discretion,  made  a  new  partition  of  all  the  lands  be- 
longing to  that  sept,  and  gave  every  one  his  share.  As  no  man,  by  rea- 
80n  of  this  custom,  enjoyed  the  fixed  property  of  any  land  ;  to  build,  to 
plant,  to  enclose,  to  cultivate,  to  improve,  would  have  been  so  much  lost 
labour.f  The  tanists,  or  chieftains,  though  drawn  from  the  principal 
families,  were  not  hereditary,  but  were  established  by  election,  or,  more 
properly  speaking,  by  force  and  violence.  Their  authority  was  almost 
absolute  ;  and  notwithstanding  that  certain  lands  were  assigned  to  the 
office,  its  chief  profits  resulted  from  exactions,  dues,  and  assessments, 
for  which  there  wa.s  ho  fixed  law,  and  which  were  levied  at  pleasure. 
These  customs  James  abolished,  and  in  their  place  substituted  English 
law,  established  circuits,  banished  oppression,  administered  justice,  as- 
certained the  rules  of  property,  and  severely  punished  crimes  and  dis- 

•  Burke.  f  Hume,  vol.  iii. 


67.—CBAV.  VI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  227 

[Dissatisfaction  of  the  catholics.] 

orders.    He  did  not  confine  his  improvements  to  the  introduction  of  laws 
for  securing  property  and  punishing  crimes,  but  promoted  means  of  ac- 
quiring riches  and  preventing  enormity.     He  first  endeavoured  to  stimu- 
late industry,  and  was  peculiarly  successful  in  the  province  of  Ulster, 
which,  having  fallen  to  the  crown  by  the  attainder  of  rebels,  was  entirely 
at  his  disposal.     The  land  was  divided  into  moderate  shares,  the  largest 
not  exceeding  2,000  acres.     Many  natives  of  England  and  of  Scotland 
received  grants  of  estates,  and  brought  from  their  respective  countries, 
tenants,  who  were  capable  by  skill  and  industry,  to  cultivate  and  improve 
the  grounds,  and  also  to  practise  other  useful  pursuits.     The  Irish  were 
removed  from  the  hills  and  fastnesses,  and  settled  in  the  open  country  : 
husbandry  and  the  arts  were  taught  them  ;  a  fi,xed  habitation  was  secured  ; 
plunder  and  robbery  were  punished  ;  and,  by  those  means,  Ulster,  from 
being  the  most  wild  and  disorderly  province  of  all  Ireland,  soon  became 
the  best  cultivated  and  most  civilized.*     By  these  wise  and  prudent 
measures,  James  laid  the  basis  of  justice,  security  and  humanity  in  Ire- 
land ;  but  various  obstacles  impeded  the  superstructure,  which  were  prin- 
cipally referable  to  two  sources,  property  and  religion.    Long  established 
custom,  however  absurd,  or  even  pernicious,  is  extremely  difficult  to  be 
overcome,  especially  among  barbarians,  whose  regard  to  mere  usage  is 
in  the  inverse  proportion  of  their  liberality  and  intelligence.    The  appro- 
priation to  individuals  of  lands,  which,  according  to  their  ancient  custom, 
belonged  to  a  sept  or  family,  was  extremely  disagreeable  to  the  Irish. 
Besides  their  disapprobation  of  the  new  tenure,  they  were  greatly  dis- 
satisfied with  many  of  the  proprietors,  who,  possessing  the  lands  which 
had  formerly  belonged  to  communities,  were  regarded  by  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  as  aliens  and  interlopers,  and  a  distinction  arose  between  the 
neiv  settlers  and  the  old  Irish,  that  long  subsisted,  and  often  manifested 
itself  in  very  fatal  efl^ects.     Most  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  continued 
addicted  to  t1ie  Romish  superstition.     The  liberal  spirit  of  England  to- 
wards diversities  of  theological  belief,  granted  to  the  catholics  of  Ireland 
a  degree  of  indulgence  almost  amounting  to  a  toleration  ;  but  so  long  as 
the  churches  and  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  were  kept  from  the  priests, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  endure  the  neighbourhood  of  profane  heretics, 
being  themselves  discontented,  they  continually  endeavoured  to  prevent 
the  establishment  of  cordial  amity  between  the  English  and  Irish  nations. 
Instigated  by  these  spiritual  directors,  as  well  as  inspired  with  a  love  of 
national  independence,  they  ardently  desired  the  expulsion  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  waited  with  impatience  for  an  opportunity  of  making  the  at- 
tempt.    When  the  Scotch  presbyterians  began  their  hostilities  against 
Charles  T,  and  his  liturgy,  and  the  English  puritans  menaced  the  mitre 
and  the  crown,  the  Irish  leaders  thought  the  occasion  auspicious  to  re- 
volt.    A  conspiracy  was  formed  lor  overpowering  the  English,  repos- 
sessing the  lands  of  their  forefathers,  effecting  a  complete  separation  be- 
tween England  and  Ireland,  and  re-establishing  the  catholic  rehgion  as 
paramount  and  supreme.     Actuated  by  such  powerful  passions,  in  pur- 
suing their  objects  they  displayed  not  only  impetuous  ardour,  but  a  vigour 
of  ability,  and  a  skilful  and  comprehensive  concert  of  measures,  that  de- 
monstrated them  to  be  very  far  advanced,  since  the  desultory  insurrec- 
tions of  the  former  century.     The  native  genius  of  the  Irish,  improved 

•  Hume,  vol.  ill. 


228  HISTORY  OF  TFIE  Chap.  VI.— 1767- 

[Insurrection  of  1641.    Policy  of  Cromwell  and  Charles  II.] 

even  by  partial  and  reluctant  intercourse  with  the  English,  evinced  tho 
beneficial  tendency  of  the  system  of  James  ;  and  their  very  counsels  and 
efforts  to  etVect  a  separation,  proved  the  benefits  that  must  accrue  from 
the  connexion.  To  the  historical  reader,  who  can  perceive  and  combine 
the  mixed  uniformity  and  variations  of  national  character  in  the  progres- 
sive stages  of  knowledge  and  civility,  the  Irish  conspiracy  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  atFords  subjects  of  reflection,  which  are  not  only  important 
ia  themselves,  but  illustrate  transactions,  pursuits,  and  conduct  in  very 
recent  periods.  The  plot  of  1641  was  remarkable  for  unity  of  design, 
extensive  organization  of  plan,  and  secresy  of  preparation  from  which 
there  might  have  been  expected  to  follow,  firm,  cool,  and  resolute  exe- 
cution ;  but  when  it  ripened  to  insurrection,  it  burst  forth  with  an  impe- 
tuous fury  and  atrocity,  liker  to  the  blood-thirsty  cruelty  of  savage  ani- 
mals, than  the  regulated  courage  of  rational  creatures  seeking  moment- 
ous objects.  More  and  Maguire,  the  projectors,  were  able  men,  but 
their  associate  O'Neal,  and  the  greater  portion  of  their  followers,  were 
barbarians,  with  the  violent  and  uncontrolled  passions  of  rude  tribes; 
which,  in  any  evil  direction,  were  the  more  mischievous,  from  the  natural 
sagacity,  ingenuity,  and  force  of  the  Irish  character ;  and  which  were 
then  stimulated  by  the  interested,  bigoted,  and  infuriated  teachers  of  a 
gloomy  and  ferocious  superstition.  The  massacre  that  ensued,  so  horrid 
in  its  enormities,  spread  over  all  the  provinces  of  Ireland,  and  involved 
the  whole  island  in  guilt.  The  daring  vigour  of  Cromwell  crushed  the 
insurrection  of  Ireland,  and  employed  plunder  and  forfeiture,  the  usual 
means  of  military  usurpers  to  reward  the  instruments  of  their  dominion, 
and  to  strengthen  present  tyranny ;  little  regardless  of  the  real  interests 
and  permanent  prosperity  of  possessions  which  they  hold  on  such  a  pre- 
carious tenure.  In  the  confiscation  were  comprehended,  not  only  the 
revolters  against  the  English  government,  but  the  loyal  partisans  of  the 
ill-fated  monarch.  A  more  sudden  and  violent  change  of  property  was 
THEN  unknown  in  the  annals  of  injustice;  five  millions  of  acres,  which 
had  been  wrested  from  the  former  proprietors,  were  divided  among  the 
creditors  of  the  anti-monarchical  party,  and  the  soldiers  of  the  protector. 
An  order  was  even  issued,  to  confine  all  the  native  Irish  to  the  province 
of  Connaught,  where  they  would  be  shut  up  by  rivers,  lakes,  and  moun- 
tains :  and  could  not,  it  was  hoped,  be  any  longer  dangerous  to  the  English 
government.*  A  policy  at  once  so  absurd  and  inhuman,  was  a  principal 
cause  of  subsequent  discontents,  disorders,  and  convulsions  in  Ireland, 
and  very  long  counteracted  the  wise  and  beneficent  purposes  which  the 
system  of  James  had  sought  to  obtain  :  the  insatiate  rapacity  of  the 
usurper  rendered  incfl'ectual  the  provident  cares  and  counsels  of  the  law- 
ful kin:;.  To  redress  the  grievances  of  the  Iri.sh  sufferers,  was  a  great 
object  of  the  wise  counsellors  by  whom  Charles  the  second  was  directed 
in  the  earlier  part  ot  his  reign  ;  but  it  was  tound  an  arduous  task,  either 
to  undo,  or  compensate,  such  flagrant  and  extensive  iniquities.  The  re- 
volutionary soldiers  and  rnonjed  speculators  could  not  be  dispos.sessed, 
because  they  were  the  most  powerfiil  and  only  armed  part  of  Ireland ; 
and,  besides,  it  appeared  expedient  to  favour  them,  in  order  to  support 
the  protestant  and  English  interest  in  that  kingdom,  and  because  they 
had  generally,  with  a  seeming  zeal  and  alacrity,  joined  in  the  king's  res- 

•  Hume,  vol.  iv.  , 


176r.-^CHAP.  VI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  IIJ.  2^ 

[Equitable  administration  of  Ormond.    Bigotry  of  James  II  ] 

toration.  Charles  therefore  promised  by  a  proclamation  to  maintain 
their  settlement,  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  amends  to  the  innocent 
sufferers  ;  and  proposed  to  perform  this  engagement  from  several  funds, 
but  chiefly  a  quantity  of  land  which  was  still  unappropriated.  When  the 
various  sources  of  recompense  were  accurately  examined,  they  were 
found  totally  inadequate  to  the  purpose  of  indemnification  ;  so  that  either 
the  present  possessors  must  be  disturbed,  or  the  grievances  of  the  ancient 
proprietors  continue  without  redress  :  anxiety  and  alarm  seized  both  the 
claimants  and  the  holders  ;  the  former  eager  to  recover  the  inheritance 
of  their  fathers,  the  latter  afraid  to  lose,  but  resolute  to  retain  their 
own  acquisitions.  The  duke  of  Ormond,  appointed  lord  lieutenant,  was 
deemed  the  most  proper  person,  from  prudence  and  equity,  to  compro- 
mise differences,  and  reconcile  jarring  pretensions ;  and,  after  encoun- 
tering various  obstacles  and  difficulties,  he  at  length  succeeded  in  pre- 
vailing on  the  parties  to  accede  to  a  modification.  The  Cromwellian 
possessors  agreed  to  relinquish  one  third  of  their  lands,  which  was  to  be 
distributed  among  the  dispossessed  Irish,  who  had  either  been  entirely 
innocent  of  insurrection,  or  had  adhered  to  the  royal  family.  In  the 
former  case  they  were  compelled  to  undertake  one  of  the  most  arduous 
tasks  that  can  be  required  in  the  establishment  of  truth — the  proof  of  a 
negative :  they  were  to  be  presumed  guilty,  unless  they  evinced  the  con- 
trary :  they  were,  besides,  debarred  from  pleading  innocence,  if  they  had 
ever  lived  in  the  quarters  of  rebels.  From  the  wide  latitude  of  construc- 
tive guilt,  and  the  difficulty  of  exculpatory  demonstration,  many  persons 
free  from  the  crime  remained  involved  in  the  punishment ;  and  as  two- 
thirds  of  the  lands  still  were  held  by  persons  whom  the  former  proprietors 
regarded  as  usurpers,  they  deemed  themselves  the  victims  of  injustice. 
These  sentiments  were  not  confined  to  actual  sufferers,  but  diffused 
among  their  friends  and  connexions,  and  incorporating  with  the  spirit  of 
national  independence  and  popery,  overspread  the  ancient  Irish.  There 
were  now  in  Ireland  two  great  parties,  in  the  nature  of  things  reciprocally 
hostile  :  the  present  holders,  attached  to  the  English  government,  whose 
power  only  could  secure  their  possessions  ;  and  the  expelled  descendants 
of  the  ancient  owners,  who  were  inimical  to  that  government  which  they 
conceived  to  preclude  the  vindication  of  their  rights.  In  both,  interest 
and  religion  went  hand  in  hand.  The  new  proprietors,  chiefly  of  Eng- 
lish extraction,  were  generally  protestants,  and  the  ejected  Irish,  catho- 
lics. The  mild  and  equitable  administration  of  Ormond,  however,  pre- 
vented the  discordant  spirit  from  immediately  bursting  out  in  renewed 
insurrection.  His  great  object  was,  impartially  ancftquitably  to  promote 
the  good  of  all  classes,  whether  protestants  or  catholics,  and  to  engender 
in  both  a  disposition  to  conciliation.  In  the  latter  years  of  Charles,  the 
expectations  that  were  entertained  from  a  popish  successor,  distinguished 
for  ardent  zeal,  co-operated  with  the  wisdoin  of  Ormond  in  preventing 
the  catholics  from  attempting  to  disturb  the  English  government  of  Ire- 
land. The  furious  bigotry  of  James  overleaped  every  bound  of  true 
policy  ;  and,  without  any  preparation  or  precaution,  eagerly  endeavoured 
to  re-establish  the  catholic  religion  in  intolerant  supremacy,  annulled 
protestant  charters  and  corporations,  filled  the  offices  of  state  with  Ro- 
manists, and  gave  the  supreme  direction  of  affairs  to  Tyrconnel,  as  vio- 
lent a  bigot  as  himself.  The  protestants  in  great  numbers  left  the  king- 
dom, and  the  interests  of  England  in  the  sister  island  were  almost  totally 


230  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  VI.— 1767. 

[Treaty  of  Limerick.     Subjection  of  Irisli  courts  to  English  tribunals  ] 

destroyed,  when  the  frantic  folly  of  James  gave  way  to  the  ability  of 
^Viliiam.  The  Iiisli  catholics  strenuously  embraced  the  interest  of  the 
exiled  kinji,  and  ho[)ed  that  his  restoration  woiihl  both  re-establish  the 
Romish  rehaion,  and  enable  them  to  regain  all  the  lands  now  occupied 
by  prolestanls.  Repossession  and  religion  being  the  chief  purposes  of 
their  adherence  to  the  popish  prince,  they  combated  with  their  usual 
impetuosity,  and  butchered  with  their  usual  i'ury  ;  but,  after  a  bloody  con- 
test and  repeated  defeats,  the  insurgents  were  finally  overcome  by  the 
disciplined  valour  of  English  soldiers.  Having  the  rebels  at  his  feet, 
\^illlam  perceived  the  policy  which  wisdom  dictates  towards  reduced 
rebels,  who  may  be  reclaimed  and  rendered  useful  sulijects  ;  and  at  the 
celebrated  treaty  of  Limerick,  granted  to  the  Irish  catholics  what  they 
considered  as  the  great  charter  of  their  civil  and  religious  liberties,  and 
allowed  an  amnesty  for  the  past,  on  their  swearing  allegiance  for  the 
future ;  allowing  those  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  present  govern- 
ment, to  retire  into  other  countries.  Various  forfeitures  having  fallen  to 
the  crown  before  this  capitulation,  the  king  gratified  the  friends  of  the 
English  government  with  a  part  of  the  confiscations,  but  remitted  a  con- 
siderable portion  ;  and  adopted  conciliation,  as  the  means  which  woidd 
render  the  two  kingdoms  reciprocally  beneficial.  Great  pains  were  em- 
ployed to  spread  industry  and  the  arts  ;  the  intercourse  of  Ireland  with 
England  and  Scotland,  no  longer  interrupted  with  rebellions,  being  ra- 
pidly increased,  taught  and  encouraged  manufactures,  and  promoted  hus- 
bandry. The  Irish,  ingenious  and  intelligent,  readily  comprehended  the 
lessons  they  received  ;  and,  in  some  parts  of  the  island,  employed  per- 
severance and  industry,  and  felt  the  strength  and  resources  which  their 
country  contained,  if  they  were  steadily  and  judiciously  employed.  Du- 
ring the  reign  of  Anne  they  grew  in  prosperity,  and  appeared  to  be  well 
satisfied  with  the  English  government. 

In  .the  reign  of  George  I.  a  law  was  passed,  making  a  very  material 
change  in  tlie  relation  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  rendering 
the  sister  kingdom  much  more  dependent  upon  Britain,  than  even  the 
statute  of  Poynings  had  proposed  ;  and  whereas  that  lawgiver  had  pro- 
cured a  negative  and  preventive  control  over  Irish  legislation,  the  bill  of 
George  I.  gave  a  positive  and  enacting  power,  and  also  established  the 
subjection  of  Irish  courts  of  justice  to  the  corresponding  tribunals  of 
England.  This  change  passed  without  much  animadversion  at  the  time, 
though  it  was  destined  to  be  afterwards  a  very  important  subject  of  dis- 
cussion and  correction.  The  Irish  in  that  reign  appear  to  have  been 
chiefly  engaged  by  wk  interests  of  their  new  commerce,  from  which  may 
be  derived  their  violent  opposition  to  Wood's  half-pence.  The  growing 
trade  of  Ireland  was  regarded  by  many  of  the  English  with  an  unfounded 
jealousy,  as  they  apprehended  from  its  increase  a  competition  of  com- 
mercial interests  ;  and  the  legislature  of  Britain  clogged  the  industry  of 
Ireland  with  various  restrictions,  which  were  extremely  injudicious,  im- 
mediately injurious  to  Irish,  and  ultimately  to  British,  prosperity. 

In  the  reign  of  George  If.  the  incumbrances  were  |)artially  removed  ; 
wool  and  woollen  yarn  were  allowed  to  be  im|)orted  both  to  Scotland 
and  England  ;  afterwards  cattle  and  tallow,  salted  beef  and  pork,  ob- 
tained the  same  permission.  At  one  period  there  arose  a  contest  be- 
tween the  government  and  the  Irish  house  of  commons  respecting  privi- 
lege and  prerogative,  in  the  application  of  the  surplus  of  revenue,  which 


1767.— Chap.  Vr.  REIGN  OF  GEORGK  III.  231 

[Disorders  in  Ireland.     Proceedings  of  llie  white  boys.] 

the  commons  conceived  Oioy  had  a  right  to  appropriate  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  crown.  Popular  orators  operating  on  the  fiery  spirit  of  the 
Irish,  tht^  dispute  became  extremely  violent:  and  though  afterwards 
quieted  by  the  skilful  application  of  government  to  the  leaders  of  most 
influence  witli  the  people,  yet  the  seeds  of  dissatisfar-lion  still  remained, 
and  llie  persons  most  k(!enly  in  oppf)sition  to  government  ac(piircd  pro- 
portionate popularity.  The  duke  of  Newcastle,  agreeably  to  the  general 
rule  of  his  policy,  sought  to  govern  Ireland  by  a  junto,  composed  of  men 
of  family  or  official  influence.  Another  body  of  men  assumed  the  name 
of  patriots ;  they  professed  to  make  the  commercial  benefit  and  political 
rights  of  their  country  the  great  objects  of  their  pursuits,  and  to  reprobate 
every  measure  or  practice  that  appeared  to  lessen  the  political  or  com- 
mercial benefits  of  Ireland ;  they  inveighed  against  the  powers  asserted 
by  the  British  government,  the  restrictions  upon  trade,  and  the  expenses 
of  the  pension  list,  and  co-operated  with  any  party  or  individual  that  hap- 
pened to  be  in  opposition  to  administration.  Conceived  to  be  .sincere  in 
their  professions  of  patriotism,  they  were  revered  by  the  populace,  who 
received  their  representations  as  the  oracles  of  truth,  and  at  the  death  of 
George  II.  a  spirit  of  disaffection  and  discord  was  manifest  in  many  parts 
of  Ireland. 

George  III.  proposed  to  govern  Ireland  as  well  as  Britain  without  any 
regard  to  party  distinctions;  but,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  the  ani- 
mosities were  inflamed  to  a  very  high  pitch,  by  a  dispute  about  a  money 
bill.  In  October  1761,  his  majesty  sent  as  lord-lieutenant  the  earl  of 
Halifax,  who  was  esteemed  well  qualified  by  united  vigour- arid  prudence 
for  supporting  the  rights  of  the  crown,  and  conciliating  the  affections  and 
promoting  the  interests  of  the  people.  In  his  speeches  to  the  legislature, 
and  in  his  executorial  conduct,  he  endeavoured  to  soften  and  banish  ani- 
mosities, to  promote  unanimity",  to  recommend  and  enforce  the  improve- 
ment of  agriculture  and  manufactures,  and  to  encourage  the  education 
of  youth,  and  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge.  But  the  very  progress 
of  husbandry  produced  discj)ntents  and  commotions  among  many  of  the 
ignorant  people,  who  had  neither  discernment  to  understand  improve- 
ments, nor  patience  to  await  results.  Parties  of  men  assembled  to  de- 
stroy enclosures,  under  the  pretext  of  restoring  commons  to  tlie  poor, 
and  committed  various  outrages :  the  insurgents  wearing  over  their  clothes 
a  white  frock,  thence  received  the  name  of  ivhlle  boys,  that  afterwards 
became  so  noted  and  so  terrible.  These  banditti  secured  their  union, 
and  increased  their  numbers,  by  oaths  of  secresy,  an  organized  plan, 
and  by  inflicting  the  severest  cruelties  on  all  who  refused  co-operation. 
During  the  year  1763,  they  carried  their  atrocities  to  so  alarming  a  height, 
as  to  call  the  attention  of  parliament ;  but  no  effectual  measures  were 
adopted  for  their  suppression.  Convened  for  the  purpose  of  rescinding 
the  muniments  of  property,  they  attacked  rights  and  establishments  of 
various  kinds,  and  were  peculiarly  resolute  in  the  refusal  of  tithes.  The 
professed  patriots,  by  exclaiming  against  the  pension  list  and  other  al- 
leged abuses,  and  calling  loudly  for  reform  at  a  season  when  the  public 
ferment  and  the  violence  of  the  populace  were  so  unfavourable  to  such 
discussions,  tended  to  inflame  the  disorders  ;  and  the  spirit  of  dissatisfac- 
tion, which  was  so  industriously  spread  through  Britain,  acted  also  power- 
fully in  Ireland. 

tn  the  houses  of  parliameot,  a  regular  and  systematic  opposition  was 


232  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  VI.— 1767. 

[Whig  confederacy  of  Ireland.    Bill  limiting  the  duration  of  parliament] 

now  formed  to  the  measures  of  government.  It  consisted  of  two  classes  : 
individuals  of  frreat  personal  popularity ;  and  a  combination  of  family 
connexion  and  political  union.  This  band,  headed  by  lord  Shannon  and 
the  house  of  Ponsonby,  was  nearly  akin,  in  principles  and  views  of  go- 
vernment, to  the  Rockingham  party  in  England ;  with  whom  its  several 
members  maintained  a  close  intercourse,  consolidated  in  various  instances 
by  relation  and  afliance.  These  may  without  impropriety  be  termed  the 
whig  confederacy  of  Ireland  :  and,  in  the  successive  political  changes, 
joined  and  co-operated  with  the  corresponding  body  in  Britain.  In  par- 
liament, a  considerable  subject  of  debate  was  the  origination  of  money 
bills.  Hitherto  measures  of  finance  were  proposed  by  the  privy-council 
of  England  and  sent  to  the  Irish  house  of  commons,  which  had  merely 
a  power  of  refusal.  In  1754,  Mr.  Perry,  one  of  those  members  who 
claimed  the  merit  of  patriotism,  proposed,  that  propositions  of  aids  should 
spring  from  the  commons.  The  mover  was  strenuously  supported  by 
Mr.  Ponsonby  and  his  adherents ;  and  though  his  proposition  was  not 
passed  into  a  law,  yet  its  principle  and  spirit  deserve  the  attention  of  the 
historical  reader,  as  manifesting  a  disposition  to  assimilate  the  Irish  con- 
stitution to  the  British,  and  consequently  lessen  the  dependence  of  Ire- 
land. 

In  1766,  a  more  important  and  comprehensive  scheme  was  tried  for 
effecting  a  similarity  to  the  polity  of  Britain.  The  parliament  of  Ireland 
at  this  time  was  subject  to  dissolution  only  by  the  demise  of  the  crown, 
or  the  exercise  of  the  kingly  prerogative.  Several  attempts  had  been 
made,  during  the  preceding  four  years,  to  render  their  duration  septen- 
nial, but  were  rejected  by  the  Irish  legislature ;  a  new  bill  being  now  in- 
troduced, passed  the  Irish  parliament,  but  was  rejected  in  Britain.  Soon 
after,  lord  Chatham,  who  had  received  the  direction  of  English  affairs, 
and  his  friend  lord  Camden,  declared  themselves  favourable  to  the  limited 
duration  of  the  Irish  parliament.  Charles  Townshend  agreed  to  this 
opinion,  and  his  brother  viscount  Townshend  was  appointed  lord-lieute- 
nant of  Ireland.  Instead  of  a  septennial,  an  octennial  law  was  recom- 
mended. The  new  viceroy  repaired  to  his  government  in  October  1767, 
and  a  bill  for  limiting  the  duration  of  parliament  to  the  period  of  eight 
years,  was  proposed,  speedily  and  unanimously  passed,  and  received  by 
ihe  people  with  a  joy  and  gratitude  that  demonstrated  the  eagerness  of 
their  desire  to  obtain  the  benefits  which  were  possessed  and  secured 
under  the  British  constitution. 


ires.— Ciiip.  vrr.  reign  of  geougk  hi.  233 


CHAP.  VII. 

Prevalent  discontents. — Mr.  Wilkes  returns  from  exile — offers  himself  candidate 
for  London — rejected — chosen  for  Middlesex — prosecuted  at  the  instance  of 
ministers — tried  l^efore  lord  Mansfield — sentenced  to  the  king's  bench  prison — 
popular  invectives  ag-ainst  tlie  judge. — Hints  in  St.  Georg^e's  fields. — Wilkes's 
outlawry  reversed. — King  of  Denmark  visits  Britain. — Favourite  studies  of  his 
Britannic  majesty. — Voyages  of  discovery  and  science. — Captain  Cook — Mr. 
Banks — Affairs  on  the  continent — Parties  in  Poland. — Dissidents. — Interfer- 
ence of  Prussia  and  llu.'^sia. — Conduct  of  Austria — of  France. — llupture  between 
Kussia  and  Turkey. — American  colonies  enraged  at  Mr.  Townshend's  new  im- 
post,— Province  of  Massachusetts  more  active  in  resistance ---New  combination 
against  British  commodities.— Lord  Hilisboroug!)  the  secretary  of  state,  his  let- 
ter to  the  governors  of  their  respective  provinces.— Riots  at  Boston— Eng- 
land.—Dissatisfaction  and  licentiousness.— Wilkes  inflames  the  discontent.— 
Supported  by  the  chief  citizens  of  the  metropolis.— Lord  Chatham  resigns  the 
privy-seal.— Parties  mutually  adverse  concur  in  opposition  to  administration. 

Wise  and  liberal  as  was  the  policy  of  our  king,  which  sought  to 
govern  by  virtue  and  ability  instead  of  a  parly  confederacy,  it  had  not 
hitherto  attained  the  merited  success.  The  royal  plan  had  to  encoun- 
ter obstacles  which  partly  arose  from  i>articular  incidents  and  charac- 
ters, but  were  chiefly  owing  to  general  causes. 

The  long  supremacy  of  the  whig  combination  had  conferred  on  its 
members,  in  the  public  opinion,  a  prescriptive  right  to  govern.  When 
Pitt  adopted  the  project  of  Bolingbrokc,  or  more  probably  followed 
the  natural  course  of  transcendent  talents,  he  was  aware  of  the  au- 
thority which  the  junto  had  acquired:  he  well  knew  that  political 
changes  ought  to  be  gradual,  and  accommodated  to  the  opinions  and 
sentiments  of  the  times.  He  therefore  did  not  propose  entirely  to  ex- 
clude the  phalanx  ;  but,  without  admitting  their  command,  to  enjoy 
their  assistance.  Even  this  partial  invasion  they  bore  with  impatience 
and  only  from  the  overpowering  force  of  genius  did  they  bear  it  at 
all :  Pitt's  administration  afforded  strong  proofs,  that  a  change  of  po- 
litical system  must  be  gradual,  and  that  the  projected  alteration  would 
be  arduous,  unless  pre  eminent  ability  guided  and  invigorated  the  ex- 
ecution. The  earl  of  Bute  attempted  a  more  extensive  and  rapid 
change  than  befits  the  progressive  variations  of  human  affairs:  in 
seeking  a  reform  agreeable  to  reason  and  justice,  he  failed,  by  preci- 
pitation and  the  want  of  superior  talents.  His  personal  unpopularity 
was  prejudicial  to  any  scheme  which  he  could  undertake,  and  his  suc- 
cessors (long  conceived  to  be  his  tools)  partook  of  the  prevalent  ha- 
tred, which  was  farther  increased  by  their  internal  and  colonial  mea- 
sures. The  administration  of  Rockingham  courted  popularity,  but  in 
its  weakness  and  inefficiency  demonstrated,  that  the  whig  phalanx  was 
fallen  in  strength  :  still,  however,  it  was  not  dissolved.  Pitt  tried  the 
experiment  of  governing  without  the  whig  connexion  ;  but  found, 
that  either  the  attempt  was  premature,  or  that  the  execution  required 
more  vigorous  exertion  than  the  infirm  state  of  his  health  permitted 
him  to  employ.  Feeble  as  a  ministry,  the  combination  of  whigs  wa3 
Vol.  VII.— 30 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  VII.— 1768. 

[Mr.  AVilkes  returns  from  exile.] 

a  powerful  body  of  opposition  ;  and  others,  not  of  their  sefit.,  united 
wUh  them  in  thwariintj  the  measures  of  government.  The  earl  of 
Chatham  ceased  to  be  an  active  member  of  his  majesty's  councils; 
and  instead  of  the  union  of  talents  that  the  sovereign  sought  and  the 
statesman  proposed,  there  was  in  the  cabinet  a  weakness  and  distrac- 
tion, whicii  cxciied  the  censiire  of  the  patriotic,  and  encouraged  the 
hopes  of  the  ambitious.  The  notion  of  a  secret  cabal  continued  to 
prevail,  and  had  its  share  in  giving  spirit  and  strength  to  anti-ministe- 
rial efforts,  l-'rom  ihcse  causes,  and  not  from  any  disloyal  acrimony, 
seems  to  have  arisen  the  opposition  to  government,  which  forms  so 
\ery  prominent  a  feature  in  the  early  history  of  our  sovereign.  Be- 
sides, the  immense  augmentation  of  trade  and  opulence  in  the  preced- 
ing reign,  had  raised  the  monied  capitalists  to  a  miich  greater  degree 
of  importance,  than  at  any  former  period  they  had  attained.  Always 
connected  with  the  vvhigs,  the  mercantile  body  entered  into  their  pre- 
sent views,  and  imputed  to  evil  and  unconstitutional  motives,  the  in- 
terference of  the  monarch  with  their  political  monopoly.  They  were 
farther  dissatisfied  wiih  the  measures  adopted  towards  America, 
which  had  eventually  proved  so  detrimental  to  trade.  The  citizens  of 
London  exchanged  their  foinier  zeal  in  favour  of  the  house  of  Bruns- 
wick, for  violent  enmity  to  the  successive  servants  whom  their  king 
chose  to  employ,  and  were  foremost  in  supporting  every  turbulent  in- 
dividual who  attacked  administration.  Such  was  the  spirit  now  raised 
into  a  strong  fermentation  by  the  general  election. 

To  prevalent  discontents,  an  individual  case  proved  a  very  formida- 
ble addition.  Mr.  John  Wilkes  had  applied  to  the  Rockingham  party 
•when  in  administration,  for  patronage  and  redress;  but  the  terms 
which  he  proposed,  a  general  pardon,  5000/.  in  cash,  and  a  pension 
on  the  Irish  establishment,  were  totally  inadmissible  ;  and  his  confi- 
dent presumption  was  not  only  disappointed  in  its  extravagant  expec- 
tations, but  prevented  the  amnesty  wnich  modest  humility  might  have 
procured.  When  the  duke  of  Grafton  became  prime  minister,  the 
hopes  of  iVlr.  Wilkes  again  revived.  He  had  been  extremely  intimate 
■with  that  nobleman,  and  expected  friendship  from  their  former  social 
and  convivial  intercourse,  as  well  as  patronage  fiom  the  whig  princi- 
ples which  the  minister  professed.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  duke, 
congratulating  his  grace  and  the  country  on  his  promotion,  and  en- 
treating his  mediation  with  the  king.  This  petition,  however,  was 
entirely  neglected  by  the  duke  :  and  Mr.  Wilkes's  hope  of  pardon 
vanishing,  he  restjlved  to  attack  his  adversaries  with  the  keenest  se- 
verity. On  the  dissolution  of  parliament,  coming  from  Paris,  he  pro- 
posed himself  as  a  candidate  to  represent  the  city  of  London.  The 
conduct  of  the  court  was  in  this  case  altogether  irresolute  and  feeble  ; 
while  prudence  dictated  determined  measures  either  of  rigour  or  of 
lenity.  If  they  determined  on  severe  justice  by  immediately  enfor- 
cing his  sentence  of  outlawry,  this  could  have  driven  him  back  to  ba- 
nishment, and  for  ever  crushed  his  projects  either  of  ambition  or  re- 
venge:  if  the  more  magnanimous  and  wiser  alternative  of  mercy  had 
been  adopted  by  a  full  pardon,  his  influence  and  popularity  would 
have  ceased  with  the  prosecution  from  which  they  sprung.  But  mi- 
nisters embraced  half  measures,  the  usual  offspring  of  imbecility,  and 
parent  of  disappointment.  Known  to  be  odious  to  the  court,  Wilkes 
was  received  by  the  people  with  rapturous  applause.    Mr.  Harley,  the 


1768.— Chap.  VII.  IIEIGN  OF  GEOKGE   III.  235 

[Elected  to  parliament  for  Middlesex,    lliot  in  St.  George's  fields.] 

lord-mayor,  being  in  the  interest  of  the  court,  prevented  Wilkes  from 
being  chosen  for  the  city  ;  whereupon  he  immediately  offered  him- 
self for  Middlesex.  Adored  by  the  freeholders  of  a  county  which, 
from  its  adjacency  to  the  metropolis,  speedily  catches  its  spirit  ;  sup- 
ported by  the  most  opulent  men  in  the  city  and  the  ablest  at  the  bar, 
after  a  riotous  and  tumultuous  election,  the  popular  candidate  was  re- 
turned by  a  very  great  majority.  Meanwhile,  a  legal  process  was  car- 
ried on  against  him  upon  the  former  charges  :  he  was  tried,  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment  for  two  years,  obliged  to  procure  security  for 
his  good  behaviour  fo'r  seven  years,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  a 
thousand  pounds.  A  trifling  alteration  in  the  judicial  records  was 
magnified  by  popular  clamour  into  the  most  flagrant  and  oppressive 
injustice.  It  had  been  a  common  and  unchallenged  practice  with  the 
judges,  when  requested  by  the  prosecutor,  to  amend  informations,  in 
order  to  add  to  their  clearness  and  precision.  At  the  instance  of  the 
treasury  solicitor,  lord  Mansfield  had  suffered  the  v/ovd pur/iort,  in  the 
information  against  Mr.  Wilkes,  to  be  erased,  and  the  word  te7ior  to 
be  substituted.  This  change,  perfectly  consistent  with  law  and  usage, 
and  which  could  not  have  the  smallest  weight  in  criminating  the  de- 
fendant, was  represented  as  an  iniquitous  measure,  flowing  from  the 
arbitrary  principles  and  designs  which  were  imputed  to  the  chief  jus- 
tice as  a  Scotchman,  and  a  friend  of  lord  Bute.  Extremely  enraged 
at  the  judgment  passed  upon  their  favourite,  the  populace  forcibly 
rescued  him  from  the  officers  who  were  conducting  him  to  prison, 
and  carried  him  triumphantly  through  the  streets  ;  but  Mr,  Wilkes, 
that  he  might  not  appear  a  parly  in  this  violence,  as  soon  as  the  mob 
was  dispersed,  prudently  surrendered  himself  to  the  marshal  of  the 
king's  bench. 

The  new  parliament  met  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  was  opened  by 
the  lord-chancellor  ;  who,  in  a  speech,  informed  the  house,  that  his 
majesty  had  not  called  them  together  at  that  unusual  season  of  the 
year  for  the  purpose  of  general  business,  but  merely  to  despatch  cer- 
tain parliamentary  proceedings  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  his  sub- 
jects, especially  the  renewal  of  the  acts  against  the  cxi>ortation  of 
corn,  which  were  then  on  the  eve  of  expiring. 

On  the  day  on  which  the  pailiament  met,  great  numbers  of  persons 
assembled  in  St.  George's  fields,  expecting  to  see  Mr.  Wilkes  go 
from  prison  to  the  house  of  commons.  The  mob  becoming  very  out- 
rageous, the  Surry  magistrates,  when  unable  to  preserve  the  public 
peace,  were  obliged  to  read  the  riot  act,  and  call  in  the  military  to  as- 
sist the  civil  power.  Instead  of  separating,  the  populace  insulled  and 
attacked  the  soldiers  :  the  legal  time  for  dispersion  being  elapsed, 
force  was  found  absolutely  necessary ;  the  soldiers  were  ordered  to 
fire;  and,  as  in  a  mob  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  active  outrage 
from  idle  curiosity,  a  man  who  had  not  been  riotous  was  unfortunately 
killed  .  this  was  Allen,  who,  though  humble  ai.d  obscure  in  life,  was 
from  his  death  consecrated  to  pprpetual  remembrance  by  the  pen  of 
elegant  invective,  poignant  acrimony,  and  impi'essive  misrepresenta- 
tion :*  several  others  also  were  unavoidably  killed.  On  the  17th  of 
May,  a  proclamation  was  issued,  by  order  of  the  council,  for  sup- 
lircsbing  tumults  and  unlawful  assemblies.    Both  houses  of  parlianfiCnt 

•  See  3\ia'ms, passim. 


236  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  VII.— 1768. 

[Mr.  Wilkes's  outlawry  reversed.    King  of  Denmark  visits  England.] 

thanked  his  majesty  for  this  measure,  and  united  in  expressing  their 
approbation  of  the  magistrates  who  had  been  active  in  quelling  the 
disturbances  :  and  lord  Weymouth  wrote  a  letter  by  his  majesty's 
command,  to  the  justices  for  Surry,  which  testified  the  utmost  satis- 
faction with  the  conduct  both  of  the  magistrates  and  the.  troops  in 
suppressing  lawless  disturbances.  Samuel  Gillam,  esq.  one  of  the 
justices,  was  tried  on  a  charge  of  having  murdered  William  Red- 
burn,  by  having  ordered  the  soldiers  to  fire;  in  consequence  of  which, 
Redburn  had  been  killed.  The  jury  seeing  the  absurdity  and  the  in- 
justice of  such  a  prosecution,  would  not  suffer  thre  accused  to  take  the 
trouble  of  entering  upon  his  defence  ;  but  when  the  prosecutor's  evi- 
dence was  closed,  pronounced  a  verdict  of  acquittal.  Donald  Maclean, 
a  soldier,  was  tried  for  the  murder  of  Allen  ;  but  being  proved  to 
have  acted  only  in  discharge  of  his  duty,  he  was  acquitted.  The  mob 
Avas  very  much  displeased  with  this  sentence;  and,  as  Maclean  was 
either  known,  or  from  his  name  presumed  to  be,  a  Scotch  High- 
lander, (and  consequently  the  countryman  of  lord  Bute,)  the  clamour 
was  the  more  loud  and  outrageous.  Mr.  Wilkes  applied  to  the  court 
of  king's  bench  for  a  reversal  of  his  outlawry,  as  irregular  and  illegal  ; 
and,  after  many  learned  arguments  on  both  sides,  tiie  judges  unani- 
mously delivered  their  opinion,  that  the  sentence  was  illegal,  and  must 
be  reversed. 

On  the  13th  of  May  the  king  lost  his  second  sister,  the  princess, 
Louisa  Anne,  in  the  20th  year  of  her  age.  In  the  course  of  the  sum- 
mer, the  king  of  Denmark,  under  the  title  of  the  prince  Travendahl, 
visited  England  ;  and,  arriving  in  London,  was  honoured  with  every 
possible  mark  of  respect  and  distinction,  and  entertained  at  court  with 
all  liie  princely  magnificence  which  befitted  the  guest  and  the  host. 
Having  viewed  every  thing  most  worthy  of  notice  in  the  metropolis, 
his  Danish  majesty  made  a  tour  to  York  ;  and  visiting  Cambridge, 
was  received  by  that  learned  body  with  all  the  discriminating  atten- 
tion of  lettered  politeness.  He  returned  by  Oxford,  where  his  recep- 
tion was  no  less  pleasing  to  the  monarch.  Arriving  again  in  London, 
he  honoured  ihe  lord  mayor  with  his  company  to  dinner,  and  express- 
ed high  satisfaction  and  admiration  at  the  hospitality  of  the  most  opu- 
lent body  of  the  must  opulent  nation  in  the  universe.  Having  remain- 
ed two  months  in  the  kingdom  of  his  brother-in-law,  he  departed 
for  his  own.  Little  indc;i)tcd  to  nature  for  either  brilliant  or  vigor- 
ous talents,  yet  by  a  comely  countenance  and  figure,  in  the  bloom  of 
youth,  and  by  pleasing  and  alTuble  manners,  added  to  his  rank,  and 
connexion  with  the  Jiriiish  royal  family,  the  Danish  king  became  ex- 
tremely popular  during  his  slay  in  I^ngland. 

Our  sovereign  had  from  his  youth  devoted  a  great  portion  of  his  at- 
tention to  |)hilosophical  experiments,  scientific  inquiries,  and  the  con- 
sequent arii,,  both  curious  and  useful  ;  he  had  applied  himself  parti- 
cularly to  geography,  astronomy,  and  other  subjects  connected  with 
navigation  ;  a  study  pcculiaily  momentous  to  llie  realms  over  which 
he  was  destined  to  reign.  Soon  alter  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  the 
king  projected  a  voyage  of  discovery  to  the  South  Sea;  and  in  July, 
1764,  the  Dolphin  ship  of  war  and  the  Taniar  frigate  were  equipped 
for  this  purpose,  under  captain  Byron,  with  captain  Mowat  second  in 
command.  Arriving  off  Patagonia,  they  were  astonished  at  the  sta- 
ture of  the  inhabitants,  which  losc  to  a  gigantic  heijjht.     They  after- 


1768— Chap.  VII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  237 

[Voyages  of  discovery  and  science.     Captain  Cook.] 

wards  descried  Falkland's  islands,  and  finding  a  harbour  extremely- 
commodious,  entered  it,  took  possession  both  of  the  port  and  sur- 
rounding islands  in  the  name  of  the  king,  and  called  the  haven  Port 
Egmont,  in  compliment  to  the  nobleman  who  was  then  at  the  head 
of  the  admiralty.    Entering  the  Pacific  Ocean,  they  sailed  to  Batavia, 
whence  they  returned  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  anchored  in 
the  Downs  in  May,  1766  ;  having  circumnavigated  the  world  in  a  year 
and  ten  months.    His  majesty  lost  no  time  in  farther  prosecuting  the 
discovery  of  unexplored  parts  of  the  physical  and  moral  world  ;  and 
the  Dolphin  was  immediately  refitted,  and  sent  out  in  August,    1766, 
under  the  command  of  captain  Samuel  Wallis,  accompanied  by  two 
frigates,  the  prince  Frederick  and  the  Swallow.     Wallis  having  en- 
tered the  Pacific,  took  a  different  direction  from  captain  Byron,  (who 
had  first  sailed  north  and  then  west,)  and  proceeded  diagonally  al- 
most in  the  hypolhenuse  of  his  predecessor's  track.     This  course 
brought  the  British  voyagers  to  an  island,  which  presented  man  un- 
der a  different  aspect  from  any  in  which  he  had  been  hitherto  seen 
by  Europeans.     This  was  the  place  now  so  well  known  under  the 
name  of  Olaheite.     The  manners  of  the  inhabitants  exhibited  a  com- 
bination of  savage  ignorance  and  voluptuous  effeminacy,  never  before 
seen  together  in  the  same  national  character.     The  incivilizalion  of 
the  North  American  Indians,   with  the  mildness  of  Gentoos,  and  the 
licentious  lewdness  of  Moorish  masters  of  harams,   constituted  the 
character  of   the  islanders   whom    captain  Wallis    now   discovered. 
Partly  by  intimidation,  but  still  more  by  attention,  he  obtained  a  very 
favourable  reception.    In  a  year  and  nine  months,  having  made  very 
important  accessions  to  our  knowledge   of  the   habitable  globe,  he 
finished  his  circumnavigation.     The  existence  of  these  islands  being 
ascertained,  his  majesty's  next  desire  was  to  explore  their  resources, 
and  prosecute  discovery.    It  had  been  long  before  calculated,  that  the 
planet  Venus  would  pass  over  the  sun's  disk  in  1769;  and  one  of  the 
South  Sea  islands  within  the  tropic  of  Capricorn   \vas  reckoned  the 
most  commodious  station  for  observing  the  phenomenon  :   so  that  one 
object  of  the  voyage  was  astronomical  improvement,  though  it  com- 
prehended several  others.    The  command  of  this  expedition  was  con- 
ferred on  lieutenant  James  Cook,  who  was  not  only  distinguished  as  a 
skilful  navigator  and  gallant  officer,  bu\  as  a  mathematician  and  as- 
tronomer.    Other  men   of  science  and   philosophical  research  were 
prevailed  on  to  accompany  Cook  :  among  these  were,  Joseph  Banks, 
esq.  a  gentleman  of  talents  and  fortune,  who  had  from  his  early  youth 
employed  iiis  abilities  and  wealth  in  improving  his  understanding,  en- 
larging the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge,  and  increasing  liie  re- 
sources of  human  wants  :  conversant  in  the  various  branches  of  lite- 
rature and  science, he  had  bestowed  peculiar  attention  on  natural  his- 
tory, natural  philosophy,  botany,  mineralogy,  and  chemistry  ;  and  was 
therefore  a  most  important  coadjutor  for  advancing  purposes  of  phy- 
sical discovery.    Dr.  Solander,  a  Swede  of  great  ingenuity  and  learn- 
ing,  and  deeply  skilled  in  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy,  like- 
wise joined  this  expedition  ;  and  Mr.  Charles  Green,  the  colleague  of 
Dr.  Bradley  the  royal  astronomer,  conducted  the  astronomical  part  of 
the  undertaking.     Thus  an  expedition  was  projected,   which  tended 
not  only  to  promote  observation  and  discovery,  but  deduction  and  sci- 
ence; and  this  was  the  first  voyage  ever  undertaken  upon  such  grand 


238  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  V1I.-1768, 

[AfTuirs  of  the  continent.    Parties  in  Poland.] 

and  philosophical  principles.  The  honour  of  first  planning  an  expe- 
dition for  the  advancement  of  science,  was  reserved  for  the  reign  of 
George  III. 

On  the  continent,  several  disputes  disturbed  the  general  tranquil- 
lity. The  changes  which  the  different  princes  were  making  in  eccle- 
siastical affairs  were  reprobated  by  the  pope.  The  king  of  Spain  hav- 
ing banished  the  Jesuits,  circumscribed  the  power  of  the  clergy,  and 
especially  of  that  detestable  instrument  of  bigoted  tyranny,  the  inqui- 
sition ;  he  reformed  the  church  and  universities,  and  suffered  the 
press  to  be  no  longer  subject  to  ecclesiastics,  but  rendered  it  amena- 
ble to  civil  authority  only  ;  he  prohibited  appeals  to  the  pope,  but  in 
extraordinary  cases  ;  or  any  order  from  the  court  of  Rome  to  be  put 
in  execution,  unless  sanctioned  by  the  king  and  council  :  thus,  in- 
stead of  the  pope,  the  sovereign  became  head  of  the  national  church. 
The  king  of  Naples  was  engaged  in  a  similar  reduction  of  clerical 
power  :  the  dominions  of  the  duke  of  Parma  were  subject  to  ecclesi- 
astical privileges  and  immunities  still  more  exorbitant  than  those 
■which  were  allowed  in  other  countries  by  the  deluded  votaries  of  su- 
perstition, that  prince  therefore  resolved,  instead  of  longer  submitting 
to  the  authority  of  slavish  l)igotry,  to  follow  the  dictates  of  sound  po- 
licy and  reason.  He  accordingly  prohibited  any  appeal  to  be  carried 
to  the  pope,  reduced  the  power  and  immunities  of  the  church,  and 
ordained  that  all  benefices  should  be  held  without  any  dependence  on 
a  foreign  priest.  The  pope  tried  his  decrees,  briefs,  and  bulls,  but 
Ihey  had  lost  their  efficacy.  The  other  popish  states  seconded  the 
efforts  of  the  Bourbon  princes.  The  king  of  France  reclaimed  the 
territories  of  Avignon  and  Venaisin,  in  the  heart  of  France,  which  had 
been  ceded  to  the  pope  in  the  days  of  superstition.  The  pope  cm- 
ployed  his  own  papal  machinery  to  prevent  the  resumption,  but  to  no 
j)urpose  :  the  French  king  took  possession  of  the  territories. 

France  about  the  same  time  made,  by  a  negolialion  with  Genoa, 
another  acquisition.  The  Genoese  having  long  tried  to  no  purpose  to 
reduce  Corsica,  concluded  a  treaty,  by  which  they  transferred  the  so- 
vereignty of  that  country  to  the  king  of  France  ;  and  u  body  of  troops 
was  embarked  at  Toulon  for  the  island,  which  it  was  expected  would 
acknowledge,  without  resistance,  the  claims  of  so  powerful  a  mo- 
narch :  but  those  expectations*  proved  eventually  groundless. 

While  these  transactions  were  going  on  in  the  south  and  west  of 
Europe,  the  north  and  east  was  far  from  being  tranquil.  Stanislaus 
began  his  reign  with  meritorious  and  judicious  efforts  to  meliorate 
the  internal  administration  and  condition  of  Poland,  and  to  rescue  her 
from  dependence  upon  foreign  powers;  but  he  had  to  encounter  very 
formidable  obstacles  both  from  within  and  without.  Tiicre  were  in 
that  country  two  great  divisions  of  religionists  :  the  catholics,  whose 
worship  was  established  by  law  ;  and  the  dissidents,  including  Greeks, 
protestants,  and  every  class  of  dissenters,  who  were  not  only  tolerat- 
ed, but  had  a  vote  in  the  national  diet,  and  shared  in  other  political 
privileges,  by  a  constitution  established  in  1660.  The  catholics,  how- 
ever, having  gradually  become  more  powerful  than  before,  gave  way 
to  their  intolerant  spirit,  and  oppressed  and  prosecuted  the  dissidents, 
whose  legal  privileges  could  not  protect  thorn  from  lawless  power. 
The  clergy  were  extremely  dissalislicd  wiih  one  piivilege  enjoyed  by 
the  dissidents  ;  which  was,  an  exemption  from  the  payment  of  tithes. 


1768.— Chip.  VII.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  239 

[Interference  of  Russia  and  Prussia.    Rupture  between  Russia  and  Turkey.] 

Clerical  avarice  and  ambition  stimulated  the  stupid  enthusiasm  of  the 
populace  against  the  non-conformists,  and  by  their  ascendency  in  the 
diet,  encroached  on  their  immunities.  The  dissidents  applied  to  the 
two  chief  protestant  sovereigns,  and  the  chief  Greek  monarch,  to  in- 
terfere in  their  behalf.  The  court  of  London,  too  distant  from  the 
scene,  could  only  mediate  by  its  ambassador.  Prussia  and  Russia 
were  disposed  and  able  to  intercede  much  more  effectually.  Both 
Catharine  and  Frederick  had  formed  most  ambitious  views  respect- 
ing Poland  ;  and  in  the  application  of  the  dissidents,  a  plausible  pre- 
text offered  itself  for  their  interference.  Whatever  might  be  their 
real  sentiments  concerning  Christianity,  they  were  both  too  able  poli- 
ticians not  to  support  the  religious  faith  whose  establishment  they 
found  beneficial  to  their  dominions.  Catharine,  head  of  the  Greek 
church,  avowed  herself  its  supporter  and  defender  ;  and  Frederick 
avowed  himself  the  champion  of  the  protestant  doctrine.  Both  these 
sovereigns  announced  their  intention  of  protecting  their  brethren  in 
religious  belief;  and  the  czarina  actually  sent  a  body  of  troops  to  pro- 
mole  the  success  of  her  mediations.  The  Russian  forces  seized  the 
bishop  of  Cracow,  primate  of  Poland,  with  the  bishop  of  Kiar,  and  a 
few  others  of  the  most  active  enemies  of  the  dissidents,  and  sent  them 
to  Petersburg  ;  where,  without  any  trial,  they,  by  the  arbitrary  plea- 
sure of  Catharine,  were  subjected  to  rigorous  imprisonment,  in  a 
country  against  which  they  could  not  be  rebels,  because  they  owed  it 
no  allegiance.  The  kindred  theology  of  Maria  Teresa  was  rotised  in 
behalf  of  the  Polish  catholics.  France,  then  governed  by  the  duke  of 
Choiscul,  though  very  little  under  the  influence  of  superstition,  was 
prompted  by  policy  to  attempt  the  repression  of  Russian  and  Prussian 
influence  in  Poland.  The  empress-queen  prepared  a  force  to  assist 
the  catholics  ;  but  Frederick  notified  lo  her,  that  if  any  of  her  sol- 
diers marched  into  that  country,  he  would  immediately  invade  Bo- 
hemia ;  and  Maria  Teresa,  not  being  equal  to  such  a  contest,  made  no 
attempt  lo  fulfil  her  intentions.  The  influence  of  the  protestant 
courts,  and  still  more  the  menaces  of  the  Russian  army,  obtained,  in 
the  beginning  of  1768,  an  edict,  confirming  all  the  privileges  of  the 
dissidents. 

The  French,  though  they  did  not  themselves  engage  in  hostilities 
with  Catharine,  exerted  all  their  intriguing  policy  to  blow  the  flames 
of  discord.  Their  plan  of  annoying  Russia  divided  itself  into  three 
branches  :  they  encouraged  the  Poles  to  form  a  new  confederacy; 
they  caballed  at  Stockholm  lo  change  the  government,  in  order  to 
render  the  khig,  who  was  under  their  influence,  absolute  ;  and  their 
emissaries  at  Constantinople  endeavoured  to  rouse  the  jealousy  of  the 
grand  seignior  against  Catharine.  A  fresh  confederacy  of  catholics 
having  been  formed  in  summer  1768,  annulled  the  late  laws,  and 
adopted  resolutions  for  opposing  Russia,  and  dethroning*  Stanislaus. 
The  Russian  troops  quartered  in  Poland  defeated  the  army  of  the  con- 
federates, pursued  them  to  the  eastern  frontier,  and  burned  the  Turk- 
ish town  of  Balta,  in  which  the  insurgents  had  taken  shelter.  Already 
predisposed  by  France  lo  enmity  with  Russia,  the  Turks  considered 
this  act  as  a  hostile  aggression ;  they  sent  Catharine's  ambassador  pri- 

*  See  Gillies's  Frederick,  p.  399. 


210  TIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  VII.--176S. 

[Discontents  in  America.    Massachusetts.] 

soner  to  the  fortress  of  the  Seven  Towers,  and  in  the  beginning  of 
October  declared  war  against  Ri]3sia. 

In  the  American  colonies,  the  act  proposed  by  Mr.  Townshend  for 
fixing  duties  on  certain  articles  of  merchandise,  excited  very  great 
resentment ;  while  the  obvious  proofs  of  weak  and  wavering  policy  in 
the  British  government  encouraged  them  to  resistance.  It  was  easy 
to  perceive,  that  the  principle  of  the  new  law  was  the  same  as  of  Mr. 
Grenvilic's  stamp  act,  to  ta.v  the  coloiiie/t  nuitlioiit  their  own  consent^ 
exfiressrd  by  themselves  or  their  rrfiresentativea.  This  identity  of  ob- 
ject their  political  writers  soon  painted  in  the  most  striking  colours; 
Mr.  Townshend'b  impost  (thty  said)  was  in  every  respect  as  uncon- 
stitutional as  the  stamp  act;  the  mother  country  seemed  determined 
to  crush  the  colonies  ;  resistance  was  therefore  a  duty  which  the 
Americans  owed  to  themselves  and  to  posterity.  These  arguments 
coincided  with  the  sentiments  and  prepossessions  of  the  people,  in 
exciting  opposition ;  and  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  .was  the 
most  active  in  piomoling  resistance.  The  first  public  mark  of  dis- 
satisfaction on  accoimt  of  this  act  was  shown  at  Boston,  on  the  27th 
of  October,  1767,  when  the  inhabitants,  assembling  in  their  town-hall, 
agreed  to  form  associations  for  encouraging  manufactures  among 
themselves,  discoiuitenancing  luxuries  of  every  kind,  and  discontinu- 
ing* such  articles  of  importation  from  Britain  as  were  not  absolutely 
necessary.  The  other  colonies  adopted  the  same,  or  framed  similar 
resolutions.  In  January,  1768,  the  provincial  assembly  of  Massa- 
chusetts having  met,  immediately  entered  on  a  general  and  full  con- 
sideration of  grievances;!  and  prepared  a  petition  to  the  king,  com- 
plaining of  every  statute  passed  since  the  year  1763,  for  imposing  du- 
ties on  America.  They  instructed  their  agent  in  England  to  contro- 
vert the  justice  and  prudence  of  these  acts,  on  the  grounds  of  natural 
equity,  constitutional  right,  and  commercial  and  political  expediency. 
They  also  sent  letters  to  the  several  ministers,  to  the  marquis  of 
Rockingham,  the  earl  of  Chatham,  and  lord  Camden,  which  entreated 
the  exertion  of  their  abilities  and  influence  in  promoting  the  objects 
of  the  petition  to  his  majesty.  Toward  the  other  colonies  they  em- 
ployed the  same  sagacious  policy,  which  they  had  successfully  ex- 
erted in  opposing  the  stamp  act ;  they  excited  a  spirit  of  confedera- 
tion, and  they  sent  a  circular  letter,  which  communicated  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  assembly,  invited  the  other  provinces  to  follow  their  ex- 
ample, and  requcixled  similar  communications  of  measures  necessary 
or  useful  for  the  common  cause.  The  colonists  of  Massachusetts,  in- 
deed, exerted  great  depth  of  political  ability  ;  for,  aware  that  consi- 
derable differences  of  principles  and  sentiments  prevailed  between 
most  of  the  other  provinces  and  themselves,  they  endeavoured  to 
amalgamate  opinion  and  feeling,  by  giving  them  unity  of  object.  This 
was  the  system  of  means,  which  the  Ncw-Englanders  uniformly  pur- 
sued. Unfortunately,  at  this  period,  the  steadiness  of  policy,  adapted 
to  its  object,  formed  a  striking  contrast  with  the  fluctuating  measures 
of  the  British  government.  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  the  governor  of 
Massachusetts,  was  a  man,  neither  by  conciliation  fitted  to  dissolve 
their  concerts,  nor  by  vigour  to  counteract  their  schemes.  He  was  on 
very  bad  terms  with  the  assembly,  who  charged  him  with  having  mis- 

•  Stedman,  p.  159.  f  See  Stedman,  vol.i.  p.  59. 


1768.— Chap.  Vll.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  2il 

[Lord  Hillsborough's  letter.   Outrages  at  Boston.] 

represented  their  conduct  to  the  British  government,  while  he  re- 
proached them  M'ith  rebellious  stubbornness.  This  reciprocation  of 
invective,  resembling  the  angry  bravvlings  of  private  litigants,  rather 
than  discussions  befitting  his  majesty's  representative  and  a  constitu- 
tional assembly  of  his  subjects,  widened  the  breach.  Bernard  sent  to 
ministers  a  copy  of  the  circular  exhortation,  which  increased  their 
displeasuic  against  the  Nevv-Englunders.  Lord  Hillsborough  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  several  governors  of  the  colonies,  to  be  laid  before  the 
respective  assemblies  :  he  condemned  the  conduct  of  Massachusetts, 
as  tending  to  promote  an  unwarrantable  combination  against  the  au- 
thority of  parliament,  and  admonished  the  other  colonies  to  disregard 
such  disloyal  suggestions.  He  instructed  Bernard  to  require  the  as- 
sembly to  rescind  the  resolution  which  had  issued  such  an  inflamma- 
tory paper :  and,  in  case  they  should  refuse,  he  was  directed  to  dis- 
solve the  meeting.  Not  satisfied  with  opposing  innovations,  the  Bos- 
tonians  riotously  resisted  an  authority  acknowledged  by  themselves. 
The  sloop  Liberty,  belonging  to  John  Hancock,  had  arrived  in  Boston 
harbour,  laden  with  wine;  the  master  of  the  vessel  having  in  vain  at- 
tempted to  bribe  a  custom-house  officer  to  let  him  smuggle  his  cargo 
ashore,  at  last  locked  him  up  by  force  in  the  cabin,  sent  the  cargo 
ashore,  and  reladcd  the  ship  before  the  morning.  Liformalion  of  this 
illegal  and  outrageous  act  having  been  given  at  the  custom-house,  the 
collector,  seizing  the  sloop,  committed  her  to  the  care  of  the  Rodney 
ship  of  war.  On  perceiving  this  movement,  a  mob  assembled,  buffeted 
and  pelted  the  collector  and  controller  of  the  customs,  attacked  the 
houses  and  threatened  the  persons  of  the  commissioners,  and  com- 
pelled them  to  take  refuge  in  Castle  William,  a  fortress  commanding 
the  mouth  of  the  harbour.  The  governor  applied  to  the  assembly  for 
their  advice  and  assistance,  but  received  neither  :  a  town  meeting,  so 
far  from  discountenancing  the  outrage,  presented  a  remonstrance  on 
the  seizure  of  the  sloop.  Thus  both  the  provincial  assembly  and  the 
town  of  Boston  showed,  that,  though  the  acts  of  parliament  of  which 
they  complained  might  be  unconstitutional  grievances,  they  had  re- 
solved to  resist  legitimate  and  constitutional  authorities.  The  go- 
vernor persisted  in  uiging  them  to  rescind  the  obnoxious  resolution 
of  the  preceding  session  ;  but,  as  they  would  not  comply,  he,  agreea- 
bly to  his  directions,  dissolved  the  assembly.  The  British  ministry, 
informed  of  the  late  outrages,  ordered  troops  to  Boston  to  aid  the  civil 
power.  The  Bostonians,  informed  of  the  destination  of  the  soldiers, 
entreated  the  governor  to  convene  the  general  assembly;  but  Bernard 
answered,  that  he  had  dissolved  the  assembly  by  command  of  his  ma- 
jesty, and  could  not  call  another  without  the  king's  orders.  The  Bos- 
tonians, disappointed  in  their  expectation,  formed  the  daring  resolu- 
tion of  assembling  a  provincial  convention,  which  body  met  on  the 
22d  of  September,  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  king  against  the  late  acts 
of  parliament ;  but  disclaimed  all  pretence  to  authority,  stated  the 
causes  of  their  meeting,  exhorted  the  people  to  pay  deference  to  go- 
vernment, and  promised  to  aid  the  civil  power  in  maintaining  tran- 
quillity. Rendered  more  mild  in  their  conduct  by  the  approach  of 
the  soldiers,  they  dissolved  their  meeting  the  very  day  on  which  the 
first  division  of  the  troops  arrived  at  Boston  ;  and  the  tumultuous  spi- 
rit of  the  people  being  thus  restrained,  quietness  was  re-established. 
The  assembly  of  New-York  having  submitted  to  the  terms  of  the  mu- 
VoL.  Yll.— 31 


242  HISTOnV  of  the  Cnip.  VII.— 1768. 

[Dissatisfaction  in  England.  Resignation  of  lord  Chatham.] 

tiny  act,  were  restored  to  their  legislative  functions.  The  other  co- 
lonial assemblies,  guided  by  the  circular  letter  of  Massachusetts,  and 
regardless  of  the  British  minister's  admonitions,  resolved  to  prohibit 
the  importation  of  the  enumerated  articles,  and  directed  the  prohibi- 
tion to  begin  from  the  first  of  January,  1769. 

In  England,  the  dissatisfaction  and  licentiousness  of  the  people  con- 
tinued to  increase.  Mr.  Wilkes  nourished  the  discontent,  by  pub- 
lishing lord  Weymouth's  letter  to  the  Surry  magistrates,  and  prefix- 
ing to  it  a  seditious  preface.  A  great  part  of  the  people  charged  all 
the  disturbances  in  America  to  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  ministry  ; 
but  there  was  a  faction  out  of  parliament,  that  proceeded  to  a  degree 
of  licentiousness  which  was  inimical  to  the  existence  of  regular  go- 
vernment, and  its  most  active  partizans  received  too  much  encourage- 
ment from  many  opulent  citizens  in  the  metropolis.  The  opposition  in 
parliament  still  consisted  chiefly  of  two  parties,  the  adherents  of  Mr, 
Grenvillc,  and  the  connexions  of  the  marquis  of  Rockingham,*  who, 
though  adverse  to  each  other,  agreed  in  voting  against  ministry.  The 
earl  of  Chatham,  the  founder  of  the  present  ministry,  borne  down  with 
infirmities,  and  totally  disapproving  of  the  measures  of  his  colleagues, 
had  long  withdrawn  from  public  business,  and  lately  resigned  his  of- 
fice of  lord  privy-seal.  The  duke  of  Grafton,  though  first  lord  of  the 
treasury,  had  been  intended  to  act  only  a  secondary  and  subordinate 
part,  as  in  the  same  office  the  duke  of  Newcastle  had  done,  during 
the  splendid  period  of  Mr.  secretary  Pitt's  administration.  As  the 
health  of  lord  Chatham  rendered  him  unequal  to  the  exertions  of  his 
earlier  years,  the  duke  of  Grafton  actually  became  prime  minister. 
The  talents  of  this  nobleman  did  not  exceed  mediocrity,  nor  was  he 
mature  in  political  experience.  So  qualified,  he  was  thrust  by  acci- 
dent, rather  than  exalted  by  design,  into  a  situation,  to  fill  which,  in 
the  distracted  state  of  affairs,  required  a  minister  of  consummate  abi- 
lities and  wisdom.  Lord  North,  while  only  chancellor  of  the  exche- 
quer, rarely  exceeded  his  official  business,  or  took  an  active  share  in 
the  general  concerns  of  administration.  Lords  Camden  and  Shel- 
burne,  both  coinciding  in  the  views  and  opinions  of  lord  Chatham,  had 
little  connexion  with  iheir  colleagues  in  office.  The  other  secretaries 
of  state  were  not  distinguished  for  political  talents;  so  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  present  ministry  was  far  from  possessing  that  combined 
ability  and  concert,  that  would  have  qualified  them  to  manage  with 
effect  the  manifold  and  complicated  objects  which  demanded  the  at- 
tention of  the  British  government.  Such  v/as  the  state  of  foreign,  co- 
lonial, and  domestic  afi'airs,  when  the  season  arrived  for  the  meeting 
of  parliament. 

•  Two  pamphlets  published  this  year,  "  Tlie  present  State  of  the  Nation,"  by 
Mr.  Grenville;  and  "Observations  on  that  present  State,"  by  Mr.  Burke;  in 
their  principles  and  views,  manifest  the  very  different  and  opposite  opinions  of 
the  Grsnville  and'Kockingham  parties. 


ires.— Cmaf.  Vlll.  KEKJN  OF  GEOKGE  III.;  243 


CHAP.  YIIl. 


Meeting  of  parliament — petition  of  Mr.  Wilkes — charges  against  him,  at  the 
instance  of  ministers — expelled  the  house — re-chosen — declared  ineligible 
during  the  present  parliament — chosen  a  third  time — election  again  declared 
void — a  competitor  set  up — Mr.  AVilkes  returned  by  a  great  majority. — Mr. 
Lutterel  declared  by  parliament  duly  elected — violent  debates,  and  national 
ferment. — Revival  against  the  Americans  of  trials  within  the  realm  for  treasons 
committed  beyond  seas. — Debt  on  the  civil  list. — Affairs  of  the  East  India  com- 
pany— Hyder  Ally — war  in  the  Carnatic. — Europe — gallant  resistance  of  Cor- 
sica against  the  French — it  last  overpowered. — America — discontent  increases 
from  the  new  mode  of  trial. — Extreme  dissatisfaction  in  England — the  chief 
topic  the  Middlesex  election. — Johnson's  False  Alarm. — Junius — object  and 
character  of  that  extraordinary  work. — Petitions — remonstrance  of  the  city  of 
London  — Meeting  of  parliament — lords  Chatham  and  Camden  oppose  ministry 
— resignation  of  the  duke  of  Grafton. 

The  session  commenced  on  the  8th  of  November  ;  his  majesty  re- 
commended from  tiie  throne*  the  consideration  of  our  commercial  inter- 
ests, and  regretted  the  interruption  on  the  continent  of  the  general 
tranquillity  ;  but  stated  the  assurances  which  he  had  received,  that  Bri- 
tain would  not  be  affected  by  the  foreign  disturbances.  He  mentioned 
the  commotions  in  America,  particularly  submitted  the  affairs  of  that 
part  of  his  dominions  to  the  wisdom  of  parliament,  and  inculcated  the 
necessity  of  internal  harmony  and  union.  To  the  proposed  addresses, 
great  opposition  was  made;  ministers  were  charged  with  having  excited 
the  disorders  in  America,  and  with  gross  inattention  to  external  affairs. 
The  Bourbon  compact  became  every  day  closer,  and  extending  its  in- 
fluence to  Austria,  brought  the  balance  of  power  into  imminent  danger. 
The  violation  of  the  general  tranquillity  in  the  invasion  of  Corsica, 
France  would  never  have  attempted,  but  from  her  knowing  the  feeble- 
ness and  distractions  of  the  British  cabinet.  Our  commercial  interests, 
it  was  added,  were  entirely  neglected.  These  were  the  outUnes  of  the 
censures  against  ministers,  brought  forward  on  the  first  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, as  a  text  for  future  comment  and  expatiation. 

The  first  particular  subject  which  occupied  their  deliberations  was 
corn:  the  crop  that  year  had  been  good,  and  measures  were  projected 
to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  scarcity.  A  bill  was  prepared,  not  only  for 
increasing  the  prohibition  on  the  exportation  of  corn,  but  also  for  pre- 
venting the  extraction  of  low  wines  and  spirits  from  wheat  and  flour. 
This  act  was  useful  so  far  as  it  extended,  but  too  trifling  in  its  object 
and  operation  to  afford  any  material  security  against  the  return  of  dearth. 
An  evil  so  frequently  prevailing  in  such  a  fertile  country  as  England, 
manifested  the  expediency  of  restoring  agriculture  to  its  due  weight  in 
political  economy,  and  devoting  the  attention  of  the  legislature  o  the 
cultivation  of  land,  as  well  as  the  improvement  of  manufactures  and 
commerce.  Other  concerns,  however,  more  urgent,  though  less  im- 
portant, ocqupied  parUamcnt. 

«  *  Sec  state  papers,  1768. 


244  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  VHI.— 1769. 

[Petition  of  Mr.  Wilkes.     I'roceetlings  against  him.] 

During  this  session,  Wilkes  engrossed  a  great  portion  of  parliamentary 
attention,  Tliis  celebrated  agitator  had  uniformly  proposed*  by  political 
bustle  to  accpiire  notoriety  and  wealth.  He  succeeded  in  becoming  con- 
spicuous, but  had  not  hitherto  obtained  opulence  :  to  ministers  (as  we 
have  seen)  he  had  in  vain  applied  for  pecuniary  assistance  ;  but  though 
they  refused  him  the  required  supply,  they  left  and  promoted  one  means 
of  acquisition  in  his  e.Klensive  popularity.  In  the  generous  hearts  of 
Englishmen,  distress  is  a  never  failing  passport  to  pity  and  protection. 
If  the  suffering  arise  from  real  or  apparent  oppression,  the  spirit  of  free- 
dom enhances  the  desire  of  benignant  vindication:  and  especially,  if 
the  alleged  persecution  issue  from  the  executive  government.  But  as 
the  alTections  of  the  multitude  are  more  ardent  than  their  judgment  is 
discriminating,  their  regards  are  more  frequently  bestowed  upon  noisy 
demagogues,  than  wise  and  beneficent  patriots.  Whoever  proposes 
popularity  as  his  chief  object,  well  knows  that  he  must  keep  alive  the 
public  attention.  AVilkes  and  his  supporters  were  thoroughly  skilled  in 
the  machinery  of  political  notoriety,  and  spent  a  great  i)art  of  the  recess 
in  holding  meetings,  clubs,  and  parties  ;  framing  resolutions,  remon- 
strances, and  pamphlets.  Lest  the  curiosity  of  the  people  should  be 
diminished,  or  the  zeal  of  his  supporters  cooled,  Wilkes  deemed  it  expe- 
dient to  present  a  petition  to  the  house  of  commons.  Tiiis  paper  reca- 
pitulated all  his  alleged  grievances,  from  his  fust  apprehension  in  April 
1763,  to  his  commitment  in  1768  :  the  only  new  h)atter  that  it  contained 
was  an  assertion,  that  lord  Mansfield  liad  illegally  and  tyrannically 
altered  the  records ;  and  that  Philip  Carteret  Webb,  esq.  secretary  to 
the  treasury,  had  bribed  the  petitioner's  servants  with  the  public  money, 
to  steal  the  Essay  on  Woman,  to  be  made  a  ground  of  prosecution. 
The  former  statements  of  the  petition,  being  a  narrative  of  proceedings 
already  determined  by  the  law  of  the  country,  the  house  passed  over; 
on  the  two  last  allegations  a  discussion  commenced  on  the  21st  of  Ja- 
nuary 1769,  which  lasted  till  the  3d  of  February.  On  the  charge  against 
lord  Mansfield  it  was  resolved,  that  the  orders  made  by  the  lord  chief 
justice  of  the  king's  bench,  for  the  amendment  of  the  informations 
established  in  the  said  court  against  Mr.  Wilkes,  were  according  to  law 
and  equity,  and  the  practice  of  the  court ;  and  also,  that  the  complaint 
was  frivolous,  groundless,  and  prejudicial  to  the  administration  of  public 
justice  :  on  the  second  head  it  was  resolved,  that  the  charge  against  Mr. 
Webb  was  not  proved.  The  preface  to  lord  Weymouth's  letter,  of  which 
Mr.  Wilkes  acknowledged  himself  autiior  and  publisher,  next  came 
under  consideration  ;  it  was  voted  to  be  a  false,  scandidous,  and  seditious 
libel,  tending  to  the  subversion  of  all  order  and  legal  government;  and 
a  proposition  was  immediately  made,  that  Mr.  AVilkcs  should  be  expelled 
the  house.  In  supporting  this  motion,  ministers  and  their  adherents 
spoke  anrl  acted  as  parties  eagerly  interested  in  carrying  a  proposition, 
not  as  judges  investigating  the  conduct  of  one  of  their  peers,  that  they 
might  deliver  a  fair  and  impartial  senter^ce.  The  charge  was  accumu- 
lative and  indefinite  :  it  contained  a  recitation  of  his  former  ofiences  and 
expulsion,  and  also  of  conduct  which  was  then  undergoing  the  animad- 
version of  the  courts  of  law,  fully  competent  to  condemnation  or  ac- 

•  This  he  him^lf  declared  to  Mr.  Gjbbon  before  the  publication  of  thb  North 
Briton.     Gibbon's  Miscellaneous  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  100,  note.  '' 

t 


1769.— Chap.  VIII.  KKIGN  OF  GEOUGP:  III.  245 

[He  is  expelled  the  house — repeated  re-elections  ] 

quittal.*  Their  speeches'!"  chiefly  expatiated  on  these  sul)jccts,  and 
contained  the  irrelevant  exaggerations  of  passion,  njucli  more  than  the 
statement.s  and  prooCs  of  justice.  The  opposers  of  thi.s  sentence  con- 
tended, tiiat  the  lihel  on  lord  Weynionth,  a  peer  of  the  realm,  wa.s  the 
only  specific  ground  of  the  motion:  that  his  privileges,  as  a  lord,  were 
not  cognizahle  by  the  commons  ;  and  that  any  offence  against  liim  as  a 
British  subject,  bclouged  to  tlie  laws  of  the  land.  For  the  other  libels, 
he  had  been  already  expelled,  and  the  house  had  piniished  him  for  an 
attack  upon  the  legislature.  Sliould  he  be  twice  chastised  for  tlie  same 
offence?  *'  By  the  present  proposition  (they  said)  we  are  to  blend  the 
executive  and  judicial  powers  of  the  state  witli  the  legislative,  and  to 
extend  our  jurisdiction,  that  we  may  take  upon  ourselves  the  odium  of 
trying  and  punishing  in  a  sunnnary  manner  an  offence  which  does  not 
affect  us,  but  is  subject  to  the  investigation  of  the  laws.  In  the  exercise 
of  this  assumed  power,  we  are  to  form  an  accumulative  and  complicated 
charge,  which  no  other  courts,  nor  even  we,  have  ever  admitted  in  other 
instances.  We  are  to  mingle  now  crimes  with  old,  and  to  try  a  man 
twice  for  the  same  misdemeanour.  We  are  to  transfer  the  censures  of 
a  former  parliament  into  the  hands  of  the  present,  which  is  to  make  them 
the  foundation  of  a  new  punisliment.  We  are  to  assume  a  power  of 
determining  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  of  their  representatives,  by 
no  other  rule  but  our  own  discretion  or  caprice. "J  Strong  as  these  ar- 
guments may  appear  to  an  impartial  reader,  they  were  overborne  by  a 
ministerial  majority,  and  Mr.  Wilkes  was  expelled  the  house  of  com- 
mons. Theconductof  ministry  manifested  that  alteration  of  laxity  and  vio- 
lence, which  never  can  proceed  from  united  wisdom  and  vigour.  If  severe 
punishment  were  expedient,  why  was  it  not  employed  when  he  returned 
from  exile,  before  the  reversal  of  his  outlawry?§  Permitted  then  to  be 
out  of  confinement,  he  had  revived  his  popularity,  and  paved  the  way  for 
its  progress  to  a  height  which  nothing  tended  more  effectually  to  increase 
than  further  prosecution. 

Well  knowing  the  temper  of  his  constituents,  and  of  the  nation  in 
general,  Wilkes  considered  his  expulsion  as  the  sure  road  to  greater 
popularity  and  distinction,  and  immediately  offered  himself  a  candidate 
for  the  vacated  county.  The  favour  of  his  supporters  rose  to  an  en- 
thusiasm that  overspread  London,  the  county,  and  their  environs  ;  and 
the  sympathetic  spirit  quickly  diffused  itself  throughout  England  :  under 
the  influence  of  such  sentiments,  his  re-election  was  unanimous  ;  and 
the  next  day  he  was  declared  by  the  house  incapable  of  being  re-elected 
during  the  present  parliament.  On  the  16th  of  March,  Mr.  Wilkes  Was 
chosen  a  third  time  ;  and  the  following  day  his  election  was  again  de- 
clared void.  The  Middlesex  freeholders  avowing  their  determination  to 
choose  him  again,  ministers  set  up  another  candidate,  colonel  Lutterel. 
The  fourth  election  took  place  on  the  13th  of  April:  for  Mr.  "Wilkes, 
there  were  eleven  hundred  and  forty-three  lawful  voters;  for  his  oppo- 
nent, two  hundred  and  ninety-six  :  Mr.  Wilkes  was  accordingly  returned. 
The  next  day  his  name  was  erased  from  the  writ  by  order  of  the  house ; 

•  See  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  February  3d,  1769. 

f  See  parliamentary  debates  on  the  expulsion  of  Wilkes,  February  3d,  1769. 

i  See  parliamentary  debates,  FebrUcYy  3d,  1769. 

i  See  Junius's  Letter  XL  to  the  duke  of  Grafton. 


246  rilSTOUY  of  the  Cuap.  viii.— ir69. 

[America,    llevival  of  tmls  within  the  realm  for  treason  beyond  seas.] 

and  tlie  ne.xt  day  after,  Henry  Lawes  Lutterel,  esq.  was,  after  a  very 
violent  debate,  declared  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  duly  elected.*  The  passionate  resentuient 
ol  rulers  against  an  individual,  so  clearly  manifesting  their  want  of  mag- 
nanimity and  true  wisdom,  produced  a  totally  different  effect  from  that 
which  they  expected  or  desired  :  their  aversion  procured  to  its  object 
the  warmest  popularity.  Ten  days  after  the  last  vote  of  the  house  of 
commons,  he  was  chosen  alderman  of  tiie  city  of  London.  Subscrip- 
tions were  opened,  to  raise  money  both  for  the  liquidation  of  his  debts 
and  his  future  subsistence.  He  was  represented  as  a  meritorious  patriot, 
sutlt'ring  oppression  and  tyranny  for  his  virtues. 

During  this  session,  America  occupied  a  great  share  of  parliamentary 
attention  ;  both  ministry  and  opposition  were  desirous  of  an  inquiry,  but 
the  motives  of  the  parties  were  different.  Ministers  proposed  to  justify 
their  own  conduct  and  that  of  their  officers,  and  to  convince  the  public 
that  all  the  disturbances  which  had  happened,  were  owing  to  the  refrac- 
tory and  rebellious  spirit  of  the  colonists  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  opponents  endeavoured  to  demonstrate,  that  the  commotions  were 
caused  by  the  weakness  and  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  British  govern- 
ment. Having  these  different  motives  to  inquiry,  ministers  and  opposi- 
tion desired  different  modes  ;  the  former  proposed  to  confine  their  inves- 
tigations to  the  late  acts  of  the  Americans ;  the  latter,  to  consider  not 
only  the  conduct  of  the  colonists,  but  the  measures  of  Britain  for  several 
years ;  to  trace  disorders  to  their  sources ;  as  only  by  the  knowledge  of 
these,  could  the  evil  be  effectually  removed.  This  broad  plan  of  discus- 
sion by  no  means  suited  the  designs  of  ministry ;  and  it  was  carried  by 
a  great  majority,  that  the  investigation  should  be  conducted  on  narrowed 
grounds.  The  house  resolved  itself  into  a  committee,  and  motions 
were  made  for  various  papers,  which  would  have  illustrated  the  conduct 
of  government  and  its  servants ;  but  they  were  uniformly  overruled. 
Papers  in  great  variety  were  indeed  laid  before  the  house ;  but  they  re- 
lated to  the  conduct  of  the  colonists  merely,  without  including  the  mea- 
sures of  government.  With  such  incomplete  materials,  the  majority  of 
the  legislature  reposed  so  great  a  confidence  in  ministers,  as  to  be  per- 
fectly satisfied  ;  and  on  them,  undertook  to  deliberate. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  an  address  to  his  majesty  passed  the  house 
of  lords,  and  was  adopted  by  the  commons,  declaring  the  late  proceed- 
ings of  the  house  of  representatives  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  be  a  de- 
nial of  the  authority  of  the  supreme  legislature  to  make  laws  for  the 
colonics.  It  therefore  asserted  the  acts  to  bo  illegal,  unconstitutional, 
and  derogatory  to  the  rights  of  the  crown  and  parliament  of  Great  Bri- 
tain ;  and  reprobated  the  circular  letters  of  the  same  assembly,  as  tend- 
inir  to  inflame  the  other  colonies,  and  to  create  unlawful  combinations. 
It  declared  the  town  of  Boston  to  be  in  a  .state  of  disorder  and  disobedi- 
ence to  law  ;  justified  the  measure  of  sending  a  military  force,  as  neces- 
sary in  such  an  exigency;  stated  the  opinion  of  the  houses  to  be,  that 
nothing  could  so  effectually  preserve  British  authority  in  the  tumultuous 
provinces,  as  the  condign  punishment  of  the  rioters:  and  recommended 

•  This  was  tlie  question  on  which  a  youth,  destined  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
orators  and  ablest  men  ever  admired  in  any  senate,  first  spoke  in  parhament  : 
Charles  James  Fox  had  procmed  a  seat  before  the  ie^al  ago  j  and  &  lawgiver  at 
twenty  astouished  his  hearers  by  lUc  force  of  liis  abilities. 


1769.— Chap.  VIII.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  247 

[East  India  Company.    Debt  on  the  civil  list.] 

• 
to  his  mnjesty  to  revive  the  execution  of  Henry  VIII.'s  statute,  for  try- 
ing within  the  realm  of  England  treasons  committed  heyond  seas.  The 
proposed  revival  of  this  law  was  very  stroniily  controverted  ;  it  was  the 
constitutional  privilege  tf  every  British  sul)ject,  declared  by  the  great 
charter,  confirmed  by  various  subsequent  laws,  and  by  uniformly  esta- 
blished usage,  to  be  tried  by  his  peers,  and  in  the  county  in  which  the 
transgression  was  alleged  to  have  been  committed,  that,  if  innocent,  he 
miffht  easily  bring  forward  such  testimony  as  would  insure  his  acquittal. 
The  projected  plan  would  be  most  iniquitous  in  its  operation  ;  by  carry- 
inof  the  accused  to  an  immense  distance  from  his  friends  and  business,  it 
rendered  it  impossible,  except  for  a  man  of  great  wealth,  to  endure  the 
expense  of  bringing  over  exculpatory  evidence,  or  taking  other  effectual 
steps  to  clear  himself  from  the  charge.  The  prosecution,  in  effect,  would 
be  condemnation  ;  even  if  the  defendant  were  acquitted,  the  purposes  of 
justice  would  be  entirely  defeated.  Ministers  alleged,  that  from  the 
atrocity  to  which  licentiousness  had  risen  in  Massachusetts,  the  revival 
of  the  statute  was  absolutely  necessary  :  that  tlie  legislature  and  the  pub- 
lic ought  to  have  so  much  confidence  in  government,  as  to  be  convinced 
that  they  would  not  harass  innocent  persons  ;  that  the  expense,  and  other 
inconveniences,  to  the  guiHy,  were  only  parts  of  their  punishment,  and 
there  was  no  reason  to  question  the  impartiality  of  British  juries.  It 
was  indeed  improbable,  that  there  could  be  any  necessity  for  executing 
the  act,  as  the  display  of  mingled  vigour  and  lenity  would  bring  back  the 
colonists  to  a  sense  of  their  duty.  An  historian  wholly  uninfluenced  by 
the  party  notions  of  the  times,  cannot  but  lament  the  infatuation  of  mi- 
nisters, who,  when  the  Americans  were  so  greatly  discontented  by  the 
infringement  of  one  constitutional  right  of  British  subjects  in  taxation 
without  their  consent,  attacked  another  constitutional  right  equally  va- 
luable, the  trial  of  peers.  The  general  character  of  the  policy  of  this 
administration  towards  America,  was  feeble  anger,  which  provoked  with- 
out intimidating  its  objects. 

Parliament  now  turned  its  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  East  India 
company.  The  agreement  made  with  that  body,  us  well  as  the  act  for 
restraining  the  dividends,  being  now  on  the  eve  of  expiration,  the  com- 
pany made  overtures  for  a  new  contract ;  and  after  a  long  negotiation,  a 
bargain  was  settled  on  the  following  terms  :  the  company  was  to  conti- 
nue to  pay  to  the  public  for  five  years,  the  annual  sum  of  four  hundred 
thousand  pounds  ;  they  were  at  liberty  to  increase  their  dividend  to  twelve 
and  a  half  per  cent. ;  but  the  addition  was  not  to  exceed  one  per  cent, 
in  any  one  year.  Should  the  company  in  that  period  be  obliged  to  re- 
duce their  dividends,  a  proportionate  sum  was  to  be  deducted  from  their 
payment  to  government ;  and  should  they  fall  to  six  per  cent,  the  pay- 
ment was  to  be  discontinued.  The  company  was  bound  to  export  Bri- 
tish goods,  at  an  average,  of  equal  value  to  those  annually  sent  to  India 
during  the  last  five  years ;  and  should  any  surplus  of  the  company's 
cash  remain  in  England  after  the  payment  of  specified  debts,  it  was  to 
be  lent  to  government  at  two  per  cent.  These  stipulations  were  deemed 
advantageous  to  government,  and  reckoned  a  favourable  specimen  of 
the  official  talents  of  lord  North,  who  had  been  extremely  instrumental 
in  fixing  the  conditions.  A  message  was  sent  this  session  by  the  king 
to  the  house  of  commons,  informing  them,  that  a  debt  of  513,000/.  had 
been  incurred  by  the  civil  list,  and  asking  their  assistance  for  its  dis- 


248  HISTORY  OF  the  Chat.  VIII.— 1769- 

[Hyder  Ally.     War  in  the  Carnatic] 

charge  :  the  opponents  of  ministers  proposed  an  inquiry  into  the  expen- 
diture, which  was  nejfativetd,  and  the  required  sum  granted  ;  and  on  the 
9th  of  Mav  tlie  session  was  conchided. 

^Vhile  events  so  interesting  to  P^ngland  weiib  goi'ig  on  in  Europe  and 
America,  a  war  broke  out  against  the  company  in  India,  excited  and 
headed  by  an  adventurer,  who,  witli  his  son,  proved  more  formidable 
enemies,  than  any  native  princes  that  l>ritain  ever  encountered  in  the  east. 

Hyder  Ally,  from  being  a  common  soldier,  raised  himself  to  be  ma- 
ster of  the  Mysore  country,  in  the  mountains  between  the  eastern  and 
western  coasts  of  the  hither  peninsula,  and  on  the  Malabar  side  acquired 
extensive  dominions  adjoining  tlie  ocean.  Endowed  with  vigorous  na- 
tural talents,  he  possessed  great  military  experience,  which  was  chiefly 
attained  by  a  long  service  among  the  Europeans.  He  applied  himself 
to  form  and  discipline  his  own  army  on  the  model  of  their  system,  and 
was  assi-<ted  by  a  number  of  French  adventurers  in  training  his  sol- 
diers, and  teaching  them  the  use  of  artillery.  This  bold  and  ambitious 
warrior  tormed  a  project  of  rendering  himself  master  of  Indostan  ;  but, 
aware  that  in  the  English  he  would  meet  the  most  formidable  opponents, 
he  proposed  to  drive  them  from  India.  With  this  view,  applying  to  the 
Nizam,  viceroy  of  the  Decan,  he,  partly  by  threats  and  partly  by  pro- 
mises, induced  him  to  join  in  war  against  the  English.  Informed  of  the 
new  confederacy,  tlie  council  of  Madras  immediately  despatched  colonel 
Smith  with  a  body  of  troops  against  the  allied  army.  The  British  com- 
mander, coming  up  with  the  enemy,  drew  them  to  battle  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1767,  near  Trincomallee.  Hyder  Ally  demonstrated  him- 
self both  a  valiant  soldier  and  an  able  general  ;  but  the  Indians,  notwith- 
standing their  numbers,  being  soon  broken  by  the  impetuosity  and  force 
of  the  British  troops,  were  completely  defeated.  Freed  from  the  ap- 
prehension of  Hyder  Ally's  power,  the  Nizam  made  peace  with  the  com- 
pany, and  purchased  their  forgiveness,  by  ceding  to  them  the  collection 
of  a  very  extensive  revenue  in  the  Balagat  Carnatic.  The  chieftain  of 
Mysore,  finding  himself  unable  to  cope  with  the  British  on  the  plains, 
retired  to  the  Ghauts,  where,  through  his  cavalry,  he  disturbed  his  ene- 
mies by  predatory  incursions.  In  January,  1768,  a  strong  armament, 
fitted  out  at  Bombay,  attacked  and  took  Mangalore,  Hyder  Ally's  chief 
harbovir.  liy  an  unaccountable  oversight,  they  left  very  few  troops  to 
garrison  the  forts ;  and  these  were  soon  afterwards  made  prisoners  by 
Hyder.  The  war  against  this  adventurer,  when  carried  beyond  the  pur- 
poses of  defence,  was  not  attended  with  ultimate  advantage  ;  upon  the 
system  adopted  by  the  company,  field  deputies  were  appointed  to  super- 
intend and  control  the  commander  in  chief,  and  these  interfering  in  his 
plans  of  operations,  prevented  them  from  being  efTectuaJ.  General 
Smith  had  penetrated  into  the  Mysore  eoimtry,  and  might  have  advanced 
to  Seringapaiam,  but  he  was  counteract<;d  by  the  deputies,  whose  gains 
depended  on  the  continuance  of  war,  and  not  on  the  achievement  of  con- 
quest. Trusting  to  the  celerity  of  his  own  troops,  Hyder,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  English  general,  hastened  to  the  Carnatic,  plundered  the 
company's  ally  tbe  nabob  of  Arcot,  and  compelled  Smith  to  return  to  the 
defence  of  the  Coromandel  coast.  Taught  by  experience,  he  avoided  a 
general  engagement  with  the  English,  but  straitened  their  quarters,  cut 
oflf  their  supplies,  and  exhausted  them  in  unavailing  pursuits  and  marches. 
Meanwhile,  having  strengthened  his  cause  by  alliances  with  Mahratta 


1769.— Chap.  VIII.  IlKION  OF  GEORGE  III.  249 

[Etiropp.     (irillmil  resistnnce  of  Corsica.] 

cliicfliiins,  and  increased  Ids  army,  he  had  the  boldness  to  advance  with 
a  lnr<re  body  of  horse  abno.st  to  the  gates  of  Madras.  Colonel  Wood, 
with  a  detachment,  attacked  a  fort  called  Mulwaggle  on  llyder's  fron- 
tiers, but  was  repulsed.  Encouraged  by  thi.s  advantage,  IJyder  deter- 
mined to  hazard  a  battle  :  a  contest  took  place  on  the  4th  of  October, 
more  obstinate  than  any  that  had  been  fought  between  the  English  and 
Indians,  and  each  party  was  repeatedly  obliged  to  retreat ;  but  at  last, 
after  having  caused  great  loss  to  the  victors,  the  My.sorean  abandoned 
the  field.  Hyder  did  not  again  venture  a  battle,  but  continued  the  ha- 
rassing species  of  war  which  had  so  much  annoyed  the  English.  He  again 
marched  towards  Madras  ;  but  knowing  that  if  he  attacked  it  an  engage- 
ment would  be  unavoidable,  he  did  not  make  the  attempt.  Tired  of  a 
war  which  required  very  great  expenditure  without  any  prospect  of  ade- 
quate recompense,  the  English  made  overtures  for  peace,  which  their 
antagonist  very  willingly  accepted  ;  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  on  the 
3d  of  April,  1768,  on  the  general  principle  of  restitution  of  conquests. 
Hyder  was  the  ablest  Indian  foe  with  whom  Britain  had  ever  been  en- 
gaged ;  and  this  was  the  first  war  between  the  company  and  a  native 
power  in  which  they  acquired  no  advantage,  and  incurred  all  the  loss  of 
their  expenses. 

In  Europe,  the  eyes  of  the  different  nations  were,  during  this  and  part 
of  the  preceding  year,  turned  chiefly  to  the  very  unequal  contest  that 
was  carrying  on  between  France  and  the  small  island  of  Corsica.  As 
soon  as  the  treaty  between  his  christian  majesty  and  Genoa  was  publish- 
ed, and  the  invasion  of  the  island  appeared  certain,  a  general  meeting  of 
the  nation  was  held  at  Corta  ,•  and,  after  a  very  animated  and  elegant 
speech  by  Pascal  Paoli,  it  was  determined  to  defend  their  liberties  to  the 
last  .extremity.  On  the  24th  of  June,  176S,  the  French  troops  landed, 
and  found  the  islanders  determined  to  resist.  The  brave  Corsicans  dis- 
])uted  every  inch  of  ground  against  a  numerous  and  well  disciplined  army, 
and  frequently  defeated  them  in  severe  skirmishes.  The  French  com- 
mander in  chief  issued  a  proclamation,  full  of  promises  if  the  Corsicana 
.submitted,  and  of  threats  if  they  continued  to  oppose  the  king.  Paoli 
having  laid  these  proposals  before  the  assembly,  they  tore  the  papers, 
trampled  them  with  the  greatest  marks  of  rage  and  indignation,  and 
unanimously  concurred  in  calling  out  for  war.  The  French  being 
now  re-enforced  by  fresh  troops  from  home,  made  considerable  p;o- 
gress  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Golo ;  but  Paoli,  who  had  been 
watching  a  body  of  the  enemy  in  another  quarter,  hastily  advanced 
to  this  district,'  and  on  the  lllh  of  September  attacked  and  de- 
feated them  with  great  slaughter.  In  the  course  of  the  summer, 
the  Corsicans  continued  to  gain  signal  advantages ;  and  the  result 
was  so  important,  that  during  th.e  remainder  of  the  campaign,  the*  rench, 
though  recruited  from  the  continent,  were  obliged  to  act  on  'he  defen- 
sive. The  Corsicans  had  been  inspirited  to  these  gallant  e/Torts  by  the 
hope  of  foreign  assistance,  without  which,  they  well  knew,  iheir  exertionsi 
against  such  a  power  as  France  must  be  ultimately  hopdle^s.  lo  Ji.ng- 
land  principally  they  had  looked  for  aid,  expecting  thai  country  to  be  the 
best  inclined  to  vindicate  liberty,  and  oppose  the  ambition  of  Frai^e, 
and  the  most  able  to  send  them  assistance  in  theii  insular  situation.  But 
the  court  of  Versailles  well  knew,  that  they  had  not  to  dread  a  VVilham 
Pitt  in  the  English  cabinet ;  that  the  British  ministry  were  weak,  dis- 
Vol.  VII.— 32 


250  IIISTOKY  OF  THK  Chaf.  VIII.— 1769 

[Discontents  in  America  from  the  new  mode  of  trial.] 

tracted,  unequal  to  internal  and  colonial  politics,  and  without  either  the 
disposition  or  the  ability  to  take  an  active  and  eflectual  part  in  foreign 
atlairs.  Dining  the  winter,  the  French  leaders  pressed  these  considera- 
tions on  the  Corsican  chiefs  ;  not  a  few  of  whom  began  to  consider  their 
resistance  as  desperate.  These  sentiments,  however,  did  not  immedi- 
ately appear  in  their  conduct.  In  Juniiary  and  February,  1769,  they 
made  several  attempts  on  the  French  quarters  ;  but  were  frequently  re- 
pulsed. As  the  spring  advanced,  the  French,  taking  the  field,  made  con- 
siderable progress,  though  tiie  lirave  islanders  maintained  their  cause 
with  the  warmest  zeal  and  unimi)aired  resolution.  In  the  beginning  of 
April,  the  count  de  Vaux  landed  with  so  many  troops  as  made  the  French 
army  amount  to  30,000  men,  and  several  engagements  took  place  :  in 
the  fust,  the  Corsicaus  were  superior  :  in  the  second,  neither  party  gain- 
ed any  decisive  advantage  :  in  tlio  third,  however,  the  islanders  were  to- 
tally deleated  with  dreadful  slaughter;  and  to  heighten  the  disaster,  one 
ol  their  duels  bel  rayed  his  distressed  country,  and  with  eight  hundred  men 
joined  the  enemy.  In  May,  the  greater  part  otthe  island  was  overrun,  and 
their  chief  towns  were  compelled  to  yield  to  the  French.  Their  patriotic 
and  gallant  hadt^r  Paoli,  however,  with  about  five  hundred  men,  still  con- 
tinued to  resist.  These  heroc^s  were  at  last  surrounded  by  four  thousand  of 
the  enemy,  when  he  energetically  asked  them,  if  they  would  ingloriously 
surrender,  or  die  free  men  with  sword  in  hand.  They  unanimously  cm- 
braced  the  latter  atternative,  attacked  the  French,  and  with  great  slaugh- 
ter on  both  .sides,  the  survivors  of  the  Corsicaus  made  their  way  through 
the  enemy.  Paoli  having  for  two  days,  with  some  of  his  friends  and  at- 
tendants, eluded  the  search  of  the  enemy,  got  on  board  an  English  ship 
at  Porto  Vecchia,  and  was  landed  at  Leghorn,  where  he  was  received 
both  by  the  inhabitants  and  others,  more  as  a  triumphant  conqueror,  than 
as  an  exile  from  a  conquered  country.  From  Leghorn  he  sailed  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  also  met  with  the  most  flattering  reception,  and  from  that 
time  resided.  Corsica  having  become  a  part  of  the  French  dominions, 
its  government  was  modelled  according  to  the  will  oP  the  French  king, 
rendered  totally  dependent  upon  him,  and  an  appendage  to  the  most  con- 
tiguous French  district  of  Provence. 

In  America,  the  proposed  change  in  trials  for  treason  not  only  enraged 
Uie  before  disaflected,  but  even  alarmed  the  loyal  and  faithful  partisans  of 
thft  king  and  mother  country.  To  transport  an  accused  person,  before 
the  establishment  of  guilt,  over  an  immense  ocean  of  three  thousand 
miles  ;  to  tear  from  his  family,  friends,  and  country,  a  man,  in  the  eye  of 
tlio  law  innocent;  to  carry  him  away  for  many  months  from  his  lawful 
busi-aess,  by  which  he  maintained  his  children,  and  upheld  his  rank  in  so- 
ciety, was  in  eifect  ccpial  to  banishment,  and  an  infliction  of  the  most 
cruel  penalties,  before  it  was  proved  that  any  punishment  was  just.  Such 
a  measure,  every  person  of  common  sagacity  nuist  see,  was  totally  incon- 
.sistent  wnh  \\u:  princi[)les  of  natural  jurisprudence,  and  with  both  the  let- 
ter and  spint.  (,ir  British  criminal  law.  Even  those  who  had  uniformly 
supported  the  lep;islative  supremacy  of  Britain,  oegan  to  question  an  au- 
thority designed  to  be  exercised  in  such  opjuession.  In  Massachusetts 
for  a  short  time  the  {nojccted  scheme  produced  some  eft'ect  in  repressing 
the  disorders  ;  this,  however,  arose  merely  from  awe  of  the  soldiers; 
but,  as  they  were  not  em|>Utyed  in  executing  any  vigorous  measures  for 
restraining  disorders,  the  leurs  of  the  colonists  soon  vanished.    The  as- 


1769.— Ciur,  Vlir,  llEIGN  OF  GEORGE  in.  251 

[Associations  against  importations  (rom  llritain.] 

sembly,  maintaining  the  proposition  to  be  unjust,  unconstitutional,  nnd 
tyrannical,  fbrnicd  resolutions  to  resist  its  operation  ;  they  voted  charges 
against  their  governor  for  misconduct ;  which,  with  a  petition  for  his  re- 
moval, they  transmitted  to  England.  The  other  colonial  assemblies  re- 
probated the  revived  statute  with  no  less  force  of  reason  than  the  New- 
Knglanders  ;  and  some  of  them  with  still  greater  severity  of  expression, 
accompanied  by  more  violent  resolutions.  Bitter  altercations  took  place 
between  the  assemblies  and  the  governors,  some  of  whom  imitated  Mr. 
Bernard  in  dissolving  these  meetings.  Such  acts,  far  from  benefiting  the 
parent  country,  difibsed  dissatisfaction  more  widely,  by  spreading  through 
the  people  the  sentiments  which  had  prevailed  in  the  assemblies.  The 
enmity  of  the  Americans  to  the  scheme  of  the  present  year,  contributed 
very  powerfully  to  the  promotion  and  extension  of  the  associations 
against  British  commodities.  Committees  were  appointed  in  ftU  the 
principal  towns,  to  inspect  cargoes  from  Britain,  and  to  report  to  the  con- 
stituents if  any  persons  had  purchased  prohibited  articles.  ^Vhoever 
were  found  to  transgress  the  resolutions  of  the  associatois,  were  publicly 
censured  in  their  meetinss,  which  moreover  inserted  their  names  in  the 
newspapers,  to  render  them  odious  to  the  people.  By  these  combina- 
tions, resolutely  detcrniined  to  persevere  in  their  purpose,  Ikitisli  com- 
merce suffered  a  very  great  diminution.  It  was  found,  on  an  investiga- 
tion, that  the  exports  from  this  country  to  America  in  1769,  fell  short  by 
seven  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  pounds  of  those  of  the  year  1768, 
It  appeared  also,  that  the  revenue  from  America,  which  had  been  in  1767 
one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  pounds,  in  176S  had  lessened  to  seventy 
thousand,  and  in  1769  was  so  low  as  thirty  tliousand.  The  association  had 
confined  the  prohibition  of  the  specified  articles  to  those  of  British  growth 
or  manufacture  ;  the  natural  consequence  of  which  was,  that  they  began 
to  be  smuggled  from  foreign  countries,  especially  from  France  ;  and  thus 
the  two  acts  of  this  administration,  tlie  law  of  1767  for  raising  a  revenue 
from  America,  and  the  proposal  in  1769  of  reviving  an  oppret^sive  statute 
of  a  tyrannical  prince,  long  obsolete  for  its  absurdity  and  injustice,  pre- 
vented the  use  of  British  manufactures,  destroyed  an  important  branch  of 
commerce,  impaired  revenue,  encouraged  the  produce  and  trade  of  con- 
tinental Europe,'  and  enriched  our  commercial  and  political  rivals  :  so 
narrow  were  the  views  of  the  ministers  of  that  time,  and  so  extensive 
were  the  consequences  of  their  weakness,  rashness,  and  impolicy! 

During  the  summer,  discontents  arose  in  England  to  a  greater  height 
than  in  any  preceding  period  of  the  reign.  Although  the  conduct  of  ad- 
ministration respecting  America  had  its  share  in  exciting  dipsatisfaclion, 
yet  the  chief  cause  was  the  proceedings  against  JMr.  Wilke.s,  especially 
with  regard  to  the  Middlesex  election.  The  nomination  of  Mr.  Lutterel 
involved  in  it  a  totally  difierent  question  from  the  expulsion  of  Mr. 
Wilkes.  The  expulsion,  whether  well  or  ill  fcimded,  was  a  question  of 
individual  conduct,  of  wliich  the  justice  or  injustice  terminated  in  Mr. 
Wilkes  himself,  without  affecting  any  otiier  person  ;  bivt  the  nomination 
of  a  man  supported  by  a  minority  involved  a  constitutional  ri;^ht,  and  the 
decision  might  cventuylly  ailect  many  others.  ,  A  sul;ject  which  so  greatly 
agitated  and  interested  the  |iublic  mind,  naturally  became  a  theme  of  Kter- 
ai'y  discussion,  and  the  ablest  men  were  (^>i)gf)ged  on  both  sides.  The 
qliestion  at  issue  was,  whether  e\[)ulsion  constituted  disqualification  dur- 
ing the  current  parliament?  The  su|>{)ortcrs  ul  the  anuniative  contended, 


252  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  VHI.— 1769. 

[Dr.  Johnsoii'i  "  F:ilse  Alarm,"   Letters  oF  Junius.] 

that  the  power  of  disquahfying  persons  from  beiiif^  members  of  its  body 
was  inherent  in  the  house  of  commons,  and  that  its  exertion  could  be  de- 
monstrated from  precedents.     The  force  of  Dr.  Johnson  was  employed 
on  this  side  of  the  question,  in  the  essay  which  was  entitled,  "  False 
Alarm  ;"  and  his  chief  argument  was,  that  the  power  of  disqualifying  ex- 
pelled members  was  necessary  to  the  house  of  commons  ;  as  expulsion 
with  re-eligibilitv  would  be  a  nominal,  not  a  real  punishment.     He  also 
quoted  the  case  of  sir  Kobert  "Walpole,  and  dwelt  on  the  individual  cha- 
racter of  Mr.  AVilkos.     Political  expediency,  however,  could  not  prove 
existing  law  ;  and  individual  character  Mas  irrelative  to  a  question  of  pri- 
vilege between  constituents  and  the  representative  body.   The  writer  who 
entered  most  fully  and  minutely  into  this  (picstion,  upon  the  rcrdgroimds 
of  law  and  precedent,  v. as  the  celebrated  Junius.     He  defied  his  adver- 
saries to  produce  any  statute  applicable  to  the  subject.     The  precedent 
on  which  ministers  rested,  was  the  case  of  Walpole ;  but,  as  Junius 
shows,  the  judgment  of  the  house  was  quite  dillereut.*    Mr.  Wilkes  was 
expelled,  so  was  Mr.  ^Vaij)ole;  ]Mr.  \^  ilkes  was  re-elected  by  a  majority 
of  votes,  so  was  Mr.  Walpole.    The  friends  of  Mr.  Taylor,  the  opposing 
candidate,  petitioned  parli;mient,  that  lie,  though  supported  by  a  minority, 
should  be  returned  ;  the  house  determined  that  Mr.  Taylor  was  not  duly 
elected^     Mr.   Luttcrel,  supported  l)y  a  minority,  was  declared  l)y  the 
house  to  be  duly  returned.    Mr.  "Wilkes  was  declared  incapable  of  being 
elected,  because  he  had  been  expelled  ;  Mr.  Walpole  was  declared  inca- 
pable of  sitting  in  parliament,  not  because  he  had  been  expelled,  but  be- 
cause he  was  deemed  guilty  of  a  breach  of  trust  and  notorious  corrup- 
tion in  his  oflicial  character  of  secretary  at  war. 

The  Middlesex  election  was  one  occasion  which  called  forth  the  epis- 
tolary eloquence  of  this  renowned  writer;  but  the  objects  of  its  exc-rtion 
and  the  range  of  its  ex^atialion  were  far  more  extensive.  During  the  su- 
premacy of  the  whigs,  the  influence  of  public  opinion  had  very  rapidly  in- 
creased throughout  the  English  nation.  The  same  spirit  of  iii(]uiry  that 
had  scrutinized  the  actions  of  the  Stuart  princes,  operated  with  redoubled 
force  after  the  revolution  had  ascertained  the  extent  and  bounds  of  prfvi- 
lege  and  prerogative  ;  and  the  consequent  laws  had  sanctioned  the  use 
of  freedom's  most  powerful  engine,  the  press,  tried  and  proved  in  the 
contentions  of  the  whigs  and  tories  in  the  reigns  of  William  and  Anne  ; 
of  ministerial  and  anti-miiiistiuial  parties,  while  Walpole  sat  at  the  helm 
of  affairs  :  the  efficacy  of  this  cne:getic  instrument  was  more  fully  essay- 
ed since  the  accession  of  the  present  sovereign  to  the  throne  ;  and  most 
suscessfully  employed  in  counteracting  the  liberal  and  comprehensive  po- 
licy which,  without  respect  of  parties,  sought  olhcial  fitness  in  the  minis- 
ters (if  the  crown.  ?flisapprehendiiig,  or  perverting  ingenuity,  charged 
the  failure  of  erroneous  or  premature  means  to  the  impolicy  of  the  gene- 
ral end  ;  and  endeavoured  to  demonstrate,  that  every  censurable  measure 
of  individual  ministers  arose  from  the  new  system,  and  that  the  only  re- 
medy for  the  evils  under  which  the  country  and  its  dependencies  labour, 
was  the  renewal  of  tlie  whig  monopoly /f*  ,  These  wfere  the  proposi- 
tions which  the  parliamentary  orators  of  tlie   arislocratical  confederacy 

•   See  Letter  XVI.  dated  July  19th,  ir69. 

f  See  the  scope  oCoppositioii  wnlingr,,  but  especially  J?mkc  on  the  discontents, 
tnd  Junius':)  letters. 


ir69.— Chap.  Vlll.  REIGN  OF  GKORGK  III.  253 

[Middlesex  election.    Address  to  the  king'.] 

wished  to  inculcate  themselves,  and  also  to  disseminate  through  lite- 
rary coadjutors.  To  this  phalanx  of  opposition  and  discontent,  se- 
veral senators,  and  many  writers,  who  were  not  partisans,  adhered  ,' 
in  the  course  of  the  contests,  the  high  and  growing  authority  of  the 
press  was  daily  more  manifest,  and  in  the  estimation  of  the  multitude 
rivalled  parliament  itself,  and  the  whig*  combination  entertained  san- 
guine hopes,  that  through  intrinsic  force,  aided  by  literary  eloquence, 
that  fanned  the  popular  flame,  they  should  at  length  succeed  in  restoring 
the  former  .system,  and  recovering  the  direction  of  the  royal  councils. 
To  regain  for  the  whigs  and  their  supporters  the  sole  possession  of  the 
political  fortress,  fought  their  champion  Junius.  Personal  motives  evi- 
dently inflamed  this  writer  against  individual  oflicers  of  the  crown,  whom 
party  considerations  induced  him  to  assail,  as  members  of  a  body  which 
was  to  be  driven  from  the  councils  of  the  king,  to  make  way  for  the 
restoration  of  the  whigs.  He  began  his  warfare  in  January  1769,  by  a 
general  view  of  the  state  of  the  country  ;  described  Britain  as  internally 
distracted,  and  as  little  regarded  by  foreign  powers  :  and  assuming  the 
truth  of  his  account,  imputed  the  alleged  evils  to  the  new  system  and 
the  existing  ministers.  He  thence  descended  to  specific  measures,  and 
the  respective  characters  of  the  chief  members  of  the  administration  ; 
with  a  two-fold  purpose,  of  deriving  the  counsels  from  the  new  plan  of 
royal  policy,  and  its  alleged  framer  and  conductor  lord  Bute  ;  and  de- 
monstrating that  the  chief  officers  of  the  croM'n  were,  from  private  pro- 
fligacy, public  corrnplion,  or  political  prepossessions,  the  fittest  for  car- 
rying it  into  execution. I  The  Middlesex  election,  at  an  early  period  of 
his  work,  afforded  him  an  opportunity  of  inveighing  against  ministers, 
and  attacking  parliament  as  meanly  condescending  to  be  the  tool  of 
government  in  violating  the  rights  of  electors,  and  depriving  En"lishmen 
of  their  constitutional  and  most  valuable  franchise.  Keeping  directly 
to  his  purpose,  he  deduced  the  Middlesex  election  from  the  new  system, 
and  the  ministers  who  had  been  chosen  to  render  it  effectual.  To  the 
same  cause  he  ascribed  the  various  acts,  legislative,  executive,  and  judi- 
cial, which  he  reprobated  in  the  course  of  his  writings.  With  skilful 
unity  of  design,  the  details  and  result  of  his  eloquence  were  adapted  to 
his  purposes  of  impressing  the  \n\hVic  with  an  opinion  that  the  whole 
policy  of  the  present  reign  had  been  unconstitutional  in  principles,  at 
once  feeble  and  oppressive  in  operation,  and  pernicious  in  effect.  Ad- 
vanced not  in  the  impassioned  hour  of  contentious  and  temporary  de- 
bate, but  in  a  uniform  series  of  deliberate  inculcation,  such  assertions 
evidently  conveyed  an  indirect  censure  of  the  sovereign  ;  but  circuitous 
attack  was  not  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  Junius.  A  direct  address' to 
the  king  himself,  he  thought  would  more  efTcctually  accomplish  the  end 
for  which  he  employed  his  pen.  Composed  with  exquisite  skill  and 
great  ability ;  dexterously  adapted  to  the  popular  prejudices,  and  the 
views  of  the  whigs,  his  letters  had  converged  all  the  rays  of  discontent 
into  one. focus;  now  was  the  time  for  exciting  a  flame,  which  should 
consume  every  object  that  was  hostile  to  the  confederacy  of  the  whigs. 
He  wrote  a  letter,  that  contained  a  direct  and  virulent  attack  on  the  con- 

*   See  letters  to  the  duke  of  Grafton,  &c.  and  to  the  dukes  of  Grafton  and  Bed- 
ford,  and  lord  Mansfield, 
t  He  accuses  lords  Mansfield  and  Bate  with  jacobitism.     See  lellci's,  pas-im. 


254  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  VIIL— 1769. 

[Object  and  character  of  this  extraordinaiy  man.] 

duct  and  government  of  the  king ;  in  which  the  errors  imputed  to  the 
monarch's  administration  were  liis  dereliction  of  the  policy*  of  his  two 
predecessors ;  his  choice  of  servants  without  regard  to  the  whig  con- 
nexion, his  employment  of  Scotchmen,  and  the  series  of  successive 
measures  which  these  changes  had  produced.  The  consequences  (said 
Junius  to  his  sovereign)  must  be  dissatisfaction,  rebellion,  and  revolu- 
tion ;  uidess  the  king  should  cease  to  govern  according  to  his  own  judg- 
ment and  choice,  and  should  yield  his  understanding  and  will  to  the 
implicit  direction  of  a  party.  Such  was  the  object  and  nature  of  the 
letters  of  Junius,  which  continued  to  be  published  for  near  four  years; 
and  to  ensure  almost  unprecedented  circulation  throu<i;h  the  union  of  the 
prevalent  violence  of  popular  licentiousness  with  vigorous  and  masterly 
composition.  For  clearness,  precision,  and  force  of  style,  select  phra- 
seology, dexterous  arrangement,  impressivcness  of  manner,  giving 
the  materials  the  most  pointed  eftect,  these  productions  have  rarely  been 
exceeded,  and  not  often  equalled,  by  political  publications  ;  but  he  who 
shall  look  into  Junius  for  a  close  chain  of  antecedents  and  consequents, 
facts,  and  legitimate  inferences,  will  be  disappointed,  by  seeking  for  what 
the  author  never  intended  to  bestow,  and  what  would  not  have  answered 
his  purpose.  Junius  could  reason  clearly  and  strongly;  but  he  did 
not  constantly  argue  conclusively,  because  his  object  was,  not  to  en- 
lighten the  understanding,  but  to  inflame  the  passions.  lie  gratified 
the  people  by  repeating  to  them,  in  strong  and  nervous  language,  their 
own  notions  and  feelings  :  he  pleased  them  not  for  the  justness  of  per- 
formance, but  by  dexterously  chiming  their  favourite  tunes.  His  charges 
against  the  dukes  of  Grafton  and  Bedford  represent  those  noblemen  as 
the  most  profligate  and  abandoned  men  that  ever  had  disgraced  the  Bri- 
tish senate  or  cabinet ;  but  what  impartial  estimator  of  political  charac- 
ters would  form  his  judgment  from  accusations  that  were  substantiated 
by  no  proof,  and  totally  inconsistent  with  probability  !  The  illustrious 
Mansfield  he  described  as  a  most  corrupt  and  unjust  judge,  as  a  mean 
time-serving  and  unprincipled  courtier,  and  as  a  Jacobite,  inimical  to  the 
king  and  government  which  he  professed  to  support.  What  weight 
would  an  impartial  investigator  of  merit  allow  to  such  calumnious  alle- 
gations, not  only  unsupported  by  any  proof,  but  disproved  by  the  whole 
tenor  and  course  of  the  life  and  conduct  of  their  object.  Aware,  that 
in  the  misapprehension  of  party  rage,  the  slander  of  dignity  and  merit 
was  one  road  to  popularity,  Junius  insulted  a  much  more  exalted  charac- 
ter, and  completed  his  calumny  by  charges  which  were  equally  false  and 
seditious.  History,,  after  taking  a  retrospective  view  of  Grecian  and 
Roman  dem.igogues,  will  scarcely  be  able  to  present  such  an  instance  of 
invective,  ingenious  and  inflammatory  ;  scurrility,  nervous  and  elegant ; 
plau.siblc  so|>histry,  impressive  declamation,  poignant  and  sarcastic  ma- 
lice, as  in  the  English  orator  of  the  Ikon  Maek.  Tiiese  anonymous 
efTusions  were  not  prized  only  by  such  critics  as  composed  Mr.  Wilkes's 
eleclioD  mobs,  but  by  reader.'?  oi'  real  abilities  and  learning,  who,  hostile 
to  government,  and  approving  the  spirit  which  they  breathed,  did  not 
rigorously  scr;itinize  the  arguments ;  m0n  of  ta.ste,  charmed  ;\'ith  the 
bcautie.«s  of  the  composition,  ovierlooked  the  reasoning  and  tendency; 

•  Junius's  letter  to  the  k\n^,  December  19tli,  1769. 


I?r0.— Chap.   VIII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  255 

[Petition.     Remonstrance  of  the  city  of  London;     Parliament.] 

and  never  was  a  political  work  more  universally  perused  than  the  letters 
of  Junius. 

Ministers,  aware  of  the  prevailing  discontents,  endeavoured  to  pro- 
cure addresses  which  might  counteract  the  popular  spirit,  but  were  in 
England  by  no  means  successful.  Essex,  Kent,  Surry,  and  Salop,  were 
the  only  counties;  the  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  the  cities 
of  Bri.«tol  and  Coventry,  and  the  town  of  Liverpool,  the  only  corpora- 
tions of  note  that  expressed  the  sentiments  desired  by  government. 
From  Scotland,  however,  the  addresses  were  more  numerous  and  agree- 
able to  ministry.*  Petitions,  on  the  contrary,  were  presented  from  many 
counties,  cities,  and  corporations,  and  these  were  of  two  very  different 
classes:  one  set,  though  explicit,  was  temperate  ;  and,  though  forcible, 
decorous  :  of  this  species,  the  best  written  and  most  distinguished  were 
from  Buckinghamshire  and  Yorkshire,  supposed  to  have  been  respec- 
tively framed  by  Mr.  Burke  and  sir  George  Saville.  These  confined 
themselves  to  the  rights  of  election,  which  they  asserted  to  be  violated; 
and,  eitlier  indirectly  or  expressly,  prayed  for  a  dissolution  of  parliament. 
The  other  class,  though  nominally  petitions,  were  false  and  indecent 
remonstrances;  of  these,  the  most  noted  and  prominent  were  from  Mid- 
dlesex and  the  city  of  London. |  They  professed  to  review  the  whole 
series  of  acts  during  his  present  majesty's  reign.  According  to  their 
account,  the  king  had  been  uniformly  directed  by  profligate  counsellors, 
who  had  infused  into  the  royal  mind  sentiments  and  counsels  of  the  most 
dangerous  tendency  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  his  subjects  ;  from 
those  pernicious  counsels,  according  to  their  assertion  and  enumeration, 
had  proceeded  the  corruption  of  all  the  orders,  and  violation  of  the  most 
sacred  rights  of  Englishmen ;  and  the  reign  of  the  king  was  a  tissue  of 
unjust,  tyrannical,  and  cruel  acts,  flowing  from  the  legislative,  executive, 
and  judicative  estates:  after  this  statement,  they  proceeded  to  pray,  that 
he  would  banish  from  his  royal  favour,  trust,  and  confidence,  his  evil  and 
pernicious  counsellors.  Though  the  tenor  and  language  of  the  Middle- 
sex and  London  petitions  were  essentially  the  same,  the  latter  was  ren- 
dpred  more  notorious,  by  the  perseverance  of  unfounded  expostulation 
with  which  its  promoters  obtruded  their  abusive  charges  upon  their 
sovereign.  False  as  many  of  the  allegations  were,  yet,  coming  from  the 
most  opulent  body  in  the  kingdom,  they  had  very  great  influence  in 
spreading  tlie  discontents,  and  the  dissatisfaction  had  risen  to  an  extra-\ 
ordinary  height  before  the  meeting  of  the  legislature. 

Parliament  was  assembled  on  the  9th  of  January  1770;  and,  contrary 
to  popular  expectation,  his  majesty's  speech  did  not  mention  the  public 
discontents.  One  subject  of  which  the  king  spoke,  though  really  of 
very  great  importance,  was  much  ridiculed  by  the  speakers  and  writers^ 
of  opposition.  An  infectious  distemper  having  broken  out  ariiong  the 
cattle,  threatened  one  of  the  chief  articles' of  provision.  -The  king,  by 
the  advice  of  his  privy-covuicil,  had  taken  every  step  which  he  thout/ht 
likely  to  stop  the  contagion,  and  consulted  his  parliament  on  farther 
measures  to  be  adopted  concerning  a  matter  of  the  highest  aational  im- 

•  See  state  papers,  If 69. 

t  See  in  the  state  papers,  the  petition  of  the  Middlesex  electors,  May  24tb, 
1769,  and  tlie  London  petition  of  June  30th,  1769. 
i  See  Junius's  letter  to  the  duke  of  Grafton,  February  14lh,  1770. 


256  HISTORY  OF  THK  CHip.  VIII.— 17r0. 

[Resignation  of  tlie  dukeof  Graflon  ] 

jiirtance.  He  expressed  his  regret,  that  his  endeavours  to  tranquillize 
America  had  not  bciui  attended  with  the  desired  success  ;  and  that  com- 
binations liad  been  Tonned  to  destroy  the  commercial  connexion  between 
our  colonial  provinces  and  this  country.  He  had,  however,  received  the 
strongest  assurances,  tluit  the  present  disturbances  in  Europe  would  not 
interrupt  tlie  quiet  ol'  Great  Britain.  The  debate  upon  the  address  con- 
tained a  very  wide  range  of  animadversion,  and  great  acrimony  of  cen- 
sure, into  which  the  opposition  in  both  houses  introduced  the  Middlesex 
election,  the  prevailing  discontents  in  England,  and  the  commotions  in 
America,  anil  urged  the  dissolution  of  parliament  and  a  total  change  of 
counsels.  Ministers,  admitting  that  discontents  existed,  imputed  them 
to  the  spirit  of  faction,  and  the  speeches,  writings,  and  petitions,  which 
had  been  thence  produced;  they,  however,  were  by  no  means  unanimous. 
Lords  Camden  and  Shelburne  withdrew  from  counsels  so  different  from 
those  which  they  and  thefr  admired  friend  lord  Chatliam  would  have  sup- 
ported or  approved.  Soon  after,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  nation, 
tiie  duke  of  Grafton,  on  ihe  2Sth  of  January,  resigned  his  office  of  first 
lord  of  the  treasury.  Lord  Camden  and -Mr.  Dunning,  his  chief  sup- 
porters in  their  respective  houses,  had  shown  themselves  inimical  to  the 
measures  winch  had  been  recently  pursued:  besides,  the  duke  of  Grafton 
professed  himself  the  political  pupil  of  the  illustrious  Chatham;  and 
though,  during  the  illness  and  inaction  of  that  statesman,  he  had  swerved 
from  his  principles,  opinions,  and  maxims,  he  still  avowed  the  highest 
veneratiou  for  his  character  and  sentiments.  Perfectly  recovered,  lord 
Chatham  was  now  retirrned  to  parliament,  and  with  his  wonted  vigour 
aUacked  the  system  and  measures  of  administration.  The  opposition 
of  all  his  ablest  friends  Grafton  could  not  endure.  In  addition  to  these 
causes,  wo  may  ffnd  another  probable  reason  for  the  dereliction  of  his 
po,st.  Junius,  indefiitigable  in  raking  together  calumnious  anecdotes, 
and  dexterous  i.'i  bestowing  on  tliom  the  appearance  of  truth,  had  made 
the  private  as  well  as  the  public  conduct  of  this  nobleman  the  chief  butt 
of  his  satire,  and  for  his  actions  assigned  the  most  contemptible  and 
unworthy  motives.  He  must  be  either  grossly  stupid  or  stoically  mag- 
nanimous, either  less  or  greater  than  ordinary  men,  who,  though  con- 
scious fif  innocence,  can  bear  witli  indifference  powerful  calumny  that 
produces  general  belief.  The  duke  of  (irafton,  regarding  his  character, 
was  so  much  moved  by  the  letters  of  Junius,  that  they  certainly  co- 
operated with  other  causes  in  impelling  him  to  resign. 


irrO.— fjBir.  JX.  RRICN  OF  GKOKlili  III.  237 


• 


CHAP.  IX. 


Commencement  of  lord  Xoitli's  a(1mini.strnlion.---Tlie  rcmonslrance  oftlie  city  of 
Loncion— and  reply  of  his  majesty— are  discussed  in  parliament.--  Hill  to  pre- 
vent officers  of  the  revenue  from  voting  at  elections— nefjativcd.— Mr.  Oren- 
ville's  law  for  regnlatinp  contested  elections.— Lord  North's  bill  for  repealinjjf 
all  duties  on  America,  except  on  tea.— 'Itimult  at  Boston-captain  I'reston  and 
the  soldiers  interfere— tried  and  acquitted.— The  minister  wishing  conciliation, 
overlooks  the  riot.— Session  rises— War  between  Uussia  and  Turkey.— Catha- 
rine is  favoured  by  England— senrls  a  fleet  to  the  Mediterranean— her  ainiies 
overran  Moldavia  and  W'alhichia— alarm  I'lussia  and  Austria --France— disputes 
between  the  king  and  parliaments. —Dispute  between  Britain  and  Spain  about 
Falkland's  island.— Spain,  the  aggressor,  refuses  to  make  adequate  satisfaction- 
trusts  to  the  co-operation  of  France— disappointed — offers  concessions  that  sa- 
tisfy the  British  court  ---America  becomes  more  tranquil.— Discontents  still 
continue  in  England.— London  addresses  the  king—dignified  answer  of  his  ma- 
jesty— noted  reply  of  Beckford,  the  lord  mayor.— Meeting  of  parliament.— Lord 
Mansfield's  doctrines  on  'the  law  of  libel--are  controverted  by  lord  Camden-- 
Camden  challenges  the  chief  justice  to  a  legal  disquisition  on  tiie  subject--lord 
Mansfield  declines  the  contest.— Prosecution  of  printers.— Misunderstanding 
between  the  two  houses.— Singidur  confederacy  for  bribery  in  the  borough  of 
Shoreham.— Oppo.sition  censure  the  terms  of  satisfaction  admitted  from  Spain.— 
Supplies.— Session  rises. 

Lord  North,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  .succeeded  the  duke  of 
Grafton  in  his  office  of  first  lord  of  the  treasury;  and  from  lliis  time 
commenced  an  administration  which  form.s  a  momentous  era  in  the  his- 
tory of  (jrreat  Britain. 

The  Middlese.x  election  catne  hefore  i)Oth  houses  in  a  variety  of  forms, 
and  produced  brilliant  and  forcible  eloquence,  but  necessarily  a  repetition 
of  arguments  which  had  been  already  employed.  In  discussing  this  sub- 
ject, lord  Chatham  reviewed  the  measures  of  government,  which  ho 
declared,  in  its  principle.s  and  details,  to  be  weak,  unconstitutional,  and 
ruinous  ;  and  unfolded  his  own  reasons  for  oppo.sing  a  ministry  which 
owed  its  exi.stence  to  himself.  Finding  (he  said)  the  line  of  conduct 
which  he  hnd  chalked  out  not  observed,  and  his  opinion  totally  over- 
ruled, he  had  withdrawn  from  public  business,  and  at  length  entirely  re- 
signed.— Hi.^  several  motion.s,  however,  were  negatived  by  the  influence 
of  mini.stry. 

The  reception  of  tlie  TiOndon  petition  tmderv/ent  very  severe  animad- 
versions. Tiie  king  nf)t  having  paid  to  that  production  the  t'avourable 
attention  which  its  authors  had  the  presumption  to  expect,  they  chose  to 
deliver  another  paper  to  the  kinu;.  entitled,  the  humble,  address,  remo7i- 
straiice  and  petition  of  the  lord-mayor,  aldermen,  and  livery  of  the  city 
of  London.  In  this  humble  application  to  their  sovereign,  these  citizens 
undertook  to  declare  what  was  the  law  of  the  land,  and  wherein  it  had 
been  violated  ;  and  to  prophe.sy  that  its  violation  would  produce  more 
ruinous  consequences  tiian  the  ship-money  of  ('harles  I.  and  the  dis- 
pensing power  of  James  II.  The  citizens  next  declared  the  parliament 
a  noa-entihi,  an  illegal  meeting,  whose  acts  were  not  binding,  and  there- 
foro  could  reqiure  no  obedience.  Thev  drew  a  parallel  between  the  ad- 
VoL.  YIL— as 


258  lIlSTOltY  OF  THE  Chap.  IX.— 1770. 

[Reply  of  the  king  to  tlie  remonstrance.     Discussion  in  parliament.] 

ministrations  of  George  III.  and  James  TI ;  differing  indeed  in  means, 
but  concurring  (they  affirmed)  in  principles  and  system.  The  constitu- 
tion, now  endangered  by  the  wickedness  of  his  majesty's  ministers,  had 
been  established  by  the  virtue  of  their  ancestors,  and  by  the  virtue  of 
present  patriots  it  should  be  preserved.  The  concluding  paragraph  of 
this  essay  I  shall  quote,  as  a  specimen  of  the  terms  in  which  this  corpo- 
ration dictated  to  their  monarch,  and  of  the  licentiousness  of  that  period 
of  history.  ''  Since,  therefore,  the  misdeeds  of  your  majesty's  ministers, 
in  violating  the  freedom  of  election,  and  depraving  the  noble  constitution 
of  parliaments,  arc  notorious,  as  well  a.-^  subversive  of  the  fundamental 
laws  and  liberties  of  this  realm  ;  and  since  your  majesty,  both  in  honour 
and  justice,  is  obliged  inviolably  to  preserve  them,  according  to  the  oath 
made  to  God  and  your  subjects  at  your  coronation  ;  we,  your  majesty's 
remonstrants,  assure  ourselves,  that  your  majesty  will  restore  the  constitu- 
tional government  and  quiet  of  your  people,  by  dissolving  this  parliament, 
and  removing  those  evil  ministers  for  ever  from  your  councils."  The 
answer  was  a  striking  example  of  tem|)erate,  but  dignified  and  forcible 
reproof;  it  was  couched  in  the  following  terms  :  "  I  shall  always  be  ready 
to  receive  the  request.^,  and  to  listen  to  the  complaints  of  my  subjects; 
but  it  gives  me  great  concern  to  find,  that  any  of  them  should  have  been 
so  far  misled,  as  to  offer  me  an  address  and  remonstrance,  the  contents 
of  which  1  cannot  but  consider  as  disrespectful  to  me,  injurious  to  my 
parliament,  and  irreconcilable  to  the  principles  of  the  constitution.  I 
have  made  the  law  of  the  land  the  rule  of  my  conduct,  esteeming  it  my 
chief  glory  to  reign  over  a  free  people.  With  this  view,  I  have  always 
been  careful,  as  well  to  e.xccute  faithfully  the  trust  reposed  in  me,  as  to 
avoitl  even  the  appearance  of  invading  any  of  those  powers  which  the 
constitution  has  placed  in  other  hands.  It  is  only  by  persevering  in  such 
a  conduct,  that  I  can  either  discharge  my  own  duty,  or  secure  to  my  sub- 
jects the  free  enjoyment  of  those  rights  which  my  family  were  called  to 
defend  :  and  while  I  act  upon  these  principles,  I  shall  have  a  right  to 
expect,  and  I  am  confident  I  shall  continue  to  receive,  the  steady  and 
aff'ectionate  support  of  my  people." 

On  the  15th  of  March,  the  remonstrance  was  discussed  by  the  house. 
The  city  members,  supported  by  the  rest  of  the  opposition,  defended  it: 
its  framers  gloried  in  the  production.  Others,  less  violent,  eluded  the 
merits  of  the  paper  in  question,  and  reasoned  on  the  general  right  of  pe- 
titioning his  majesty,  and  the  propriety  of  addressing  him  at  the  present 
time.  The  suj)porters  of  ministers  confined  themselves  to  this  specific 
remonstrance,  which  they  contended,  and  proved,  to  be  insulting,  inju- 
rious, and  dangerous  ;  particularly  dwelling  on  that  part  of  it  which  pre- 
sumed to  deny  the  legality  of  the  present  parliament,  as  tending  to  de- 
prive the  people  of  their  repre.sentatives,  and  to  annul  every  act  which 
had  pn.ssed  since  the  general  election.  Both  houses  addressed  his  ma- 
jesty, thanking  him  fijr  his  answer  to  the  remonstrance.  Several  mo- 
tions were  made  for  an  addrc-^s  to  his  majesty  to  dissolve  the  parliament, 
but  the.se  were  negatived.  Lord  Chatham  was  extremely  active  in  anti- 
Diini.storial  propositions  ;  and  the  admirer  of  the  highest  wi.sdom  and 
patriotism  of  those  times  must  regret,  that  the  h(;at  of  party  contention 
should  so  far  have  transported  this  illustrious  senator,  as  to  have  induced 
him  to  countenance  and  support  the  very  irreverent  remonstrance  of  the 
city  of  London.         ,  .^^ 


irrO— Chap.  IX.  KtllGN  OF  CEOHCili  III.  259 

[Bills  tcjjulatiiig  elections  and  rt^'pealinjj  all  diilics  on  America  except  on  lea  ] 

An  attempt  was  made  to  diminish  t!ic  influence  of  the  crown,  by  pro- 
posing a  bill  to  disqualify  certain  officers  of  the  revenue  from  voting  for 
members  of  parliament  ;  and  a  motion  to  this  efiect  was  rnad(;  on  the 
11th  of  February.  The  supporters  of  the  proposition  observed,  that  the 
chief  officers  of  the  revenue  were  disqualified  from  sitting  in  parliament, 
and  that  there  were  the  same  reasons  lor  iiicapacilating  inferior  officers 
from  being  electors.  Both  classes  of  servants  must  be  under  the  direc- 
tion  of  the  crown  ;  and  the  departments  of  the  revenue  were  become  so 
numerous,  as  to  render  that  influence  inconsistent  with  the  purposes  of 
a  free  representation.  Ministers  replied,  that  the  motion  presumed  in 
its  objects  a  dependence  and  corruption  which  was  not  proved  ;  on  tliis 
presumption,  it  proposed  to  place  holders  of  those  employments  in  a 
worse  situation  than  their  fellow  countrymen  ;  and  thus  to  deprive  many 
individuals  of  the  rights  of  British  subjects  :  the  motion  was  rejected. 
On  the  28th,  a  proposition  was  made  for  inspecting  the  accounts  of  the 
civil  list  during  the  year  1769.  The  nation  (it  was  urged)  had  a  right 
to  examine  how  its  late  grants  had  been  employed  :  if  the  money  had 
been  properly  used,  no  inconvenience  could  accrue  to  ministers  from  the 
inspection  ;  if  improperly  ap|>lied,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  house  to  make 
the  discovery.  It  was  answered,  that  the  civil  list  being  entirely  the  re- 
venue of  the  crown,  the  crown  had  a  right  to  expend  it  at  will ;  if  an  ap- 
plication had  been  made  for  an  additional  grant,  the  expenditure  of  the 
first  ought  to  be  investigated  to  ascertain  its  necessity  ;  but  that  not  being 
the  case,  there  were  no  reasons  to  require  or  to  justify  an  examination  : 
on  these  grounds  the  motion  was  negatived. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  Mr.  fxeorge  Grenville  proposed  a  bill  for  regu- 
lating contested  elections.  These  were  formerly  tried  by  a  select  com- 
mittee ;  by  degrees  the  committees  were  so  enlarged,  as  to  become  open 
to  every  member  :  so  great  a  number  of  judges,  not  bound  by  oath,  de- 
cided very  often  according  to  party  connexion,  or  some  other  partiality, 
instead  of  justice  ;  and  many  instances  occurred  of  unfair  nominations. 
To  remedy  this  evil,  Mr.  Grenville  proposed  a  plan  analogous  to  a  trial 
by  jury.  Before  a  contest  could  be  tried,  the  house  must  consist  of  not 
less  than  a  hundred  members ;  the  names  of  all  present  were  to  be  put 
into  boxes,  and  to  be  drawn  out  till  they  amotmted  to  forty-nine:  the  two 
litigants  were  alternately  to  strike  otl'one  of  these,  till  they  were  reduced 
to  thirteen  ;  these,  with  two  nominees,  were  to  be  sworn  a  select  com-_ 
mittee,  empowered  to  examine  records,  papers,  and  witnesses,  and  to' 
determine  finally.  The  bill  was  passed  into  a  law,  since  well  known  by 
the  name  of  the  Grenville  act,  and  is  considered  as  having  made  a  very 
beneficial  change  in  the  fairness  of  decisions. 

American  aflairs  began  in  March  to  occupy  the  attention  of  parlia- 
ment, and  first  offered  to  the  public  an  opportunity  of  judging  of  lord 
North's  ministerial  talents.  The  Britisli  merchants  who  traded  to  Ame- 
rica had  sustained  immense  losses  by  the  rejection  of  their  goods  ;  and, 
apprehending  ruin  if  the  associations  should  continue,  presented  petitions 
to  parliament,  staling  their  sufferings,  and  praying  its  intervention.  On 
the  5th  of  JM arch,  lord  North  proposed  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  part  of  the 
act  of  1767,  which  laid  a  duty  on  paper,  painted  colours,  and  glass,  but 
continuing  th«  part  of  the  same  law  which  exacted  a  duty  from  tea.  The 
minister  assitrned  as  a  reason  for  bringing  in  the  bill,  the  dangerous  com- 
binations which  the  imposts  had  produced  in  America,  with  the  losses 


260  ♦*  HISTORY  OF  THBi"-  Chap.  IX.— 1770. 

(Tumult  at  Boston.    Interference  of  captain  Preston.] 

and  dissatisfaction  which  tht'y  had  caused  among  tlie  merchants  at  home. 
He  strongly  expressed  his  disapprobation  ol'the  act  in  question,  but  cen- 
sured it  as  an  unprochictive  impost,  not  as  an  impolitic  claim :  the  arti- 
cles taxed  (he  said)  being  chiefly  British  manufactures,  ought  to  have 
been  encouraged  inr^tead  of  being  burthened  with  assessments.  The  duty 
on  tea  was  continued,  lor  maintaining  the  parliamentary  right  of  taxation. 
An  impost  of  three-pence  in  the  pound  could  never  be  opposed  by  the 
colonists,  unless  they  were  determined  to  rebel  against  Britain.  Besides, 
a  duty  on  that  article  payable  in  England,  and  amounting  to  nearly  one 
shilhng  in  the  pound,  was  taken  ofl'  on  its  exportation  to  America;  so 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  saved  nine-pence  in  the  pound.  The 
minister  hero  discovered  tliat  ho  had  not  investigated  the  state  of  affairs, 
and  the  sentiments  of  the  people;  for  a  cursory  attention  to  the  declara- 
tions and  acts  of  the  Americans  must  have  demonstrated,  that  their  ob- 
jection was  not  to  the  amount,  but  to  the  claim ;  and  experience  might 
have  convinced  him,  that  no  tempori/iiig  expedients,  no  half  measures 
would  be  eflectiKil.  Dillereiit  as  the  professed  opinions  of  the  Rocking- 
ham administration  and  of  lord  North  were,  their  policy  sprang  from  simi- 
lar indecision.  Wishing  to  please  both  parties,  they  left  the  chief  matter 
in  dispute  undetermined,  and  of  cour-e  a  subject  of  future  contention. 
The  members  of  opposition  did  not  fail  to  see  and  to  predict  the  inefh- 
cacy  of  the  minister's  plan  ;  they  repeated  the  arguments  on  the  injustice 
and  inexpediency  of  taxing  America,  and  the  evils  which  had  arisen  from 
the  attempt:  the  luiiiisler's  proj)osilions,  how<;ver,  were  carried  by  a  great 
majority.  This  act  may  be  considered  as  an  omen  of  lord  North's  admi- 
nistration ;  at  least,  so  lar  as  a  display  of  character  justifies  predictions 
respecting  tuture  conduct  and  its  result.  Discerning  men  saw  meritori- 
ous intentions  and  ready  ingenuity,  without  the  accompaniment  of  that 
enlarged  political  wisdom,  lirmness,  and  decision  of  mind,  which  only 
when  united  can  constitute  a  beneticial  statesman. 

The  very  day  on  which  the  resolutions  were  passed  tliat  lord  North  in- 
tended for  satisfying  the  colonies,  a  quarrel  arose  at  Boston  between 
some  of  the  inhulntants  and  a  party  of  soldiers.  While  the  troops  sent  to 
Boston  in  176S  remained  in  that  town,  the  people  had  been  awed  into 
quietness  ;  but  in  the  end  of  1769,  a  great  j)art  of  them  having  been  or- 
dered to  other  quarters,  those  who  remained  were  treated  with  the  most 
provoking  insolence  ;  thoy  were  lampooned  and  abused  in  the  newspa- 
pers; ridiculed  and  reviled,  if  met  singly  or  in  small  bodies  in  the  streets; 
and  disturbed  and  interrupted  in  the  discharge  of  their  d»ity.  In  the  even- 
ing of  the  5th  of  March,  a  dispute  happened  between  two  or  three  young 
men  of  the  town,  and  as  inruiy  soldiers,  near  the  barracks  ;*  virulent  lan- 
guage produced  blows  ;  the  soldiers  pi'oved  victorious,  and  pursued  their 
advcrsari(-s  through  the  streets.  The  bells  were  rung  to  alarm  the  popu- 
lace ;  a  inol)  assembled  round  the  custom-house,  and  threatened  the  sen- 
tinel's life  that  was  posted  there  ;  captain  Preston,  the  ollicer  on  guard, 
sent  a  party  to  protect  not  only  the  soldier,  but  the  custom-house,  and 
80on  after  proceeded  thither  himself.  The  mol),  becoming  very  violent, 
attacked  the  soldifrs  with  stones  and  clubs  ;  the  captain,  as  long  as  it 
was  possible,  kept  his  men  fiom  firing;  but  at  length,  their  lives  being  in 
danger,  they  were  obliged  to  use  their  arms  in  their  own  defence  :  four  of 

*  Sec  Stcdinan,  vol.  i.  p.  75. 


♦  •  ♦ 


irrO.— CiiAF,  IX.  REIGN  OP  GEORGE  III.  26.1 

[War  between  Russia  and  Turkey.] 

the  insurgents  were  killed,  and  some  others  wounded  :  the  luniult  be- 
came much  more  general,  and  the  rest  of  the  ti:oops  were  as.sembled. 
The  governor*  having  called  together  the  council,  they  advised  the  re- 
moval of  the  troops,  which  was  accordingly  ordered.  Captain  Preston 
surrendered  himself  for  trial,  and  the  soldiers  under  his  command  were 
taken  into  custody.  Every  unfair  means  that  could  be  used  were  em- 
ployed to  inflame  the  people  against  the  defendants,  and  to  prejudge  the 
cause.  In  the  newspapers,  and  various  other  publications,  the  troops 
were  represented  as  guilty  of  deliberate  murder  ;  dead  bodies  were  car- 
ried in  procession  through  the  town,  and  held  out  as  the  victims  of  mili- 
tary e.xecution.  Fortunately  for  the  cause  of  justice,  the  trials  were  put 
oft' for  several  months,  so  that  the  ferment  subsided:  captain  Preston  was 
honourably  acquitted ;  as  were  all  the  soldiers,  except  two,  who  were  con- 
victed of  manslaughter. 

The  account  of  this  tumult  arrived  in  England  before  the  rising  of  par- 
liament, and  it  was  expected  that  ministry  would  have  immediately  pro- 
posed taking  it  into  consideration.  They,  however,  purpo<;ely  waved  the 
discussion,  entertaining  great  hopes  of  the  conciliatory  effect  of  the  re- 
cent repeal ;  and,  as  the  disturbances  had  taken  place  when  th.at  was  not 
known  in  America,  they  trusted  that  the  account  of  the  new  resolutions 
would  change  their  sentiments,  and  produce  dispositions  to  order,  tran- 
quillity, and  harmony.  They  thought  it  therefore  prudent  to  abstain  from 
investigations  which  might  again  inflame  the  colonists  ;  and  the  session 
closed  toward  the  end  of  May. 

A  war  was  now  raging  on  the  continent,  in  which  Britain,  without 
actually  interfering,  warmly  favoured  one  of  the  parties.  For  several 
years  it  had  been  part  of  the  British  policy  to  renew  and  increase  that  in- 
tercourse with  Russia,  which,  from  political,  but  still  more  from  commer- 
cial motives,  former  kings  had  cultivated,  but  which  had  been  diminish- 
ed in  the  last  war  by  the  alliance  of  the  czarina  with  our  enemies.  Tur- 
key had  been  for  successive  ages  on  amicable  terms  with  France,  and  ta 
French  ports  flowed  the  greater  part  of  her  beneficial  commerce.  The 
British  government  and  nation  earnestly  desired  the  success  of  Catha- 
rine, our  friend  and  ally,  against  Turkey,  the  friend  and  ally  of  our  rival, 
and  were  strongly  interested  in  the  events  of  the  war.  These  at  this  time 
diversified  public  attention,  and  prevented  it  from  brooding  solely  on  in- 
ternal contests  and  colonial  disturbances.  The  war  which  had  been  de- 
clared between  Russia  and  Turkey,  was  carried  on  with  great  fury  by 
both  parties  :  but  by  no  means  with  equal  ability  and  skill.  Catharine 
employed  the  winter  of  176S  and  1769  in  increasing  her  armies,  and 
making  pecuniary  provisions  for  supporting  the  war:  she  also  established 
a  new  council  tor  military  and  political  affairs,  over  which  she  presided 
herself.  The  Russian  troops,  hardy  and  courageous,  had  the  advantage 
of  great  and  recent  experience,  in  the  wars  with  Frederick,  and  the  con- 
test with  the  Poles.  The  Turks  were  much  inferior  to  the  Russians  in 
military  discipline,  and  for  the  last  thirty  years  had  not  been  engaged  in 
any  war.    They  had  never,  like  the  powers  of  christian  Europe,  intro- 

•i-Mr.  Hutchinson  had  been  lately  appointed  to  that  office.  The  Americans  had 
petitioned  for  the  removal  of  sir  Francis  Bernard ;  and  that  gentleman  having  re- 
turned to  England  to  defend  himself,  vindicated  his  conduct  to  the  satisfaction  aiid 
approbation  of  his  sovereign.  Disdaining,  however,  to  resume  liis  authority  among 
people  who  had  solicited  his  annihilation,  he  resigned  his  employment. 


262  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  IX.— 1770. 

[Comprehensive  views  of  Catharine.    Progress  of  her  armies.] 

duced  so  much  of  science  into  their  tactics,  as,  during  peace,  to  improve 
themselves  in  the  niihtary  art ;  tlie  force  and  goodness  of  their  armies 
depended  solely  on  actual  exercise,  and  experience  in  the  field  became 
torpid  by  long  cessation  of  efibrt.  They  had  formed  their  empire  by  the 
sword,  and  had  awed  the  conquered  for  several  centuries  by  keeping  it 
perpetually  drawn.  Fear  only  of  the  courage  and  warlike  force  that  they 
saw  incessantly  displayed,  ha'd  kept  the  Greek  christians  in  a  subjection, 
which,  from  religious,  moral,  and  political  principles,  filled  them  with  in- 
dignation and  abhorrence.  They  had  from  religion  a  very  warm  attach- 
ment to  Russia,  and  since  she  had  arrived  at  great  power,  considering  her 
as  the  natural  patron  of  the  Greek  faith,  they  were  evidently  disposed  to 
seek  her  protection,  whenever  an  attempt  for  their  relief  could  be  made. 
Seeing  their  oppressors,  once  so  terrible,  now  enervated  by  long  inaction, 
they  began  to  entertain  hopes  of  emancipation.  Informed  of  the  state  of 
Turkey,  and  of  the  sentiments  of  her  Grecian  brethren,  the  lofty  genius  of 
Catharine  conceived,  and  her  bold  spirit  executed,  a  project  which  asto- 
nished all  Europe.  This  was,  to  send  from  the  recesses  of  the  Baltic  to 
the  Mediterranean  a  fleet  which  should  excite  and  support  insurrections 
of  the  Greek  christians,  intercept  the  intercourse  between  Constantinople 
and  its  granaries  in  Egypt  and  other  parts  of  the  empire,  command  the 
Archipelago  and  the  Levant,  and  spread  alarm  through  the  vast  dominions 
of  the  sultan.  Her  mind,  capacious  and  comprehensive  as  well  as  in- 
ventive, had  carried  its  views  to  the  whole  of  her  interests.  She  earnestly 
cultivated  the  friendship  of  England,  and  thereby  was  powerfully  assisted 
in  her  naval  schemes,  by  having  the  advantage  of  our  ports  both  in  this 
island  and  Gibraltar,  and  also  of  able  officers  and  skilful  pilots.  By  land 
she  made  such  a  disposition  of  her  forces,  as  was  best  calculated  for 
speedily  rendering  the  enemy's  country  the  seat  of  war  ;  and  though  dis- 
tant, profiling  from  the  co-operation  of  her  fleet,  and  diverting  the  force 
of  her  antagonist.  The  campaign  was  opened  as  early  as  the  climate 
would  permit :  the  Turkish  Tartars,  accustomed  to  brave  the  utmost  ri- 
gour of  the  winter,  made  an  incursion  into  the  Russian  Ukraine,  plun- 
dered and  desolated  the  country,  before  the  Russian  troops  took  the 
field  ;  and,  though  afterwards  obliged  to  retire,  secured  their  booty.  In 
April,  prince  Gallitzin,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Russians,  posted  him- 
self on  the  Niester,  to  oppose  the  main  army  of  the  Turks,  who  were 
marching  into  INIoldavia,  while  general  Romanzow  was  placed  on  the 
Nieper,  to  watch  the  Turkish  Tartars.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Turks, 
Gallitzin  attempted  to  seize  Chockzim  ;  but,  being  strongly  fortified  and 
garrisoned,  it  held  out  till  the  arrival  of  the  Turkish  army  rendered  it 
prudent  to  desist.  The  vizier,  aware  of  the  superior  discipline  of  the 
enemy,  wisely  avoided  a  general  engagement,  and  harassed  the  Russians 
l>y  marches  and  skirmishes.  The  Janizaries,  abundantly  brave,  but  un- 
used to  fatigue,  lonccd  for  a  general  battle,  in  which  they  assured  them- 
selves of  a  victory  tliat  would  put  an  end  to  their  labours,  and  sulFer  them 
to  return  to  (he  luxuries  of  the  capital.  Esteeming  the  cautious  policy  of 
their  commanders  cowardice,  they  transmitted  intemperate  complaints  to 
the  divan.  The  court,  weak  as  wi';kerl,  and  ignorant  as  despotic,  without 
inquiry  put  the  vizier  to  death,  and  appointed  Ali  Pacha,  a  man  of  fierce 
brutal  courage,  his  successor.  This  nomination  proved  very  favourable 
to  tlie  Russians.  Ali  Pacha  gave  Gallitzin  battle,  and  was  defeated  with 
very  greatUoss ;  he  soon  after  fought  hiin  again,  when  the  Ftussians  ob- 


1770.— Cu»r.  IX.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  26.3 

[Jealousy  of  Austria  and  Prussia.    Affairs  of  France.] 

tained  a  decisive  victory,  and  reduced  the  fortress  of  Chockzim  ;  and  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  campaign,  they  overran  Moldavia  and  Wallachia. 
The  Russians  this  summer  liad  various  engagements  with  the  Polish 
confederates,  but  none  decisive,  as  they  were  obliged  by  the  Turkish  war 
to  employ  so  many  troops  elsewhere. 

It  was  not  till  the  beginning  of  the  year  1770,  that  the  Russian  fleet, 
under  count  Orlofl',  sailed  for  the  Mediterranean  :  after  having  been  shat- 
tered in  the  North  seas,  the  armanientstopped  at  Portsmouth  to  refit ; 
and  departing,  arrived  at  Port  Mahon.  After  undergoing  a  second  re- 
paration, they  sailed  from  Minorca  about  the  end  of  February,  reached 
Cape  Metapan,*  took  Missitra,!  ravaged  the  coasts,  proceeded  to  Asia 
Minor,  burnt  the  Turkish  fleet  in  the  harbour  of  Skio,+  and,  cutting  ofl* 
the  communication  between  European  Turkey  and  the  most  fertile  pro- 
vinces in  other  quarters,  distressed  Constantinople.  The  Russian  armies 
continued  uninterruptedly  successful ;  Romanzow,  after  repeated  victo- 
ries, one  of  which  at  the  confluence  of  the  Pruth  and  the  Danube,  was 
glorious  and  decisive,  conquered  all  Turkey  beyond  that  river  except 
Bessarabia.  Here,  however,  count  Panin  besieged  and  took  the  famous 
town  of  Bender  by  storm,  and  reduced  the  whole  province.  Thus  all 
the  Turkish  dominions  from  Poland  to  the  Danube  southward,  and 
from  Hungary  to  the  Eu.xine,  eastward,  were  now  in  the  possession  of 
Russia.  The  neighbouring  powers  regarded  these  successes  of  Catha- 
rine with  jealousy  and  apprehension.  The  house  of  Austria  was  much 
alarmed  at  the  conquests  of  so  ambitious  and  enterprising  a  power  in  its 
immediate  vicinity.  Even  Frederick,  intimately  as  he  was  connected 
with  Russia,  did  not  rejoice  at  her  great  accession  of  territory.  Two 
interviews  took  place  this  year  between  the  Prussian  king  and  the  em- 
peror ;  at  which  Joseph  declared  that  neither  Maria  Theresa  nor  himself 
would  suflfer  Catharine  to  retain  Moldavia  and  Wallachia.  Frederick, 
though  he  did  not  differ  in  sentiment  from  the  emperor  on  this  subject, 
was  desirous  of  restoring  peace  between  the  courts  of  Petersburg  and 
Constantinople,  by  such  means  as  would  preserve  his  amity  and  alliance 
with  Russia,  which  it  was  his  interest  to  maintain.  Frederick  had,  at 
the  beginning  of  their  disputes,  strongly  dissuaded  the  Turks  from  going 
to  war  with  Russia ;  and  the  disasters  that  proceeded  from  not  following 
his  advice,  gave  him  great  credit  with  the  Ottoman  Porte.  He  dexte- 
rously suggested,  without  any  direct  proposition,  that  they  should  apply 
for  his  mediation  ;  which  measure  they  very  readily  adopted,  and  when 
requested  to  interfere,  he  advised  them  also  to  apply  to  the  court  of 
Vienna.  Though  not  of  themselves  disposed  to  solicit  the  house  of 
Austria  to  be  their  umpire,  yet,  from  their  great  deference  to  the  opinion 
of  Frederick,  they  agreed.  A  negotiation  commenced  ;  but,  from  the 
jarring  interests  and  views  of  both  the  principals  and  mediators,  it  met 
with  various  obstacles,  and  did  not  at  that  time  produce  a  peace.  France, 
accustomed  to  take  so  active  a  share  in  the  disputes  of  other  European 
powers,  was  now  occupied  in  disputes  between  tlie  king  and  the  parlia- 
ments, important  in  themselves,  but  still  more  momentous  in  the  spirit 
of  liberty  which  they  exhibited.  She  was  farther  distressed  by  a  scarcity 
of  provisions  ;  and  her  commercial  interests  were  greatly  injured  by  the 
bankruptcy  of  her  East  India  company.     On  the  16th  of  May,  the  nup- 

•  Anciently  Tenarua.  |  Spuria.  ^  (/hios. 


264  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  IX.— irrO. 

[Dispute  with  Spain  respecting  the  Falkland  islands.] 

tials  were  solemnized  between  the  dauphin,  grandson  of  the  king,  and 
the  princess  Marie  Antoinette,  daughter  of  the  empress-queen,  which 
many  years  after  had  so  fatal  a  dissolution. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  a  dispute  arose  between  Britain  and  Spain, 
which  had  nearly  terminated  in  a  war :  the  ground  of  the  contest  wus, 
Falkland's  islands,  in  the  South  Seas.  Captain  Davis,  who,  in  1592, 
had  been  sent  to  accompany  captain  Thomas  Cavendish  in  his  last 
voyage;  which  proved  so  fatal,*  having  either  parted  with  his  commo- 
dore, or  deserted  him  on  the  east  coast  of  South  America,  was  driven 
by  storms  towards  the  Streiifhts  of  Magellan,  where  he  discovered  the 
land  now  called  Falkland's  islands  ;  but  being  in  the  greatest  distress,  he 
left  them  without  observation  and  without  giving  them  a  name.  Two 
years  after,  sir  Uichard  Hawkins  being  in  the  same  seas,  again  saw  the 
islands,  and  in  honour  of  his  queen  called  them  Hawkins's  Maiden  Land. 
In  1598,  Sebald  de  West,  a  ]3utch  navigator,  came  to  the  same  islands, 
and  supposing  himself  the  first  discoverer,  called  them,  from  his  own 
name,  Sebaid's  Islands.  England  heard  nothing  more  of  them  for  near 
a  century,  so  that  even  their  existence  was  called  in  question.  In  the 
reign  of  king  AVilliam,  however.  Strong,  an  English  mariner,  found  them 
out,  and  gave  them  the  name  of  Falkland's  islands. |  Some  other  navi- 
gators touched  atlliem  in  the  reign  of  queen  Anne,  yet  they  were  still 
reckoned  of  no  importance ;  from  lord  Anson's  voyage,  however,  it  was 
concluded  that  it  would  be  very  beneficial  to  this  nation  to  have  a  friendly 
port  and  place  of  refreshment  much  nearer  Cape  Horn  than  the  Brazils. J 
In  174S,  in  consequence  of  the  representation  made  in  Anson's  voyage, 
some  sloops  were  sent  to  examine  Falkland's  island,  and  make  farther 
discoveries  in  the  South  Seas.  Mr.  Wall,  the  Spanish  ambassador, 
having  been  informed  of  this  expedition,  maintained  the  right  of  the  Spa- 
niards to  the  exclusive  dominion  of  the  South  Sea,  and  remonstrated 
against  the  destination  of  these  ships ;  but  the  British  ministry  declared, 
that  the  examination  of  the  Falkland's  islands  should  be  their  sole  object. 
Similar  remonstrances  having  been  made  to  our  ambassador  at  the  court 
of  Spain,  the  same  intentions  were  avowed.  Falkland's  islands  were  no 
more  thought  of  till  after  the  peace  of  1763  ;  when,  as  has  been  already 
mentioned,  commodore  Byron  took  possession  of  them  in  the  name  of 
king  George,  and  represented  them  as  a  much  more  valuable  acquisition 
than  had  been  before  conceived.  In  17b6,  the  king  of  Spain  sent  some 
troops  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  the  port  which  had  been  occupied  by  the 
French,  and  established  a  settlement  there  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
of  Solidade  Carlicr :  in  the  same  year,  captain  Macbride  arrived  at  Port 
Egmonf,  situated  on  a  different  island,  where  he  established  a  garrison. 
It  does  not  a])])ear,  that  either  of  these  settlements  knew  of  the  other 
before  the  year  1769  ;  in  the  November  of  which  year,  captain  ITunt,  of 
the  Tamar  frigate,  cruising  ofi'  the  islands,  fell  in  with  a  Spanish  schooner 
from  Solidade:  he'ordored  the  vessel  lo  depart  from  the  roast,  as  belong- 
ing to  Great  Britain.     The  governor  of  the  Spanish  settlement  professed 

•  See  Cavcn'ti'li's  Voya^rps,  in  t!ie  rcipn  of  I'/lizaheth. 

f  His  Journal  was  never  [jrinted,  IjiiI  ift  iii  manuscript  in  tlie  Britis!)  Museum. 

i  This  idea  was  nf>t  new  to  Knglanrl  though  never  siiccessfnlly  executed.  Jn 
the  reign  of  Charles  l(.  sir  John  Narboroup(h  altcmpfed  to  establish  a  settlement 
on  the  coast  of  Patagonia;  but,  though  eagerly  and  liberally  supported  by  the 
kiiif,  he  found  the  design  totally  inripraclicable. 


17r0.— CiiAP.  IX.  KEIGN  OF  (iKOUGE  III.  2G5 

[Concession  of  the  court  of  Spain.     Dismission  of  (he  duke  de  ChoiscuK] 

to  suppose  that  the  English  commander  was  there  only  by  accident ;  but 
said,  that  he  had  no  right  to  send  a  command  to  Spaniards  in  the  king 
of  Spain's  own  dominions.  Captain  Hunt  asserted  the  claim  of  the 
English,  from  discovery  and  occupancy.  Reciprocal  warnings  to  quit 
the  islands  were  frequently  repeated  during  the  months  of  December  and 
January,  when  captain  Hunt  departed  for  England.  The  governor  of 
Buenos  Ayres  now  sent  an  armament  of  live  frigates  to  Port  Egmont  j 
but  captain  Farmer  of  the  Swift  frigate,  and  captain  Maltby  of  the  Fa- 
vourite, prepared  to  defend  the  garrison,  and  warned  the  Spanish  com- 
modore to  quit  that  harbour;  adding,  he  might  be  convinced  that  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  and  the  British  navy  were  fidly  competent  to  exact 
satisfaction  for  any  insult  that  should  be  oflered  them  by  Spain,  or  any 
other  power.  The  Spaniards,  however,  landed  their  troops  under  cover 
of  cannon,  and  invested  the  garrison.  The  British  commanders  having 
thus  ascertained  the  commencement  of  hostilities  by  the  Spaniards,  and 
being  from  the  inferiority  of  force  totally  unequal  to  defence,  offered 
terms  of  capitulation  ;  by  which  it  was  stipulated,  that  the  English  should 
within  a  specified  time  evacuate  Port  Egmont.  Departing  from  that 
island  the  English  captains  arrived  in  England  in  October.  Informed 
of  this  proceeding,  the  British  ministry  applied  to  prince  Masscrano,  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  who  acknowledged  that  he  had  heard  from  Madrid 
of  the  transaction;  but  that  Buccarelli,  the  Spanish  governor,  had  acted 
without  any  special  orders  from  his  king.  Being  a^^ked,  however,  if  he 
would,  in  the  name  of  his  master,  disavow  Buccarelli's  violence,  he  said, 
that  he  could  not  answer  without  orders  from  his  court.  The  British 
government  now  directed  Mr.  Harris,  the  ambassador  at  Madrid,  to  de- 
mand the  restitution  of  Falkland's  islands,  with  a  disavowal  of  Bucca- 
relli's hostilities,  and  in  the  mean  time  vigorously  prepared  a  naval  arma- 
ment. The  answer  of  Grimaldi,  the  Spanish  minister,  to  the  first  appli- 
cation of  Britain,  was  cold,  ambiguous,  and  unsatisfactory  ;  no  particular 
orders  (he  said)  had  been  sent  to  the  governor  to  drive  the  English  from 
their  settlement ;  but  Buccarelli  had  acted  agreeably  to  the  general  in- 
junctions of  his  sovereign,  that  governors  in  America  should  resist  en- 
croachments on  the  Spanish  dominions,  and  therefore  had  merely  done 
his  duty.  The  court  of  Spain  soon  after  oflered  by  mutual  concession 
to  accommodate  their  diflerences ;  if  Britain  would  disavow  the  warning 
given  to  the  Spaniards  by  captain  Hunt,  Spain  would  in  like  manner  dis- 
avow the  violence  of  Buccarelli.  This  profter  was  indignantly  refused 
by  the  court  of  London  ;  for  though  captain  Hunt  had  given  warning, 
he  had  offered  no  violence ;  but  the  Spaniards  had  committed  a  hostile 
aggression  ;  an  actual  injury  had  been  done  to  Britain,  and  must  be  re- 
paired. The  Spanish  court  persisted  in  the  proposal  of  reciprocal  dis- 
avowals :  but  the  English  ministers  adhered  to  their  first  demand,  conti- 
nued their  preparations,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year,  Mr.  Harris,  the 
ambassador,  v.as  directed  to  withdraw  from  Spain.  The  court  of  Ma- 
drid now  assuming  a  very  different  tone,  showed  itself  disposed  to  conci- 
liation at  the  expense  of  concession.  Spain  was  at  this  time  chiefly 
governed  by  the  court  of  Versailles  ;  and  the  duke  de  Choiseul  was  de- 
sirous of  engaging  both  kingdoms  in  a  war  with  Englnnd,  in  which  he 
hoped  the  distracted  state  of  the  internal  and  colonial  atlairs  of  Britain 
might  render  the  house  of  Bourbon  s\jccessful,  and  compensate  the  dis- 
asters of  the  former  war ;  and  that  he  himself,  not  having  to  contend 
Vol.  VH.— 34 


256  HISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  IX.— 1770. 

[  Artiprira.     Address  of  the  city  of  London  to  the  king'.     His  reply.] 

against  the  councils  of  a  Pitt,  might  acquire  triumphant  glory.  But  the 
duke  de  rhoiseul  having  in  the  recent  disputes  shown  himself  friendly 
to  the  popular  parfv,  and  having  lost  the  countenance  of  the  king  and 
his  mistress,  was  judged  no  longer  tit  to  he  prime  minister,  apd  was  dis- 
missed from  all  his  ofHces.  Ilis  successor  adopted  a  pacific  policy,  and 
this  was  the  principal  cause  that  efl'ected  the  change  in  the  Spanish  pro- 
positions. 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1771,  prince  Masserano  delivered  a  declara- 
tion of  the  king  of  Spain,  disavowing  the  violent  enterprise  of  Bucca- 
relli,  and  promising  to  restore  Port  Egmont  and  the  fort,  with  all  the 
artillery  and  stores,  according  to  the  inventory  taken  before  the  evacua- 
tion. The  declaration  added  :  this  engagement  to  restore  Port  Egmont 
cannot,  nor  ought,  in  any  wise,  to  afiect  the  question  of  the  prior  right 
of  sovereignty  of  the  Malonine,  otherwise  called  Falkland's  islands. 
Lord  Rochford,  who  had  lately  succeeded  lord  Weymouth  as  secretary 
of  state  for  the  southern  department,  was  instructed  by  his  majesty  to 
answer,  that  as  tlie  court  of  Spain  disavowed  the  expedition,  and  hound 
itself  to  restitution,  the  king  would  look  upon  that  declaration,  and  the 
full  performance  of  the  engagements,  as  a  satisf\\ction  for  the  injury. 

America  was  somewhat  more  tranquil  during  the  present,  than  in  the 
several  preceding  years.  The  want  of  indulgences,  to  which  they  had 
long  been  habituated,  was  severely  felt,*  and  the  inhabitants  became 
weary  of  their  combinations.  As  soon  as  they  were  informed  that  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  noxious  act  was  repealed,  they  resolved  to  confine 
their  association  to  the  prohibition  of  tea.  The  most  violent  malcon- 
tents, indeed,  endeavoured  to  keep  the  people  to  the  association,  on  the 
extensive  principle  which  had  been  first  adopted,  but  they  could  not  pre- 
vail. The  trade  of  this  country  with  America  began  again  to  flourish ; 
and  subsequent  to  captain  Preston's  treatment,  there  was  no  material 
disturbance  even  in  Massachusetts  during  that  year.    ' 

The  discontents  at  home  were  still,  however,  very  prevalent,  especi- 
ally wherever  the  influence  or  example  of  the  London  citizens  could 
operate.  The  corporation  persevered  in  remonstrating  to  his  majesty ; 
and  on  the  23d  of  IMay  they  presented  an  address  still  more  indecent 
and  disrespectful  than  that  which  they  had  delivered  before.  Common 
sense  must  suppose,  that  they  intended  to  provoke  and  insult  their  sove- 
reign, in  making  an  application  which  contained  such  strong  and  devious 
reasons  for  rejecticm  and  reprehension  ;  an  application  to  which  the  king 
could  grant  no  favourable  answer,  consistently  with  regard  to  the  honour 
of  his  crown,  and  the  rights  of  his  parliament. t  On  the  address  being 
presented,  his  majesty  answered,  "  I  should  have  been  wanting  to  the 
public,  as  well  as  to  myself,  if  I  had  not  expressed  my  dissatisfaction  at 
the  late  address.  My  sentiments  contiimc  the  same  ;  and  I  should  ill 
deserve  to  be  considered  as  the  father  of  my  f)eople,  if  I  could  suffer 
myself  to  make  such  a  tjse  of  my  prerogative,  as  I  cannot  but  think  in- 
consistent with  the  interest,  and  dangerous  to  the  cohstitution,  of  the 
kingdom."  To  this  answer,  Beckford,  the  lord-mayor,  requested  leave 
to  reply ;  a  request,  which,  though  unusual  aiifl  indeed  unprecedented, 
his  majesty  granted.     Having  deprecated  the  displeasure  which  his  ma- 

•  Stedman,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 

f  See  address  to  the  city  of  London,  May  23d,  J770. 


1770.— Ciup.  IX.  REIGN  OF  UEOHGE  ill.  2G7 

[Character  of  the  lord  mayor.     PaiTnim(  nf.    Law  of  libe!.] 

jesty  had  expressed  asjainst  the  London  remonstrance,  he  conchided  in 
terms  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  that  had  ever  been  used  l)y  a  Bri- 
tish subject  to  a  British  kin<T :  "  Permit  me,  sire,  farther  to  observe,  that 
whoever  has  already  dared,  or  shall  hereafter  endeavour,  by  false  insi- 
nuations and  suggestions,  to  alienate  your  majesty's  alfections  from 
your  loyal  subjects  in  general,  and  from  the  city  of  London  in  particular, 
and  to  withdraw  your  confidence  in  and  regard  for  your  people,  is  an 
enemy  to  your  ntajeshfs  person  a7id  family,  a  violator  of  the  public  peace, 
and  a  betrayer  of  our  happy  conslitntinn  an  it  u-as  established  at  the  f^lo- 
rious  and  necessary  revolution."  To  this  expostulation  the  speaker  ap- 
peared to  expect  no  answer,  and  none  was  given ;  and  his  majesty 
afterwards  intimated  his  desire,  that  such  an  irregular  procedure  should 
not  be  repeated. 

Mr.  Beckford  was  endued  with  amiable  and  respectable  qualities, 
though  by  circumstances  and  situation  led  to  so  very  reprehensible  a 
conduct.  Possessed  of  immense  wealth  ;  placed  in  a  society  wherein 
opulence  was  deemed  a  criterion  of  excellence  ;  receiving  irom  his  asso- 
ciates obsequious  devotion,  as  having  arrived  at  the  pinnacle  of  that  emi- 
nence which  they  themselves  were  respectively  seeking,  he  did  not  al- 
low their  just  weight  to  talents,  rank,  and  high  office.  Liberal  in  his 
donations,  splendid  in  his  entertainments,  magnificent  in  his  displays 
of  riches,  promoting  the  wishes  and  designs  of  the  city  of  London,  he 
acquired  popularity  even  to  adoration.  Accustomed  to  such  authority 
over  the  class  of  men  with  whom  he  was  most  conversant  himself,  he 
expected  the  same  control  over  others.  Highly  valuing  the  city  of  Lon- 
don on  account  of  its  aggregate  wealth,  its  estimation  of  himself,  and 
adoption  of  his  sentiments  and  views,  he  fancied  tliat  the  intimation  of 
its  opinions  by  him  should  have  irresistible  authority.  Enraged  at  find- 
ing rejjroachful  and  imperious  remonstrances  to  the  first  personage  in 
the  state  disregarded,  lie  had  proceeded  to  still  more  flagrant  and  arro- 
gant irreverence.  Beckford's  conduct,  by  some  charged  witli  republican 
licentiousness,  appears  much  more'  probably  to  have  arisen  from  the 
pride  of  wealth  seeking  to  overbear  rank  and  dignify,  and  irritated  to 
rudeness  and  insolence  because  it  was  repressed  in  its  attempt.  The 
flame  which  he  had  l)een  so  instrumental  in  spreading,  raged  after  his 
death  :*  very  violent  resolutions  were  passed  in  the  common  council ; 
another  remonstrance  to  his  majesty  was  framed,  and,  being  of  a  similar 
tenor,  deservedly  experienced  a  similar  reception.  Petitions  and  re- 
monstrances flowed  from  various  parts  ;  but  though  some  of  them  were 
by  no  means  decorous,  yet  none  of  them  rose  to  the  audacity  of  the  Lon- 
don addresses.  While  popular  discontent  was  industriously  kept  alive, 
the  ministerial  party  acquired  additional  strength  in  parliament.  Mr. 
George  Grenvilie  died  in  November;  and,  as  the  party  of  which  he  had 
been  the  head,  had  no  longer  the  same  bond  of  connexion,  many  of  its 
members  joined  the  administration. 

On  the  13th  of  November,  parliament  met ;  and  the  principal  internal 
subjects  which  employed  its  attention,  were  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and 
the  rights  of  juries.  Publications  arising  from  the  Middlesex  election, 
and  censuring  the  conduct  of  parliament  and  administration,  had  been 
repeatedly  the  subject  of  judicial  animadversion.     Lord  Mansfield,  in  a 

•  He  died  June  31st,  1770. 


268  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  (JUAp.  IX.— 1770. 

[Opinions  of  lords  Mansfield  and  Camden.    Prosecutions  of  the  printers.] 

charge  to  the  jury  on  the  criminal  trial  of  Woodfall  for  publishing  Ju- 
nius's  letter  to  the  king,  had  promulgated  the  following  doctrine  :  "  In 
cases  of  libels,  juries  are  to  judge  of  the  facts  and  tendency  only,  but  not 
of  the  i?JTENTioN  ;  and  the  truth  of  the  allegations  cannot  be  pleaded  in 
abatement  of  the  guilt."  Lords  Chatham  and  Camden  in  the  house  of 
peers,  and  Messrs.  Glynn  and  Dunning  in  the  house  of  commons,  took 
the  lead  in  reprobating  this  doctrine  as  inimical  to  the  constitutional  rights 
of  juries,  contrary  to  law,  repugnant  to  practice,  and  injurious  to  the 
dearest  liberties  of  the  poo|)le.  Lord  Mansfield  endeavoured  to  defend 
and  justify  his  conduct  :  liis  directions  to  juries  (he  affirmed)  were  not 
new;  he  had  proceeded  according  to  the  practice  of  the  most  approved 
judges  of  former  times,  and  uniformly  adopted  the  same  mode  himself 
witiiout  any  question  or  censure.  Lord  Camden  denied  that  such  a  prac- 
tice was  sanctioned  by  authority,  or  that  by  the  law  of  the  land  jiiries 
were  circumscribed  wilhin  stricter  limits  in  the  case  of  libels,  than  in  any 
other  subject  of  jurisdiction.  An  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  lord  Mans- 
field was  proposed,  together  with  an  examination  of  the  legal  rights  of 
juries,  and  motions  were  made  for  this  investigation  in  both  houses,  but 
were  negatived.  Lord  Mansfield  left  a  paper  with  the  clerk  of  the  house, 
containing  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  judges  in  favour  of  his  doc- 
trines. Lord  Camden,  on  the  other  hand,  pledged  himself  to  prove 
from  law  and  precedent,  that  this  doctrine,  though,  approved  by  the 
judges,  was  not  confornuihle  to  the  law  of  En^rland  :  he  proposed  queries 
on  the  tenets  of"  the  paper,  and  desired  that  a  day  might  be  fixed  for  dis- 
cussing thi.s  question  ;  but  lord  Mansfield  thus  challenged  to  a  contest  of 
legal  disq-uisition,  either  doubtful  of  victory,  ov  deeming  the  cc>nibat  im- 
prudent, declined  the  invitation.  Tiie  public  was  left  with  an  impression, 
that  lord  Camden's  doctrine,  certainly  more  consistent  with  constituti- 
onal liberty,  and  with  the  analogy  of  the  general  rights  of  juries  to  scru- 
tinize intention  as  well  as  to  learn  mere  fact,  was  virtually  admitted  to 
be  also  conformable  to  law  and  precedent.  If  lord  Mansfield  could 
have  proved  the  alleged  exceptions  in  the  case  of  libels,  it  was  conceived 
that  he  would  have  adduced  his  proofs,  in  order  to  prevent  future  ani- 
madversion, as  well  as  to  justify  his  past  jurisdiction.  Men  of  ability 
and  knowledge,  who  without  considering  either  precedented  opinions,  or 
practice,  merely  argued  from  reason  and  conscience,  could  not  discover 
why  IN  rENTioN  should  not  be  taken  into  the  juridical  account  in  esti- 
mating defamatory  guilt,  when  intention  was  necessary  to  constitute 
guilt  of  every  other  species. 

Defamation  was,  iiuieed,  never  more  licentiou.s,  than  at  the  present 
time,  on  [)oIitical  subjects.  One  very  commnn  expedient  of  party  ca- 
lumny was,  misrepresetitation  of  |>arliamcntary  speeches  in  newspapers, 
so  as  to  render  them  either  absurd  or  odious.  Two  printers,*  alleged  to  be 
most  culpable  in  these  injurious  mistaternents,  were  summoned  to  the 
bar  of  the  house,  but  paid  no  attention  to  the  intimation.  The  serjeant 
at  arms  was  ordered  to  ake  them  into  custody :  they  were  not  to  be 
found.  Six  other  printers  were  commanded  to  appear  before  the  house 
on  similar  charges ;  five  of  them  obeying  were  rcpriniandcd  and  dis- 
missed, but  the  sixth*  still  disregartling  the  notice,  was  ordered  to  be 

•  Tliomson,  of  tlic  fiazettc  ;  and  VVhcble,  of  the  Middlesex  Journal. 
t  Miller,  of  the  London  Evening  I'osl. 


CaAt.  IX.— 1770.  RKIGN  OF  GEOKGE  III.  269 

[Singular  confederacy  for  bribery  ] 

taken  into  custody.     The  throe  printers,  being  severally  apprehended  in 
the  city,   were  carried  respectively  before  Mr.  Alderman  Wilkes,  Mr. 
Alderman  Oliver,  and  Crosby  the  lord-mayor  ;   who  not  oidy  discharged 
the  printers,  but  required  the  oificers  who  had  executed  the  warrants  to 
give  bail  to  appear  at  the  next  sessions,  to  stand  trial  for  assault  and  false 
im|)risonment.    Informed  of  these  transactions,  the  house  was  tilled  with 
indignation,  and  the  lord-mayor  was  ordered  to  attend  in  his  place.    The 
magistrate  justified  his  conduct  on  the  ground  of  his  oath  of  office  com- 
pelling him  to  preserve  inviolate  the  franchises  of  the  city  ;  one  of  which 
was,  that  by   the  charters  no  citizen  could  have  law  process  served 
against  him,  but  by  tlie  city  officers.     It  was  asserted  by  the  commons, 
that  the  exemption  of  the  city  could  not  be  pleaded  against  the  privileges 
of  the  house.     This  doctrine,  invalidating  chartered,  rights,  and  the  act 
of  parliament  by  which  they  were  sanctioned,  being  supported  neither 
by  precedent  nor  argument,  was  strongly  controverted  in  the  house,  but 
was  admitted  by  very  great  majorities.     The  house  directed  the  records 
respecting  their  messenger  to  be  expunged,  and  all  proceedings  to  be 
stopped.     With  this  order,  by  which  one  branch  of  the  legislature  pro- 
posed to  suspend  the  law  of  the  land,  the  magistrate  refused  to  comply ; 
and  Crosby  and  Oliver  were  committed  to  confinement,  for  what  the  com- 
mons styled  contumacy.     The  city  of  London,  by  its  proceedings  ever 
since  the  Middlesex  election,  was  extremely  ofTensive  to  ministry  and  its 
supporters  in  parliament ;  and  the  house  of  commons  in  this  instance  was 
evidently   actuated  by  resentment  rather  than  guided  by  magnanimous 
and   sound   policy.     Many  who  had  most  severely  censured  the  remon- 
strances  of  the  city,  blamed  this  procedure  against  its  principal  magis- 
trates, as  a  violent,  impolitic,  and  illegal  attack  upon  persons,  whose 
conduct,  however  deserving  of  reprehension,   did  not  render  such  ani- 
madversion either  wise  or  just.     Indeed,  ministers  themselves  appeared 
to  have  thought  that  they  had  carried  their  violence  too  far.     They  sum- 
moned Mr.  Wilkes  to  repair  to  the  house ;  but  he  refused  to  attend  in 
any  other  character  than  as  member  for  Middlesex.     They  issued  orders 
for  his  appearance   at  the  bar  on  the  Sth  of  April ;  but,  aware  that  he 
would  not  attend,  they  some  days  before  adjourned  the  house  to  the 
9th.     This  palpable  evasion  impressed   the  public  with  an  opinion,  that 
the  commons  were  now  either  sensible  that  they  had  done  what  was 
wrong,  or  were  afraid  to  do  what  they  conceived  to  be  right.     The  city 
of  London  actively  supported  its  magistrates  during  these  transactions, 
and  insisted  that  the  whole   charge  of  their  prosecution  and  defence 
should  be  defrayed  by  the  corporation.     Their  confinement  could  only 
continue  till  parliament  was  prorogued,  a^id  at  the  end  of  the  session  they 
were  liberated.     This  imprisonment  of  the  magistrates  fanned  the  popu- 
lar flame,  injured  instead  of  serving  the  cause  of  government,  and  greatly 
diminished  the  respect  of  the  people  for  their  representatives.     So  perni- 
cious is  it  for  either  lawgivers  or  judges  to  deliberate  or  decide  under  the 
influence  of  violent  passion  or  prejudice.* 

A  select  committee,  appointed  agreeably  to  Mr.  Grcnville's  late  bill 
for  determining  a  contested  election  for  the  borough  of  Shoreham  ni  Sus- 
sex, brought  to  light  about  this  time  a  remarkable  scene  of  corruption. 
The  returning  officer  had  declared  a  candidate  supported  by  only  thirty- 

•  See  in  Sallust,  Caesar's  speech  on  the  punishment  of  the  conspirator*. 


270  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chaf.  IX.— 1771. 

[Opposition  censure  ministry  for  accepting'  ihe  terms  proposed  by  Spain  ] 

seven  voters  duly  elected,  in  preference  to  another  who  had  eighty-seven 
in  his  favour.  When  examined  by  the  committee  on  what  appeared  to 
be  so  flagrant  a  partiaHty,  he  in  his  exculpatory  evidence  estabhshed  the 
following  facts.  The  majority  of  freemen  of  the  corporation  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  society  which  thoy  called  the  christian  club,  profess- 
edly to  promote  pious  and  charitable  purposes ;  and  several  acts  Were 
occasionally  performed  to  accredit  their  profession.  But  the  real  object 
of  the  combination  was,  to  sell  the  borough  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  dis- 
tribute ihe  money  among  the  pious  confederates.  Paying  to  religion  that 
homage  which  conscience  often  exacts  from  men  violating  its  most  sa- 
cred duties,  they  bound  themselves  by  solemn  oaths  to  fidelity  in  their 
associated  villany ;  and  added  legal  instruments,  in  bonds  with  large  pe- 
nalties, to  secure  their  adherents  to  this  illegal  engagement.  These  pro- 
fessed religionists  then,  without  scruple,  took  the  oath  aeainst  bribery 
and  corruption.  The  returning  officer  had  himself  belonged  to  the  club, 
but,  being  disgusted  with  their  conduct,  had  quitted  their  party.  Aware 
of  their  principles  and  established  practice,  he  by  vigilance  ascertained, 
and  was  able  to  prove,  that  a  sum  of  money  had  been  distributed  among 
eighty-one  of  the  majority,  whose  votes,  therefore,  in  his  return  he  had 
not  estimated.  The  officer  was  censured  for  his  assumption  of  illegal 
power  ;  but  the  facts  being  proved,  a  law  was  made,  incapacitating  the 
eighty-one  freemen  from  voting  at  elections. 

Of  external  politics,  the  only  important  subject  of  discussion  this  year 
was,  the  satisfaction  offered  by  Spain  concerning  Falkland's  islands,  and 
accepted  by  this  country.  According  to  opposition,  the  proffer  of  Spain, 
accompanied  with  the  reservation  of  a  right  to  the  subject  in  dispute,  was 
neither  a  satisfaction  for  past  injury,  nor  a  security  against  future.  Wc 
had  been  obliged  to  pre[)are  armaments,  which  cost  us  three  millions 
sterling;  and  it  was  strictly  just,  that  Spain  should  indemnify  us  for  «n 
expenditure  which  originated  in  her  aggression,  and  increased  to  its  pre- 
sent amount  by  her  reluctance.  The  convention  had  procured  no  recom- 
pense for  this  enormous  expense ;  but  oven  as  a  restitution.  Port  Egmont, 
and  not  all  Falkland's  islands  had  been  ceded  ;  whereas  our  right  to  the 
whole  was  as  clear  as  to  that  part.  Although  the  court  of  Madrid  had 
disavowed  the  act  of  hostility  as  proceeding  from  particular  instruction, 
yet  she  had  justified  it-as  implied  in  her  general  directions  to  American 
governors.  Ministers  ought  to  have  demanded  the  disavowal  of  this 
general  order,  and  of  the  exorbitant  and  absurd  claim  to  exclusive 
dominion  in  the  South  Sea,  on  which  it  was  founded.  ]>y  the  law  of  na- 
tions, and  even  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  we  were  entitled  to  demand  the 
pimishment  of  Hiiccarelli :  we  ought  also  to  have  exacted  the  complete 
Bctllemcnt  of  the  Manilla  ransom  :  in  short,  the  agreement,  neither  com- 
plete nor  decisive,  contaii^d  the  seeds  of  future  hostility.  Ministers  re- 
plied, that  the  claim  to  Falkland's  islands  had  never  been  allowed  hy 
Spain.  ^)ur  people  had  really  given  the  first  insult,  by  warning  the  Span- 
iards to  de|»arl  from  an  island  which  they  considered  as  their  own.  Spain 
had  given  up  the  British  settlement  and  property  which  her  officers  had 
.seizr-d  ;  and  what  more  could  be  expected  from  the  most  successful  war? 
Indemnification  for  expf  nse  was  a  redress  which,  in  modern  treaties  of 
peace,  it  was  very  unusual  for  a  victor  to.  demand.  We  had  supported 
and  satisfied  the  honour  of  England  ;  and  our  dignity  being  secure,  our 
interest  required  that  wc  ahould  live  upon  the  most  anucuble  tcrmci  with 


1771.— C«AF.  IX.  liEIGN  OF  GEORGF.  HI.  271 

[DlfTerence  between  the  two  lioiises  of  parliament.    Supplies.] 

a  country  with  which  we  had  the  closest  commercial  ties.  War  with  Spain 
would  soon  have  joined  France  in  the  same  cause,  more  closely  have  ce- 
mented the  aMiance  between  these  powers,  and  involved  us  in  hostilities 
with  the  whole  house  of  Bourbon.  They  accused  opposition  of  a  desire 
to  embroil  this  country  in  a  war  with  Spain,  in  hopes  that  some  disaster 
might  ensue,  which  would  expose  administration  to  the  public  resent- 
ment, and  drive  them  from  office.*  A  great  majority  of  both  houses,  af- 
ter very  violent  debates,  declared  their  approbation  of  the  convention  with 
Spain. 

The  discussion  of  this  subject  incidentally  caused  a  disagreement  be- 
tween the  two  houses,  which  lasted  through  the  whole  session.  Before 
the  adjustment  was  completed,  the  duke  of  Manchester  made  a  motion 
for  an  address  to  expedite  our  preparations,  rccomnieiuiing  at  the  same 
time  certain  dispositions  of  our  forces.  Ministers  thinking  these  discus- 
sions not  prudent  before  strangers,  of  whom  there  was  a  great  number 
in  the  house,  proposed  that  the  house  should  be  cleared.  There  happened 
at  this  time  to  be  several  members  from  the  other  house  attendinii  with  a 
bill,  and  these  were  included  in  the  order  for  departure.  The  commons 
considering  this  procedure  as  derogatory  from  their  dignity,  gave  a  simi- 
lar order  for  exclusion,  without  the  exception  of  peers.  The  misunder- 
standing, for  the  last  three  months  of  the  session,  prevented  all  inter- 
course between  the  houses,  except  in  mere  matters  of  business  ;  and,  to 
the  great  disappointment  and  displeasure  of  the  public,  excluded  all 
others  from  both. 

The  supplies  which  were  granted  this  session  under  the  apprehension 
of  a  war  with  Spain,  were  liberal.  The  ways  and  means  were,  a  loan  of 
1,800,000/.  on  exchequer  bills  ;  an  increase  of  land  tax  to  four  shillings; 
a  lottery ;  the  surplusage  of  the  sinking  fund  ;  a  small  tonnage  upon 
shipping  ;  with  additional  duties  on  tobacco,  teas,  spirits,  wines,  and 
other  foreign  goods.  These  taxes,  chiefly  afl'ecting  luxuries,  met  with 
little  opposition  or  animadversion.  Indeed,  this  budget  manifested  merely 
common  official  experience,  and  neither  proved  the  minister  to  possess, 
nor  to  want,  financial  talents.  Parliament  being  prorogued  on  the  Sth  of 
May,  closed  a  session  more  remarkable  for  the  contentious  violence  of 
its  debates,  and  the  passionate  heat  of  its  propositions,  than  for  the  wis- 
dom of  its  deliberations,  or  the  importance  of  its  decrees. 

•  This  charge,  though  advanced  in  parliament,  was  much  more  explicitly  de- 
tailed in  ministerial  writings,  and  especially  in  Dr.  Johnson's  celebrated  pamphlet 
upon  Falkland's  islands. 


272  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  X.— 1771. 


CHAP.    X. 


State  of  the  colonies. — EfTccts  of  lord  North's  conciliatory  attempt. — Sfrikingdl- 
rersity  of  sentiment  and  spirit  between  New-En.e^land  and  other  colonies — i.s  not 
sufficiently  rejjarded  hy  ministers. — Discontents  in  Knt^land  bejijin  to  subside. — 
Meetinpi'  of  parliament. — Petition  for  exemption  from  subscribing  the  thirly- 
nine  ailicles.  —  Opposed  by  one  clas.-*  on  jri-ounds  of  theological  principle — :by 
another  on  political  expediency — Petition  of  the  dissenters. — Houghton's  bill 
for  the  relief  of  the  dissenters  is  pa.ssed  the  house  of  commons,  but  thrown  out 
by  the  lords. — Clerical  nullum  tenvpus  bill  is  rejected. — Law  for  restricting  the 
marriage  of  the  royal  family. — Arguments  against  it — for  it — i)assed. — East 
India  affairs. — Supplies. — Session  ri.^es — Death  of  the  princess  dowager  of 
"Wales. — Operations  between  Russia  and  Turkey. — Scheme  of  Frederick  and 
Catharine  for  petitioning  Poland— Ofl'er  Austria  a  Rhare--she  objects  to  the  in- 
equality of  the  division— her  scruples  are  vancjuished  by  a  larger  distribution. — 
Dismemberment  of  Poland.— Revolution  in  Sweden.— State  of  Denmark.— In- 
capacity of  the  king.— Character  and  conduct  of  the  queen.— Artifices  of  the 
queen-dowager.-"Struensee. —Accusation  and  arrest  of  Matilda.— Itemonstran- 
ccs  of  the  court  of  London.-. -His  Britannic  majesty  demands  and  rescues  his 
Suffering  sister— and  alibrds  her  an  asylum  in  his  German  dominions. 

The  act  of  1770  did  not  fully  satisfy  the  wishes  of  the  American  peo- 
ple ;  in  most  of  the  colonies,  however,  its  influence  was  so  ^reat,  that 
during  1771  tranquillity  prevailed.  There  were,  indeed,  in  all  the  provin- 
ces, demagogues  who  strenuously  endeavoured  to  convince  their  coun- 
trymen that  the  repeal  had  been  extorted  by  resistance,  and  not  conceded 
by  justice  ;  and  that  therefore  they  ought  to  persist  in  oppo.sing  Rriti.<;h 
government,  tmtil  every  disagreeable  law  should  be  rescinded.  But  the 
middle  and  southern  colonies,  now  not  actually  feeling  any  grievance  in 
the  operation  of  the  duty,  were  not  to  be  disturbed  by  abstract  claim.s, 
and  a  general  calm  succeeded  to  the  late  ferment.  New-England,  how- 
ever, and  especially  Massachusetts  Bay,  was  far  from  being  equally 
quiet.  The  establishment  of  a  board  of  customs,  necessary  for  the  ef- 
fectual execution  of  the  navigation  act,  and  the  activity  of  the  navy 
officers  in  preventing  contraband  practices  at  the  beginning  of  tlieir  op- 
position, had  not  been  an  ostensible  subject  of  dissatisfaction ;  but  they 
now  expressed  their  sentiments  openly  against  customs.  In  an  address  to 
the  governor  on  the  5lh  of  July,  1771,  they  declared  customs  to  be  a  tri- 
bute extorted  from  those  who  had  a  rigiit  to  the  absolute  disposal  of  their 
properly  ;  and  the  principle  now  assumed,  was  a  disavowal  of  the  su- 
premacy of  Britain,  which  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  colonics 
had  been  acknowledged  in  America.  The  other  provinces  had  objected 
to  taxe.",  as  an  unconstitutional  innovation  ;  they  asserted  the  clnims  of 
British  .subjects,  and  a.s  Britisii  subjects  rcqiu'red  redress.  The  colonists 
of  Massachusetts  spoke  and  acted  as  members  of  independent  communi- 
ties ;  and  the  general  tenor  of  their  conduct  nianife.sted  a  di,«posilion  to 
separate  from  Great  Britain  as  soon  as  a  favourable  opportiuiily  should 
offer.  The  concessions  which  tranquillized  their  southern  brethren,  only 
served  to  render  those  turbulent  republicans  more  insolent  and  violent. 
Ever  since  the  removal  of  the  troops,  they  had  insulted,  attacked,  aiKl 


1772.— Chap.  X.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  273 

[Discontents  in  England  begin  to  subside.    Parliament.] 

abused  the  custom-house  officers,  and  other  servants  of  the  crown  ;  and 
demonstrated  that  nothing  would  restrain  them  from  injustice  and  tumult, 
but  an  armed  force.  Had  the  British  ministry  accurately  studied  the  di- 
versity of  provincial  character,  and  employed  able,  popular,  and  eloquent 
men,  to  court  and  conciliate  the  southern  and  middle  colonies,  counteract 
the  arts  of  the  northern  emissaries,  and  detach  the  votaries  of  monarchy 
from  the  abettors  of  republicanism,  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that 
they  might  have  prevented  the  revolt  from  being  general ;  and,  if  they 
had  eftected  that  great  purpose,  they  would  have  had  little  difficulty  ia 
compelling,  by  vigour  and  decision,  the  democratical  agitators  of  Massa- 
chusetts to  perform  the  duties  of  British  subjects  :  but  no  such  experi- 
ment was  tried.  Lord  North  appears  to  have  formed  no  comprehensive 
plan  for  the  government  of  America  ;  but  to  have  satisfied  himself  with 
devising  temporary  expedients  for  removing  particular  discontents,  as 
they  showed  themselves  in  overt  acts  of  sedition  arvd  violence,  without 
investigating  principles  and  causes,  or  framing  any  general  system  either 
of  conciliation  or  coercion. 

In  England,  hostility  to  government  became  less  violent.  The  city 
of  London,  indeed,  persevered  in  imperious  expostulation  with  the  sove- 
reign ;  while  the  king  had  the  magnanimous  patience  to  answer  insolent 
rudeness  with  mild  politeness,  and  gave  a  very  temperate  though  deci- 
sive denial,  including  a  poignant  censure  for  so  frequent  a  repetition  of 
such  an  absurd  address.  The  discontents  of  the  metropolis,  however, 
were  diverted  by  a  schism  between  Wilkes  and  some  of  his  late  support- 
ers ;  especially  Mr.  Home,  afterwards  so  noted  as  a  politician,  and  emi- 
nent as  a  philologist.  These  private  disputes  long  occupied  the  adverse 
champions,  and  tilled  the  press  :  though  their  causes  and  details  be  of  no 
historical  importance,  yet  their  existence  requires  to  be  mentioned,  since 
they  tended  to  the  diminution  of  those  inflammatory  proceedings  which 
so  long  had  disturbed  the  public  peace.  In  other  parts  the  dissatisfac- 
tion became  more  languid  in  its  efforts ;  its  outrageous  violence  seemed 
to  be  passed ;  and  though  in  some  places  it  manifested  a  gloomy  sullen- 
ness,  yet,  on  the  whole,  a  dawning  prospect  opened  of  returning  tran- 
quillity. 

The  situation  of  affairs  abroad  contained  no  grounds  of  apprehension 
respecting  the  peace  of  Great  Britain  :  Spain  had  fulfilled  her  engage- 
ments by  restoring  Port  Egmont ;  and  France  continuing  the  scene  of 
internal  disturbance,  which  was  heightened  by  the  profligate  and  odious 
character  of  the  duke  d'Aguillon  (now  favourite  ai:d  prime  minister,)  ap- 
peared to  be  without  any  intention  of  annoying  her  neighbours.  Eastern 
Europe  was  occupied  either  as  actors  in  hostile  scenes,  or  very  vigilant 
and  interesting  spectators.  The  year  1771  was  therefore  favourable  to 
internal  and  colonial  quiet,  and  threatened  no  interruption  from  abroad. 
Ministers  acquired  fresh  accessions  from  the  party  of  Mr.  Grenville ; 
besides,  members  of  other  connexions  were  now  tired  of  opposing  an 
administration  that  appeared  to  them  firmly  estab^Tied. 

On  the  22d  of  January  1772,  parjiument  asscn^led  ;  and  the  first  day's 
debate  showed  much  less  of  asperity  and  acrimony,  than  the  prelusive 
efforts  to  the  contentions  of  the  former  sessions.  The  business  of  im- 
portance which  earliest  in  the  session  engaged  the  attention  of  parlia- 
ment, was  a  motion  of  ministers  for  voting  twenty-five  thousand  seamen 
for  the  service  of  the  current  year.  The  French,  it  was  said,  had  sent 
Vol.  VIL— 35 


274  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  X.— 1772. 

[Petition  for  exemption  fi-om  the  thirty-nine  articles.] 

a  strong  fleet  to  Indin.  it  was  therefore  necessary  lor  England  to  send 
thither  a  still  more  powerful  force  ;  the  Spaniards  had  also  a  considerable 
armament  in  the  A\  est  Indies,  it  was  requisite  for  this  country  to  over- 
match them  in  that  quarter ;  and  the  war  between  the  Turks  and  Rus- 
sians rendered  it  proper  to  employ  a  stronger  fleet  in  the  Mediterranean, 
than  was  wanted  n\  tlic  time  of  peace.  Opposition  contended,  that  the 
force  was  greater  than  the  exigency  of  the  country  demanded  ;  but  they 
suffered  the  motion  to  be  carried  without  an}'  division. 

Early  in  this  session  came  before  parliament,  for  the  first  time,  a  sub- 
ject which  has  since  been  very  frequently  agitated,  and  has  produced  a 
vast  variety  of  literary  and  political  discussion.  On  the  6th  of  February, 
a  petition  was  presented  to  the  lower  house,  from  some  clerijj'mcn  of  the 
church  of  England,  certain  members  of  t'le  learned  professions  of  law  and 
physic,  and  others,  praying  to  be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  subscrib- 
ing the  thirty-nine  articles.  Men  had  an  inherent  right,  they  said,  held 
from  God  only,  and  subject  to  no  human  authority,  to  use  their  own 
judgment  in  the  interpretation  of  scriptuie.  Tliis  natural  rieht,  they  af- 
firmed, was  recognized  by  tlie  original  principles  of  reformation.  Such 
n  privilege,  belonging  to  them  as  men  and  protestants,  was  violated  by 
the  imposition  of  subscriptions  to  certain  articles  of  faith,  that  did  not 
flow  from  Christ  and  his  apostles,  but  were  drawn  up  by  human  beings 
as  fallible  as  themselves.  These  subscriptions  were  farther  represented 
as  a  great  hindrance  to  the  dilfiision  of  true  religion,  by  discouraging  the 
study  of  the  real  sense  of  the  scriptures,  and  creating  animosities  among 
fellow  protestants  :  the  diversity  of  opinions  held  by  the  established  clergy 
concerning  some  of  the  articles  caused  dissensions,  and  the  disputes 
among  professed  believers  encouraged  infidelity.  The  petitioning  mem- 
bers of  the  two  other  learned  professions  complained,  that  they  suffered 
peculiar  hardships  in  being  obliged  at  their  first  admission  to  the  univer- 
sity {malriculalion),  when  so  immature  in  age  and  knowledge  for  deep 
disquisitions,  to  subscribe  to  a  variety  of  theological  propositions,  in  order 
to  attain  academical  degrees  in  their  respective  faculties,  while  their  opi- 
nions on  those  subjects  could  be  of  no  consequence,  either  to  the  public, 
or  their  employers  in  their  professjions.  The  supporters  of  the  petition 
argued  on  the  advantages  of  extending  religious  toleration  ;  and  endea- 
voured to  show,  that  the  articles  were  in  some  parts  contradictory,  and 
in  others  totally  indefensible.  They  enlarged  on  the  principal  topics  set 
forth  in  the  petition  ils'ilf ;  and  concluded  with  observing,  that,  on  erant- 
mg  the  requested  relief,  many  of  the  dissenters,  being  no  longer  deterred 
by  articles,  would  join  the  established  church. 

By  two  classes  was  this  petition  opposed  :  the  one  consisted  of  the 
tory  and  high  church  gentlemen,  who  considered  the  thirty-nine  articles 
as  the  bulwark  of  the  church  of  England,  and  of  Christianity  itself.  In 
the  last  century  the  church,  and  with  it  the  state,  fell,  through  such  in- 
novations. PaiiiamMjt,  they  contended,  could  not  grant  the  desired  re- 
lief, because  it  coulr^jtot  annul  the  obligations  of  an  oath.  The  king 
could  not  comply  with  fjfeir  petition,  as  he  was  bound  by  oath  to  preserve 
the  establi'^hed  church  ;  a  com[iliancc  would  also  be  a  breach  of  the  arti- 
cles of  union,  as  by  them  it  was  stipulated,  that  the  ecclesiastical  go- 
vernments of  Scotland  and  England  should  continue  for  ever  unchanged. 
Writings  of  late  had  appeared,  inimical  to  the  most  important  articles, 
not  only  of  the  church  of  England,  but  of  the  christian  faith  ;  they  had 


1772.— Caiip.  X.  REItiN  OF  GEOKOE  HI.  275 

[Different  grounds  of  opposition  to  the  petition.] 

denied  tiie  doctrines  of  the  trinity,  and  the  divinity  of  our  Savour ;  and 
tluis  endeavoured  to  remove  the  corner  stone  of  our  religion  :  by  granting 
the  petition,  therefore,  v.e  should  admit  unitarians  and  other  heretics  to 
be  clergymen  of  the  church  of  England. 

A  greater  number  of  members  opposed  the  petition  on  political 
grounds.*  They  vindicated  its  advocates  from  the  charge  of  heretical 
"opinions ;  they  maintained,  that  the  legislature  had  still  a  control  over 
the  articles  of  union,  and  had  exercised  that  control  towards  the  two 
churches  ;  in  England,  by  an  act  against  occasional  conformity  ;  and  in 
Scotland,  by  an  act  annulling  the  popular  election  of  clergyman.  Every 
society,  they  observed,  is  competent  to  determine  the  qualifications  of 
its  members  ;  all  governments  have  a  right  to  constitute  the  several  orders 
of  their  subjects,  to  ascertain  that  the  principles  and  characters  of  persons 
employed  in  any  trust  be  such  as  will  most  effectually  answer  the  pur- 
poses of  those  trusts.  The  office  of  public  instructors  of  the  people  in 
virtue  and  religion,  requires  a  careful  examinaiion  of  the  capacity,  dispo- 
sitions, principles,  and  opinions  of  the  persons  proposing  to  officiate. 
The  clergy  being  intended  to  teach  the  nation,  it  is  expedient  that  there 
should  be  an  uniformity  of  established  doctrine,  the  chief  tenets  of  which 
every  clergyman  should"  admit.  Admissibility  to  the  clerical,  as  well  as 
to  any  other  public  office,  is  a  question  of  expediency  ;  and  this  is  no 
hardship  :  a  candidate  has  the  alternative,  of  refusing  either  the  employ- 
ment, or  subscription.  Physicians  and  civilians  are  in  the  same  predi- 
cament, required  to  subscribe  certain  articles,  or  not  to  become  mem- 
bers of  an  English  university.  It  is  found  expedient  that  there  should 
be  a  national  church  for  the  preservation  and  promotion  of  Christianity, 
and  for  the  welfare  of  society.  These  articles  are  considered  by  the 
legislature  as  conducive  to  the  purposes  in  view ;  therefore  law  givers 
ought  to  require  the  admission  of  them  in  the  holders  of  employments 
which  are  connected  with  the  objects  of  that  national  church.  On  these 
strong  and  comprehensive  grounds'of  equitable  policy,  many  enlightened 
senators,  who  were  not  votaries  of  the  high  church  doctrines,  joined  in 
defending  our  ecclesiastical  establishment  against  innovation.  The  ma- 
jority against  the  petition  was  two  hundred  and  seventeen  to  seventy-one. 

In  the  course  of  the  debates,  not  a  {ew  of  the  opposers  of  the  petition 
had  expressed  an  opinion,  that  though  it  was  just  and  reasonable  to  re- 
quire subscription  from  persons  proposing  to  be  clergymen  in  the  esta- 
bhshed  church,  and  to  derive  profit  from  the  priesthood,  it  was  hard 
to  oblige  dissenting  ministers  to  subscribe  the  docirinal  articles  of  the 
church,  from  which  they  sought  neither  promotion  nor  emolument.  By 
the  act  of  toleration,  dissenters  were  alloM'ed  to  exercise  divine  worship 
according  to  their  own  sentiments,  if  their  ministers  subscribed  all  the 
articles  of  the  church  except  those  which  relate  to  discipline.  When 
that  act  was  passed,  dissenters  were  as  warmly  attached  to  the  Calvin- 
istic  doctrines  of  the  articles  as  churchmen  themselves,  and  readily  sub- 
scribed them  as  required  by  lav/.  During  the  last  two  reigns,  it  had  ap- 
peared that  Arianism  and  Socinianism  became  very  prevalent ;  few  of 
the  dissenters  for  many  years  had  subscribed  the  articles,  and  thus  were 
liable  to  penalties,  though  from  the  liberality  of  the  age,  and  the  lenient 
government  of  the  house  of  Brunswick,  these  were  very  rarely  inflicted, 

*  Parliamentary  debates,  1772. 


276  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuxt.  X  .—1772 

[BUI  for  the  relief  of  dissenters.     Clerical  nullum  tempus  bill] 

Sir  Henry  Ilougliton  niado  a  motion  to  relieve  the  dissenters  from 
subscriptions  and  the  penal  laws,  but  was  warmly  opposed  by  the  high 
church  gentlemen.  Tiie  dissenters,  it  was  said,  by  omitting  to  subscribe, 
had  violated  the  law  of  the  land  ;  and  the  transgressors,  not  satisfied  with 
being  excused,  desired  the  law  to  be  changed  in  order  to  accommodate 
a  change  in  their  opinions.  A  total  exemption  from  subscription  would 
open  the  way  to  heresy  and  infidelity.  The  dissenters  were  a  respecta- 
ble body,  and  a  certain  regard  was  due  to  their  opinions  ;  but  the  present 
bill,  instead  of  proposing  the  mere  relief  of  non-conformists,  was  a  pro- 
ject for  encouraging  schism,  and  ultimately  destroying  tlie  church  of 
England  ;  many  of  the  dissenters  now  maintained  doctrines  totally  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  former  times,  and  were  inimical  to  the  church  of 
England,  to  the  protestant  religion,  and  to  true  Christianity  :  to  encourage 
such  men,  therefore,  would  be  equally  contradictory  to  sound  policy,  and 
to  the  interests  of  the  established  faith.  The  supporters  of  the  bill  con- 
tended, that  subscriptions,  while  they  operated  against  the  pious  and 
conscientious,  are  no  restraints  on  the  impious  and  wicked.  The  secta- 
rians were  charged  with  having  deviated  from  the  theological  opinions  of 
their  predecessors ;  but  in  all  ranks  of  a  community  advancing  in  know- 
ledge and  civilization,  the  more  understandings  were  exercised,  the 
greater  would  be  the  diversity  in  the  result  of  different  efforts.  That 
some  individual  dissenters  held  principles  inimical  to  Christianity,  might 
be  true  ;  but  the  charge  against  them  as  a  body  was  totally  false  :  they 
had  been  uniformly  the  friends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  had  sup- 
ported the  British  constitution,  the  establishment  of  the  house  of  Bruns- 
wick, and  all  those  principles  and  measures  by  which  our  constitutional 
rights  were  upheld  :  they  had  moreover  supported  the  christian  faith 
against  its  most  ardent  impugners  ;  and  such  men  certainly  deserved  to 
enjoy  something  more  than  mere  impunity  by  connivance.  By  tolera- 
tion, Christianity  had  flourished  ;  by  intolerance,  the  number  of  believers 
had  been  lessened  :*  let  protestants  be  united,  that  we  maybe  the  better 
able  to  make  head  against  infidels.  These  considerations  induced  a  great 
majority  in  the  house  of  commons  to  vote  for  the  bill ;  but  in  the  house 
of  lords  the  bishops  exerted  themselves  so  strenuously  against  an  indul- 
gence which  they  conceived  and  represented  to  be  dangerous  to  the 
church,  that  the  bill  was  rejected  by  no  less  tlian  a  hundred  and  two  to 
twenty-nine. 

During  this  session  also,  another  bill  was  proposed  on  an  ecclesias- 
tical subject,  entitled  the  church  nullum  lempus  bill  ;  the  object  of  which 
was  analogous  to  tlie  purpose  of  the  crown  nvllum  tempus  law,  to  secure 
land  possessors  against  dormant  claims  of  the  church.  On  the  part  of 
the  church  it  was  answered,  that  the  power  of  revivmg  claims  was  ne- 
cessary to  prevent  the  laity  from  effecting  those  encroachments  which 
they  were  always  desirous  of  making  upon  the  clergy.  The  proposed 
bill  would  be  peculiarly  injurious  to  the  poor  clergy,  whom  great  land- 
holders, and  combinations  of  rich  fiirmers  were  very  much  disposed  to 
oppress.  The  supporters  of  the  bill  rc[)lied,  that  its  provisions  guarded 
against  the  alleged  inconveniences  :  and  they  defied  its  opponents  to 

•  Burke's  speech  on  sir  Henry  Houghton's  mulion.     I'arliaincntary  debates, 
1772. 


1773.— CuAp.  X,  liliIGN  or  GEOllGE  HI.  277 

[Bill  restricting  the  marriage  of  the  royal  family.] 

prove  that  the  laity  did  oppress  the  clergy.  Ministers,  desirous  of  gra- 
tifying the  hierarciiy,  were  very  inimical  to  a  bill  which  tended  to  abridge 
clerical  power.  To  independent  members,  however,  it  appeared  so  rea- 
sonable, that  notwithstanding  the  influence  of  administration,  the  ma- 
jority by  which  it  was  negatived  was  very  inconsiderable. 

While  parliament  was  occupied  in  examining  the  extent  and  bounda- 
ries of  religious  indulgence,  and  admitting  the  equity  and  wisdom  of 
liberal  toleration,  prevented  it  from  intrenching  on  the  establishment,  a 
subject  was  submitted  to  their  deliberation,  which  involved  the  most  im- 
portant duties  of  morality,  and  the  closest  ties  of  civil  society:  this  was 
a  bill  for  restraining  the  royal  family  in  the  momentous  engagement  of 
marriage  ;  the  proposition  of  which  arose  from  the  following  incidents. 
The  duke  of  Gloucester  had  espoused  the  countess  dowager  of  Walde- 
grave  ;  and  the  duke  of  Cumberland,  Mrs.  Horton,  a  widow,  and  daugh- 
ter to  lord  Irnham.  These  marriages,  which  had  been  concluded  clan- 
destinely, gave  great  dissatisfaction  at  court.  On  the  28th  of  February, 
the  king  sent  a  message  to  both  houses  of  parliament,  importing,  that 
his  majesty  thought  it  ^vould  be  wise  and  expedient  in  parliament  to 
render  effectual  the  right  which  had  always  belonged  to  the  kings  of  this 
realm,  of  approving  all  marriages  of  the  royal  family,  to  supply  the  de- 
fects of  the  law  now  in  being ;  and,  by  some  new  provision,  more  effec- 
tually to  guard  descendants  of  his  late  majesty  (excepting  the  issue  of 
princesses  affianced  into  foreign  families)  from  marrying  without  the 
approbation  of  his  majesty,  his  heirs,  or  successors.  In  consequence  of 
this  message,  a  biU  was  brought  into  the  house  of  lords  for  rendering  all 
the  descendants  of  George  II.  (with  the  exception  above  mentioned) 
incapable  of  contracting  rharriage  without  the  consent  of  the  king,  or  his 
successors  on  the  throne,  signified  under  the  great  seal,  and  declared  in 
council.  There  was  in  the  bill,  however,  one  deviation  from  the  tenor 
of  the  royal  message  ;  for  if  such  descendant,  after  passing  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years,  gave  the  privy-council  twelve  months  previous  notice 
of  his  intended  marriage,  unless  both  houses  of  parliament  within  that 
time  declared  their  disapprobation,  it  might  be  valid  without  the  royal 
consent.  The  bill  was  strongly  opposed  by  both  houses,  on  grounds  of 
law,  policy,  and  morality.  It  was  denied  that  the  power  declared  in  the 
preamble  to  have  belonged  to  the  king,  actually  did  constitute  part  of 
the  royal  prerogative  in  the  extent  now  claimed  ;  as  a  fact,  it  was  not  to 
be  found  in  our  history  ;*  nor  as  law,  in  our  statutes,  precedents,  or  the 
opinions  of  our  judges.  The  declaration  of  law  was,  besides,  either 
useless  or  hurtful  :  if  intended  to  have  no  retrospective  operation,  it  was 
frivolous  and  unnecessary  ;  if  designed  as  a  retrospect,  it  was  iniquitous. 
The  descendants  of  George  II.  might  in  time  comprehend  great  num- 
bers who  were  dispersed  among  the  various  ranks  of  civil  life ;  and  thus 
many  families  would,  in  their  most  important  engagements,  become  de- 
pendent on  the  crown.  The  time  of  non-age  too,  was  by  this  law 
lengthened  beyond  just  limits  ;  it  was  disrespectful  to  the  royal  offspring 
to  suppose,  that  they  did  not  arrive  at  intellectual  maturity  so  soon  as  other 

•  The  instances  adduced  by  the  supporters  of  the  bill  did  not  prove  the  asser- 
tion of  a  legal  right  in  the  king  to  interfere  in  the  marriage  of  his  relations,  they 
showed  only  the  influence  of  the  sovereign's  authority,  which  inchnalion  or  pru- 
dence  induced  his  family  to  regard. 


278  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  X.— 17^2. 

[Arguments  for  and  against  the  bill.    It  is  passed  into  a  law.] 

subjects;  and  it  was  farther  absurd,  that  when  at  eighteen  a  prince  or 
princess  was  deemed  quahfied  to  govern  a  kingdom,  they  should  not  till 
twenty-six  be  fit  to  contract  a  marriage.     The  discretionary  power, 
wherever  vested,  of  prohibiting  any  marriage,  was  a  violation  of  the  in- 
herent rights  of  human  nature,  founded  on  the  strongest  propensity  im- 
planted in  man  for  the  best  of  purposes.     No  legislature  was  competent 
to  the  annihilation  of  this  right.     It  had,  moreover,  a  natural  tendency 
to  rouse  a  disputed  title  to  the  crown  ;  for,  should  those  who  might  be 
affected  by  it  be  in  power,  they  would  procure  a  repeal  of  the  act,   and 
consequently  produce  a  contest  with  the  next  heir  under  that  law;  should 
they  not  be  in  power,  they   would  still   excite  compassion  and  indig- 
nation among  those  who  must  think  them  aggrieved   by  such  a  restric- 
tion, and  hence  dissension  and  civil  war  would  ensue.     The  prohibition 
was  also  contrary  to  morality  ;  for,  as  far  as  it  reached,  it  was  calculated 
to   promote  debauchery,   seduction,   and  other  vices,  which   marriage 
tended  to  prevent.    Depriving  those  personages  of  the  highest  blessings 
of  life,  partners  of  their  own  approbation  and  choice,  it  drove  them,  in  the 
unavoidable  course  of  human  passion,  to  illicit  connexions,  to  concubi- 
nage, to  promiscuous  intercourse;  and  if  it  did  not  justify,  at  least  pal- 
liafed,  in  mdividuals  so  restricted,  deviations  from  strict  and  rigorous 
virtue,  much  more  than  in  any  other  subject  not  so  circumscribed.* 

By  the  supporters  of  the  bill  it  was  argued,  from  a  variety  of  cases, 
that  the  kings  of  England  always  possessed  the  power  now  declared. 
Ten  judges  had,  in  1717,  delivered  an  opinion,  which  admitted  the  king's 
right  to  direct  the  marriage  and  education  of  the  royal  lamijy.  The  judges, 
when  consulted  concerning  the  present  bill,  had  determined,  that  the 
power  claimed  belonged  to  the  king,  as  far  as  respected  the  marriages 
of  his  children,  grandchildren  (unless  the  issue  of  foreign  families)  and 
the  presumptive  heir  of  the  crown.     It  was  farther  observed,  that  the 
dishonour  reflected  on  the  crown  by  improper  alliances,  and  the  evils 
experienced  formerly  by  the  nation  from  the  intermarriage  of  the  royal 
family  with  subjects,  rendered  it  necessary  to  guard  in  future  against 
either  derogatory  or  dangerous  connexions.     The  sovereign  is  the  na- 
tural guardian  and  judge  of  the  honour,  dignity,  and  conduct  of  his  fa- 
mily.    The  subjects  of  the  bill  might  in  time  greatly  increase  in  number, 
yet'  it  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  sovereign,  in  the  multiplicity  of 
momentous  affairs,  would  interfere  beyond  his  near  relations,  or  other 
probable  heirs  ;  but  should  future  inconveniences,  not  now  foreseen,  arise 
from  the  bill,  the  legislature  was  always  competent  to  apply  a  remedy. 
The  bill  was  passed  by  a  considerable  majority  ;  and  from  this  time  no 
marriage  concluded  by  a  descendant  of  George  II.   under  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  witliout  the  consent  of  the  king,  or  of  both  houses  of  par- 
liament after  that  age,  is  lawful.     Whether  the  law  be  wise  or  unwise, 
is  another  question  ;  but  the  fact  is,  that  without  compliance  with  this 
statute,  no  jxirson  so  circumstanced  can  be  lawfully  married,  nor  have 
legitimate  ofinpring. 

The  attention  of  parliament  was  also  called  this  session  to  East  India 
affairs.  It  was  generally  acknowledged,  that  great  abuses  prevailed  m 
the  administration  of  thr  company's  possessions ;  but  the  extent  of  the 

•  Parliamentary  debates,  1772 


ir72.— Chap.  X.  KEIGN  OF  GEOKGK  IH.  279 

[Affairs  of  the  East  Indies.     Supplies.] 

evils  \v!i3  not  hitherto  ascertained  in  eitlier  hou.se.  The  company  was 
aware  of  the  very  flagrant  delinquency  that  existed  among  its  servants, 
but  was  desirous  of  retaining  in  itself  the  means  of  correction  and  future 
prevention.  The  directors  were  far  from  wishing  the  interference  of 
government,  and  much  alarmed  by  the  doctrines  that  had  been  advanced 
concerning  their  territorial  possessions  ;  knowing  too,  that  the  misconduct 
of  their  servants  afforded  to  government  and  to  the  legislature,  very  strong 
reasons  for  taking  an  active  concern  in  the  territorial  administration  of 
British  India,  they  were  very  desirous  of  making  it  appear  that  they  were 
themselves  competent  to  the  task.  Admitting  the  abuses  by  their  ser- 
vants, they  pretended  to  have  discovered  the  causes,  and  proposed,  by 
removing  them,  to  apply  effectual  remedies.  They  had,  they  said,  hi- 
therto allowed  too  much  power  to  their  servants,  and  now  proposed  to 
reduce  executorial  authority,  and  to  extend  their  own.  For  this  purpose, 
Mr.  Sullivan,  the  deputy  chairman,  proposed  in  the  house  of  commons  a 
bill  for  the  better  regulation  of  the  company's  servants  and  affairs  in 
India,  by  restraining  the  governor  and  council  from  every  species  of 
trade,  entirely  changing  the  court  of  judicature  and  mode  of  administering 
justice  in  Bengal,  and  restricting  the  power  of  the  executive  servants. 
In  supporting  his  motion,  he  severely  attacked  lord  Chve  as  the  principal 
transgressor.  Lord  Clive,  defending  himself  and  retorting  on  the  com- 
pany, impuied  the  chief  abuses  to  their  misconduct  and  violence  :  reci- 
procal recrimination  produced  from  both  very  minute  and  copious  details, 
which  confirmed  other  members  in  their  opinion  that  there  existed  fla- 
grant delinquency.  Ministens,  without  discussing  the  charges  of  either 
party,  expressed  their  fears  that  the  evils  were  too  deep  and  extensive 
for  the  bill  to  remedy  ;  and  it  would,  they  said,  be  premature  to  form  any 
plan  of  correction  and  prevention,  before  inquiry  should  be  made  as  to 
the  actual  state  of  affairs.  The  bill  was  rejected  :  a  select  committee  of 
thirty-one  was  soon  after  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  nature  and  state 
of  affairs  in  India  ;  and  this  committee  found  the  subject  of  their  inquiries 
so  very  extensive  and  complicated,  that  they  asked  and  obtained  leave 
to  sit  during  the  recess. 

On  the  1st  of  May,  lord  North  entered  on  the  business  of  ways  and 
means  :  and  showed  that,  after  providing  for  the  service  of  the  current 
year,  the  nation,  without  fresh  taxes,  was  able  to  pay  off  two  millions  and 
a  half  of  three  per  cent,  annuities,  then  at  ninety ;  he  also  enlarged  on 
the  prospect  of  peace,  which  he  said  might  be  reasonably  expected  to 
last  ten  years,  and  would  liquidate  a  considerable  part  of  our  debts.  Be- 
sides, even  should  peace  be  broken,  lord  J\^orlh  professed  himself ''^'^  such 
an  economist,  as  to  be  able  to  carry  on  war  mihovt  the  addllion  of  nexu 
taxes.  The  house  was  pleased  with  the  flattering  picture,  and  the  minis- 
ter acquired  great  credit  with  parliament  and  the  country  for  his  financial 
ability.  As  the  English  are  by  no  means  averse  from  war,  many  were 
delighted  with  the  notion  that  they  were  blessed  in  lord  North  with  a 
statesman  who  could  beat  their  enemies  without  troubling  them  for  far- 
ther contributions.  In  his  plan  of  reducing  the  national  debt,  they  an- 
ticipated the  reduction  of  their  present  taxes,  and  he  now  by  fair  promises 
began  to  acquire  considerable  popularity  and  reputation  ;'  but  the  chief 
foundation  of  lord  North's  fame  at  this  time  was  his  economij. 

*  See  p.irliamentary  debates,  May  1st,  1772. 


280  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHAr.  X.— 1772. 

[Death  of  the  princess  dowager  of  Wales.  Operations  between  Russia  and  Turkey.] 

A  session,  which,  by  its  moderation,  aftorded  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
preceding  years  of  tlie  present  parliament,  ended  on  the  9th  of  June. 
During  this  session  on  the  8th  of  February,  died  the  princess  dowager 
of  Wales.  Her  royal  highness  was  of  an  amiable  private  character,  and 
had  long  been  highly  esteemed  and  beloved  by  the  British  nation. 
During  tiic  latter  part  of  her  life,  the  sentiments  of  many  persons  had 
been  changed,  from  surmises  that  rested  on  no  certain  grounds.  When 
our  present  sovereign  ascended  the  throne,  it  was  alleged  that,  possess- 
ing great  influence  with  a  son  of  the  warmest  filial  affection,  she  inter- 
fered in  public  aflairs,  and  held  the  chief  direction  of  the  secret  cabinet, 
which,  according  to  the  political  hypothesis  of  popular  speakers  and 
writers,  commanded  all  the  ostensible  ministers.  A  precise  and  definite 
motive  was  assigned  for  the  supposed  efforts  of  this  imputed  influence ; 
the  opposition  to  Mr.  Pitt  in  the  council ;  the  dismissal  of  the  whig  party; 
(he  peace ;  the  prosecution  of  Wilkes ;  the  taxation  of  America ;  the 
Middlesex  election  ;  and  the  promotion  of  the  Scotch  :  in  short,  every 
act  disagreeable  to  the  people  of  England  was  ascribed  to  a  secret  power 
flowing  from  the  princess  and  a  junto  of  her  favourites.  Though  this 
theory  was  very  generally  received,  yet  an  authentic  historian,  having 
neither  oral  nor  written  testimony,  cannot  record  as  a  fact  the  existence 
of  such  an  influence.  It  is,  however,  his  duty  to  mention  such  generally 
believed  rumours  or  conjectures,  as  have  a  great  influence  on  the  period 
concerning  which  he  writes.  That  such  a  report  and  apprehension 
greatly  inlliionced  the  popular  notions  of  the  first  ten  years  of  the  reign, 
is  very  evident ;  but  that  neither  tlie  votaries  of  the  opinion  nor  the 
spreaders  of  the  rumour  have  adduced  evidence  to  confirm  the  truth  of 
their  assertion,  is  equally  certain.  Having  therefore  no  proof  of  the  facfy 
I  cannot,  consistently  with  sound  philosophy,  assign  this  influence  as  the 
CAUSE  of  the  many  evils  which  have  been  so  often  ascribed  to  it  both  in 
and  out  of  parliament.  In  estimating  the  character  of  the  princess  dow- 
ager, I  cannot,  therefore,  allow  weight  to  her  alleged  interference  in 
public  alliiirs.  Her  highness  was  eminent  for  her  private  virtues  in  the 
various  relations  of  life :  as  a  wife,  a  mother,  a  mistress  of  a  family,  an 
c.valfed  member  of  society,  her  conduct  bore  the  manifest  marks  of  be- 
nevolence and  propriety  ;  and  in  none  of  her  sentiments  or  actions  did 
.she  give  tiie  sligiitest  indication  of  her  being  actuated  by  the  dispositions 
which  are  assumed  by  political  partisans. 

This  year   was  n^pletc  with   important  events  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.     Tlie  llussians,  in  the  campaign  of  1771,  although  ultimately 
successful  on  the  Danube,  did  not  obtain  such  signal  advantages  in  that 
quarter,  as  were  expected  from  their  progress  in  the  two  former  years. 
In  f^rim  Tarfarv  tlu-v  were  decisively  victorious,  and  reduced  the  whole 
peninsula,  and  in  the  Jletlilerranean  they  annihilated  the  commerce  of 
Turkey.     Negotiations  were  renewed  in  winter  under  the  mediation  of 
the  coiuts  of  IJerlin  and  Vienna,  but  were  not  brouglit  to  the  desired 
conclusion.     The  Austrinns  were  jealous  of  tlie  progress  of  the  Russians, 
both  in  Turkey  and  in  Poland.     They  protected  the  confederates  as  far 
as  they  could,  without  openly  manifesting  hostility  to  llussia,  or  giving 
umbr.'ige  to  Frederick.      At   length,    Muiia  Teresa  made  claim  to  the 
Polish  district  of  Zips,  on  the  frontiers  of  Hungary,  and  in  autumn  1771 
invaded  it  with  a  powerful   force.     The  empress  of  llussia,  enraged  at 
the  invasion  of  Poland,  said  to  prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  who  was  then 


1773— Chap.  X.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  28 1 

[Combination  for  the  partition  of  Poland.] 

at  her  court,  If  Vienna  attempt  to  dismember  Poland,  neighbouring  states 
must  imitate  her  example.  This  observation  perfectly  accorded  with 
Frederick's  ideas.  His  troops  had  that  very  year  enteral  Poland,  under 
pretence  of  forming  a  cordon,  to  prevent  the  infection  of  the  plague  from 
spreading  to  his  dominions  ;  and  his  army  had  afterwards  advanced,  on 
the  pretext  of  relieving  the  inhabitants  from  the  oppressions  of  the  con- 
federates. By  Frederick's  orders,  his  soldiers  had  for  these  services 
exacted  enormous  contributions  from  Polish  Prussia,  and  especially  from 
the  city  of  Dantzic  ;  and  this  plunder  of  communities  at  peace  with  Fre- 
derick was  sent  to  his  treasury.  The  present  overture  was  only  a  pro- 
posal tor  another  robbery  on  a  larger  scale.  Frederick  lost  no  time  in 
inquiring  whether  Catharine  was  sincere  ;  and  being  assured  that  she 
was  serious,  he.  drew  up  a  plan  of  dividing  Poland  between  the  three 
powers ;  very  skilfully  and  considerately  partitioning  the  territories,  so 
as  to  give  each  of  the  partners  the  share  respectively  most  contiguous 
and  convenient.  This  participation  he  conceVted  with  Catharine,  before 
he  communicated  the  project  to  Austria.  Russia  was  to  have  all  that 
territory  which  extends  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Druce  and  the  Dwina, 
from  the  gulf  of  Riga  to  the  Ukraine ;  Austria  was  to  have  the  offer  of 
Ludomeria  and  Galicia,  on  the  confines  of  Hungary ;  while  the  king  of 
Prussia,  for  his  .«!hare,  was  to  receive  Pomcrellia ;  which  besides  other 
advantages,  joined  together  Pomerania  and  Prussia,  and  thus,  instead  of 
two  detached,  gave  him  three  compact,  provinces.  Having  settled  this 
plan  with  R  ussia,  Frederick  next  proposed  it  to  the  imperial  minister ; 
thinking  it  so  advantageous,  that  it  would  certainly  be  accepted.  Prince 
Kaunitz,  the  Austrian  minister,  at  first  made  strong  objections  to  the 
division,  because*  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  agree  on  terms  of 
perfect  equality.  In  an  affair  of  such  a  nature,  as  Frederick  observed, I 
it  was  no  lime  to  be  discouraged  by  trifles.  Catharine  and  he  therefore 
intimated  an  alternative  to  Austria,  if  she  would  not  agree  to  the  division 
they  would  go  to  v,ar  W'ith  her,  without  allowing  her  any  share  ;  but  if 
she  would  become  a  willing  party,  a  larger  seizure  of  Poland  should  be 
made,  to  suit  her  ideas  of  equality.  Austria  at  last  consented  ;  a  treaty 
was  concluded,  and  each  of  the  three  acquired  a  greater  portion  than 
was  originally  intended.  Having  thus  on  friendly  terms  arranged  the 
seizure  of  territories  belonging  to  neither,  they  thought  proper  to  inti- 
mate to  the  proprietors  the  proposed  spoliation.  A  joint  manifesto, 
drawn  up  by  the  three  powers,  set  forth  the  troubles  excited  in  Poland 
on  almost  every  vacancy  of  the  throne,  and  the  friendly  offices  of  the 
court  of  Petdrsburgh  in  rectifying  many  abuses, in  the  constitution  of 
that  republic.  The  court  of  Berlin  claimed  the  credit  of  having  se- 
conded these  generous  acts ;  and  Austria  had  chosen  neutrality,  as  the 
means  of  promoting  the  active  efforts  of  Catharine  and  Frederick. 
From  the  wise  and  benevolent  policy  of  her  beneficent  neighbours, 
Poland  had  every  prospect  of  prosperity,  peace,  and  happiness ;  but  a 
spirit  of  discord  had  counteracted  these  efforts,  and  to  re-establish  tran- 
quillity in  Poland,  Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia  found  it  necessary  to 
place  the  ancient  constitution  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  liberties  of  the 

•  See  the  kinj^  of  Prussia's  Memoirs  of  himself;  from  which  the  greater  part 
of  our  accoimt  of  this  partition  is  compiled, 
t  See  the  Jlcmoirs. 
Vol.   VH.— 36 


282  HlSTOIiY  OF  THE  Chai-.  X.— 1772. 

[Dismemberment  of  Poland.     Revolution  in  Sweden.] 

people,  on  a  sure  and  solid  foundation.  They  had  respectively  consi- 
derable claims  on  the  republic,  which  each  would  be  ready  to  justify  in 
time  and  phict^  by  authentic  records  and  solid  reasons.  Meanwhile, 
having  reciprocally  communicated  their  several  claims,  and  being  mutu- 
ally satisfied  of  their  justice,  they  had  determined  to  secure  to  themselves 
a  proportionable  equivalent,  by  taking  immediate  and  effectual  possession 
of  such  parts  of  the  territories  of  the  republic,  as  might  serve  to  fix  more 
natural  and  sure  bounds  betwren  her  and  the  three  powers.*  1  he  con- 
fj^derate  partitioners  did  actually  specify  their  pretensions,  but  without 
adducing  any  prool".  The  court  of  Warsaw  answered^  these  denuncia- 
tions by  just  and  conclusive  reasoning,  founded  on  the  plainest  princi- 
ples of  jurisprudence,  equity,  and  moral  rectitude  ;  demonstrating  from 
the  law  of  nations  and  many  particidar  treaties,  the  claims  of  the  three 
powers  to  be  totally  unfounded,  and  their  proceedings  to  be  contrary  to 
all  lawful  rights.  Little  availed  the  remonstrances  of  justice  against 
determined  ambition,  aiddd  by  resistless  force.  The  confederate  pow- 
ers commanded  the  Polish  king  and  republic  to  assemble  without  delay 
a  diet  to  ratify  their  cl-iims. 

The  king  and  senate  applied  to  the  courts  of  London,  Versailles, 
Madrid,  and  the  United  Provinces,  to  interfere  in  their  favour ;  but  from 
the  weakness,  distance,  or  internal  dissensions  of  these  states,  the  appli- 
cations were  unavailing.  Britain  and  France,  indeed,  remonstrated, 
but  without  etfect.  Deserted  by  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  surrounded 
by  powerful  enemies,  the  Polish  king  and  his  council  were  necessitated 
to  convoke  a  senate,  in  order  to  summon  a  diet  for  the  purposfe  of  for- 
mally authorizing  usurpations  which  the  force  of  the  usurpers  had  before 
effectually  confirmed.  In  the  respective  specifications  of  the  partition- 
ing powers,  Austria  was  the  most  insolent,  imperious,  and  full  of  threats; 
Catharine,  the  most  moderate,  plausible,  and  abounding  in  promises ; 
and  Frederick  the  most  learned,  acute,  and  replete  with  ingenious  pre- 
texts.J  They  now  respectively  prepared  to  take  possession  of  their 
booty  ;  and  Frederick  much  more  active  than  Austria,  and  less  occupied 
than  Russia,  first  securt'd  his  division,  and  added  to  the  seizure  part  of 
Dantzic,  including  the  harbour  and  port  duties ;  and  afterwards  the  re- 
mainder, though  it  constituted  no  part  of  his  pretended  claim  upon 
Poland. 

The  influence  of  Frederick,  however,  was  not  confined  to  the  scene 
of  his  power;  for  a  revolution  happened  this  year  in  Sweden,  to  which 
he  greatly  contributed.  In  early  ages,  the  Swedes,  like  most  other  hardy 
and  gallant  inhabitants  of  the  north,  were  fiee.  From  thb  time  of  Gus- 
tavus  Vasa,  there  had  been  a  flucttiation  of  constitutions,  in  which  the 
aristocracy,  or  the  king,  were  alternately  paramount,  and  the  people  en- 
joyed very  littlp  share  of  power.  I'nder  Charles  XII.,  the  government 
was  despotic  :  but  his  sister  and  heir,  Ulrica,  was  obliged  to  suffer  the 
aristocralical  domination  to  be  re-established  ;  and  Frederick  and  Adol- 
phns  were  not  able  to  triumph  over  the  Swedish  nobles.  Adolphus  dying 
in  1771,  was  succeodrd  by  Ciiistavus,  his  oldest  son  by  the  sister  of  the 
Prussian  king.  Gustavus,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  made  the 
most  ardent  protestations  of  love  for  liberty  ;   professed  that  he  thought 

•  See  state  papers,  1772.  f  Ibid. 

t  See  the  respective  manifestoes  ;  slate  papers,  1772. 


1772.— Vaxe.  X.  HEIGN  OF  GEOKGE  III.  283 

[State  of  Denmark.     Intrigues  of  the  qiieen,dowager.] 

it  the  cliief  glory  of  a  king  to  reign  over  a  free  people  ;  subscribed  the 
declaration  of  rights,  and  added  articles  for  absolving  his  subjects  from 
their  allegiance  if  ever  he  should  infringe  the  contract.  At  his  corona- 
tion, he  made  a  speech  concluding  with  a  prayer  to  God,  that  ambition 
mif^ht  not  disturb  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  the  slate.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  solemn  oaths,  however,  this  prince  had  concerted  a  project  for 
becoming  absolute.  Aided  by  his  two  brothers,  and  trusty  officers,  he 
gained  over  the  army  to  his  interest ;  with  the  greatest  art  and  success 
he  courted  popularity,  while  his  emissaries  no  less  actively  rendered  the 
people  discontented  with  the  senate  and  established  goverrmient.  He 
was  assured  of  the  support  of  his  uncle;  and  indeed,  both  in  the  formation 
and  execution  of  his  plan,  he  displayed  ability  and  vigour  not  unworthy 
of  a  nephew  of  Frederick.  The  sclieme  being  ripe  for  execution,  on 
the  19th  of  August  Gustavus  totally  overturned  the  constitution,  which 
less  than  three  months  before  he  had  sworn  to  maintain,  and  engaged 
to  support,  as  the  indispensable  condition  of  his  admission  to  the  regal 
office.  Being  master  of  all  the  military  force  at  Stockholm,  he  sur- 
rounded the  senate,  and  made  the  members  prisoners.  The  diet  was 
commanded  to  assemble  ;  and,  encompassed  by  fixed  bayonets,  the  king 
ordered  a  new  form  of  government  to  be  read.  The  members,  so  situ- 
ated, signed  whatever  was  proposed,  and  took  the  oath  which  Gustavus 
himself  dictated.  He  then  drew  a  book  of  psalms  from  his  pocket ;  and, 
taking  off  his  crown,  began  to  sing  -to  the  praise  of  God  :  the  assembly 
joined  this  pious  prince  in  his  sacred  music.  He  afterwards  informed 
them,  that  he  should  in  six  years  convene  the  assembly  of  the  states.* 
Thus  the  year  1772  was  an  era  of  usurpation  ;  by  Gustavus  in  his  own 
kingdom,  and  by  his  neighbours  in  the  kingdom  of  another, 

A  change  this  year  took  place  in  Denmark,  which,  by  affecting  a  Bri- 
tish princess,  strongly  agitated,  and  deeply  interested  the  loyal  and  gen- 
erous hearts  of  Britons.  Christian,  king  of  Denmark,  was  the  son  of 
Frederick  V.,  by  Louisa,  daughter  of  George  H.  The  queen  died  in 
early  youth,  and  king  Frederick  afterwards  married  a  German  princess, 
by  whom  he  had  a  son  named  Frederick.  This  queen  was  a  woman  of 
great  artifice  and  ambition.  As  her  son  was  heir  in  default  of  his  bro- 
ther, the  queen-dowager  had  been  averse  from  the  marriage  of  the  young 
king.  Christian  was  a  prince  of  very  weak  understanding,  and  sunk  by 
habits  of  debauchery  below  his  natural  insignificance.  Matilda,  though 
not  sixteen  years  of  age  when  she  arrived  in  Denmark,  immediately 
manifested  to  Julia  Maria,  the  queen-dowager,  an  intelligence  and  sen- 
sibihty,  which,  she  did  not  doubt,  must  discern  the  incapacity,  and  feel 
the  misconduct,  of  her  husband.  She  therefore  formed  a  project  of  sow- 
ing discord  between  the  new  married  couple,  which  she  trusted  would 
end  in  a  separation,  and  promote  her  views  ui  favour  of  her  son.  For 
this  purpose  she  played  a  double  game ;  she  ehiployed  her  minions  to 
ingratiate  themselves  with  the  king,  and  to  encourage  him  in  his  vices  ; 
while  she  informed  the  queen  of  his  defects,  and  professing  a  great  friend- 
ship, declared  that  every  thing  in  her  power  should  be  done  for  bis  re- 
formation. Meanwhile,  the  silly  monarch  persisted  in  his  usual  course  : 
ihe  queen-dowager  contrived  to  have  a  mistress  thrown  in  his  way,  whom 

•  Mr.  Charles  Sheridan,  British  envoy  at  Sweden,  published  a  very  accurate 
account  of  this  extraordinary  revolulion.  Us  heads  are  compressed  above,  in  the 
text. 


284  HISTORY  OF  TIIK  Chap.  X.—1772. 

[Struen^ee.     Accusation  and  arrest  of  Matilda.] 

he  kept  openly  in  the  palace.  Matilda,  possessing  great  sagacity,  easily 
discovered  both  the  designs  and  motives  of  the  treacherous  dowager. 
Anxious  for  the  welfare  of  her  infant  prince,  she,  for  the  sake  of  the  son, 
overlooked  the  folly  of  the  father  ;  and  soon  procured  such  influence,  as 
to  attain  the  chief  direction  of  affairs,  before  possessed  by  the  elder 
queen.  The  ambition  of  Julia  was  now  stimulated  by  revenge,  the 
gratification  of  which  she  at  last  accomplished.  There  was  at  the  court 
of  Copenhagen,  a  (Tcrman  named  Struensee,  of  some  abilities,  with  that 
wide  extent  of  superficial  knowledge,  and  those  petty  attainments  which  are 
so  common  in  continental  adventurers,  lie  possessed  also  an  insinuating 
address,  and  an  agreeable  person  ;  but  was  profligate  in  his  manners,  and 
abandoned  in  his  principles.  Having  studied  some  branches  of  medicine, 
he  professed  himself  a  physician  ;  and  having  attended  the  king  when  he 
was  experiencing  the  cilects  of  vice,  he  acquired  great  favour  with  the  sove- 
reign, and  in  a  short  time  made  so  rapid  a  progress,  that,  from  being  an 
itinerant  empiric,  he  became  minister  of  state.  He  also  elevated  Brandt, 
a  fellow  adventurer,  and  several  others  of  his  friends.  Both  Struensee  and 
Brandt  were  raised  to  be  carls;  manyof  the  chief  grandees  were  disgraced; 
and  mostof  them  were  disgusted  with  the  upstart  insolence  of  these  ignoble 
favourites.  The  demeanour  of  Struensee  also  excited  many  and  powerful 
enemies.  As  Matilda  had  then  the  superior  power,  Struensee  joined  her 
politics  in  opposition  to  those  of  the  queen-dowager;  and  thus  added  to  the 
number  of  his  foes.  Julia  secretly -insinuated  that  not"  a  political  con- 
nexion only  subsisted  between  Struensee  and  the  queen;  and  in  1771, 
when  Matilda  was  delivered  of  a  daughter,  she,  seeing  the  new-born 
princess,  said  with  a  malicious  smile,  that  the  child  had  all  the  features 
of  Struensee.  The  evil  report  was  industriously  propagated  ;  and  it  was 
farther  asserted,  that  the  ruling  party  had  formed  a  design  to  supersede 
the  king,  to  appoint  Matilda  regent  during  the  minority  of  her  son,  and 
Struensee  supreme  director  of  affairs.  The  report  of  the  intended  depo- 
sition was  never  substantiated  by  any  proof;  and  the  other  rumour, 
which  was  never  seconded  either  by  testimony  or  circumstantial  evidence, 
must  stand  in  history  as  a  false  and  malicious  slander  against  the 
sister  of  the  British  sovereign.  The  queen,  finding  herself  an  object  of 
unjust  suspicion,  took  a  part  very  natural  to  conscious  innocence,  but 
often  injurious  to  female  reputation  :  she  disregarded  the  rumours,  and 
did  not  abstain  from  the  company  of  the  suspected  party.  This  conduct, 
neither  prudent  nor  judicious,  greatly  accelerated  the  success  of  her  ene- 
mies. It  was  not  difficult  to  spread  scandal  against  the  friend  of  a  man 
so  deservedly  unpopular ;  and  the  charge  was  very  generally  believed. 
The  king  was  easily  impressed  with  the  prevailing  opinion,  being  a  mere 
tool  in  the  hands  of  any  party  that  happened  to  predominate. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  the  quecn-dowager  and  her  son,  coming  at 
four  in  the  morning  to  the  king's  bed-chamber,  asserted  to  him,  that  the 
queen  and  Struensee  were  at  that  very  hour,  framing  an  act  of  renuncia- 
tion of  the  crown,  which  they  would  compel  him  immediately  to  sign ; 
and  therefore  that  his  only  means  of  escaping  this  danger,  was  to  sign 
orders  which  they  had  drawn  up  tor  the  arrest  of  the  queen  and  her  ac- 
complices. The  king,  though  reluctant,  at  length  complied,  and  the 
orders  were  immediately  executed  ;  but  the  queen  being  found  in  her 
own  apartment,  and  Struensee  and  Brandt  in  bed  in  their  respective 
houses,  manifested  the  falsehood  of  Julia's  charge.     Having  before  se- 


17r2.— Chip.X.  reign   of  GEORGE  III.  285 

[Interference  of  the  king  of  England  in  her  behalf.] 

cured  the  army  and  people,  the  dowager  reigned  without  control.  Stru- 
ensee  and  Brandt  were  tried  ;  but,  culpable  as  they  both  might  be,  there 
M'as  no  evidence  that  they  had  perpetrated  any  capital  crime  ;  they  were, 
however,  sentenced  to  death,  and  executed.  Respecting  queen  Matilda, 
the  ruling  party  did  not  attempt  to  establish  their  charges.  The  dowager 
was  unwilling  to  establish  a  precedent  for  trying  a  queen  by  subjects  ; 
and  besides,  though  by  subordination  and  iniquity  she  might  easily  have 
crushed  an  unprotected  individual  however  innocent,  yet  to  put  to  an  un- 
deserved death  the  sister  of  the  king  of  England,  would  be  a  very  dan- 
gerous act  of  tyranny.  His  Britannic  majesty,  knowing  that  it  would  be 
in  vain  to  attempt  the  vindication  of  his  sister's  character  in  a  country 
governed  by  her  inveterate  enemies,  resolved  to  rescue  her  from  those 
malignant  calumniators,  and  sent  a  squadron  to  demand  the  unfortunate 
princess.  The  court  of  Denmark,  not  choo.sing  to  refuse  a  requisition 
so  seconded,  delivered  her  to  commodore  Macbride,  who  conveyed  her 
from  the  scene  of  her  persecution  to  Zell,  a  city  in  the  dominions  of 
Hanover,  where  her  royal  brother  had  provided  her  an  asylum,  in  which 
she  resided  during  the  remainder  of  her  short  life.* 

•  She  died  May  lOtli,  1775,  of  a  malignant  fever,  in  her  24th  year. 


286  HISTORY  OF  TIIK  Chap.  XI.--1772. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


America,  tranquil  in  the  south,  is  turbulent  in  the  north. — Massachusetts  disavows 
the  authorities  of  the  British  constitution. — Britain. — Mercantile  failures  of 
1772. — Alexander  Fordyce. — Chanpe  of  mercantile  character. — Influence  of 
accumulation  in  India. — Stock-jobbing — fictitious  credit-^extravagant  adven- 
ture without  capital. — High  estimation  of  lord  North  for  financial  skill. — Affairs 
of  the  India  company — its  pecuniary  embarrassments — conduct  of  its  servants, 
and  distresses  of  the  natives — reported  to  the  house  of  commons  by  a  commit- 
tee.— The  company  propose  a  scheme  for  correcting  and  restraining  its  ser- 
vants.— Parliament  undertakes  the  task. — Company's  petition  for  a  loan — 
granted  on  certain  conditions. — Company  allowed  to  export  tea  from  Britaiu 
duty  free. — Lord  North's  plan  for  the  government  of  India — discussed  in  par- 
liament— passes  into  a  law. — Inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  lord  Clive. — Distin- 
guished abilities  of  Messrs.  Thurlow  and  Wedderburne  shown  against  and  for 
lord  Clive. — The  war  with  the  Caribbs. — Increase  of  half-pay  to  naval  captains, 
— Petition  of  the  dissenters — is  rejected. — Supplies. — Reduction  of  the  national 
debt. — Continental  aflTairs. — Completion  of  the  dismemberment  of  Poland. — 
Violent  attacks  of  Roman  catholic  powers  on  their  clergy. — America — tranquil- 
lity, and  flourishing  commerce. — Britain — discontent  and  licentiousness  subside. 
— Increasing  trade  and  prosperity  imputed  to  the  policy  of  lord  North. — The 
minister  now  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame. 

Tranquillity  continued  to  prevail  in  the  middle  and  southern  colo- 
nies of  America ;  but  in  the  northern,  the  democratical  spirit  was  daily 
gaining  ground.  The  salaries  of  the  provincial  judges,  and  the  attorney 
and  solicitor-general,  paid  hy  the  assemblies,  were  very  scanty.  To 
render  men  in  such  important  situations  more  independent  in  their  cir- 
cumstances, government  had  this  year  assigned  them  liberal  salaries  out 
of  the  American  revenue.  The  New-Englanders  affetted  to  believe  that 
this  arrangement  was  intended  to  corrupt  the  source  of  justice,  and  ren- 
der decisions  dependent  on  government.  A  meeting  of  Bostonians, 
called  by  themselves  the  select  men,  on  the  25th  of  October  petitioned 
government  to  hold  an  assembly  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  evil 
tendency  of  the  new  regulation.'*  The  governor  not  complying,  the 
committee  issued  a  new  declaration  of  rights,  more  republican  than  any 
that  had  yet  been  published  ;  which  considered  the  provincials  merely  as 
free  men,  not  as  British  subjects,  and  denied  the  right  of  the  British  par- 
liament to  legislate  in  any  case  for  the  colonies.  A  general  meeting  of 
Bostonians  immediately  adopted  tliis  declaration  of  their  committee  ;  the 
provincial  assembly  publi.shed  their  approbation  of  the  doctrines  in  their 
most  demof-ralical  extent :  and  the  proceedings  of  all  classes  and  orders 
in  Massachusetts  amounted  to  a  disavowal  of  the  established  authorities 
of  the  British  constitution.  Republican  turbulence  in  the  north,  and 
trantpiil  acquiescence  in  constitutional  authority  tlirough  the  middle  and 
southern  colonies,  strongly  manifested  a  diversity  of  sentiment,  which  it 
was  the  dut^  of  legislative  wisdom  to  Consider,  in  its  policy  towards  the 
respective  provinces. 

In  Britain,  this  year  was  remarkable  for  very  great  and  numerous 
bankruptcies,  important  in  themselves,  but  more  momentous  as  they  de- 


1772.-CBxr.  XI.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGK  HI.  287 

[Change  of  ilie  mercantile  clurucler.    Influence  of  acquisitions  in  India.] 

monstrated  the  clo.se  and  complex  connexions  and  intermingled  depen- 
dencies of  commercial  credit,  and  also  marked  a  change  that  had  taken 
place  in  the  mercantile  character.  A  Scotch  adventurer,  named  Alex- 
ander Fordyce,  had  ri.sen  in  a  few  years  to  such  a  height  in  the  city  of 
London,  that  his  downfall  appeared  for  a  time  to  shake  all  credit  and 
confidence  throughout  the  metropolis.  Fordyce  was  a  projector,  who 
possessed  ingenuity  to  form  plausible  schemes,  insinuating  manners,  and 
dexterous  address  to  engage  confidence,  but  without  sound  judgment 
and  prudence  to  direct  his  conduct.  He  had  gambled  in  the  funds  to  a 
very  great  amount ;  and  having  at  times  succeeded,  by  his  occasional 
command  of  ready  money,  and  by  becoming  a  partner  in  a  very  eminent 
banking-house,  he  was  intrusted  with  many  and  large  sums  belonging  to 
others.  He  now  dealt  in  stock-jobbing  to  an  extent  unknown  in  the  an- 
nals of  gambling.  At  length  the  bubble  burst :  he  failed  to  an  amount 
little  short  of  half  a  million,  and  involved  his  partners  in  his  ruin  ;  and 
many  others,  who  had  trusted  him  with  money  or  bills,  shared  the  same 
fate.  The  fall  of  so  great  a  house  carried  its  eft'ects  far  beyond  im- 
mediate creditors,  excited  a  distrust  of  other  banking  and  mercantile 
firms,  and  obstructing  the  usual  accommodation,  produced  many  stop- 
pages. But  the.so  evils  occasioned  in  a  considerable  degree  by  Fordyce 
and  his  connexions,  originated  in  causes  much  more  general,  which  in- 
fluenced the  conduct  and  determined  the  fortune  of  many  others.  The 
gains  of  British  merchants  in  former  times  were  chiefly  from  the  gradual 
operation  of  skill,  industry,  economy,  and  bold  yet  prudent  adventure. 
The  riches  acquired  were  rarely  amassed  but  by  a  long  and  persevering 
attention  to  trade  ;  moderate  wealth  was  the  progressive  effect  of  certain 
intellectual  and  moral  qualities,  skilfully  and  steadily  exerted  for  a  long 
course  of  years,  forming  and  determining  the  character,  while  they  filled 
the  coffers.  By  the  vast  acquisitions  in  India,  immense  fortunes  had 
been  accumulated  almost  instantaneously  :  adventurers  of  very  limited 
merit  in  three  or  four  years  had  returned  with  ten  times  the  wealth  that 
able,  prosperous,  and  eminent  merchants  were  able  to  collect  by  the  ef- 
forts of  a  Ions:  and  industrious  life.  The  view  of  such  astonishing  ac- 
quisitions  dazzled  many  traders,  and  instead  of  submitting  patiently  to 
former  modes  of  commercial  process,  they  would  become  opulent  by 
compendious  means :  with  this  intent,  they  engaged  in  hazardous  adven- 
tures in  the  fimds,*  monopolies,  and  various  other  objects.  Not  having 
actual  property  for  carrying  on  such  extensive  plans,  they  were  obliged 
to  proceed  upon  trust ;  and,  as  men  of  real  wealth  were  not  the  most 
likely  to  risk  their  money  on  doubtful  schemes,  combinations  of  indigent 
adventurers  were  formed  for  maintaining  a  fictitious  credit  by  interchange 
of  bills.  Some  of  these  actually  succeeded  in  acquiring  a  capital ;  others 
kept  themselves  so  long  afloat,  as  to  impress  the  world  with  an  opinion 
of  their  ultimate  responsibility,  and  thus  found  means  to  involve  wealthy 
men  in  their  projects.  From  the  eastern  accumulations  and  manners, 
came  also  an  enormous  increase  of  luxury;  this  evil  did  not  so  readily 
affect  the  substantial  merchant,  who  in  making  his  fortune  had  formed 
his  habits  to  frugality  and  moderation,  as  the  visionary  and  needy  pro- 

•  Though  stock-jobbing:  bad  prevailed  ever  since  the  establishment  of  tlje  na- 
tional debt,  the  great  fluctuation  of  India  .stock  about  this  time  aflbrded  more 
•cope  than  usual  for  this  species  of  gambling'. 


288  HISTORY  OF  THE  CuAf.  XI,— 1772. 

[Extravagant  adventure  without  capital.     Affairs  of  the  India  company.] 

jector,  whose  fancy  anticipated  immense  profits,  and  whose  actual  pos- 
sessions could  not  possibly  suffer  the  smallest  loss.  The  failures  of  this 
year  were  chiefly  imputable  to  extravagant  projects  in  trade,  stock-job- 
bing, and  enormous  paper  credit  without  capital  mutually  acting  and  re- 
acting, severally  and  jointly  the  effects  and  causes  of  luxury  and  pro- 
fusion. These  disasters,  springing  from  unwarrantable  adventure,  ex- 
tended their  consequences  to  men  totally  unconcerned  in  such  wild  and 
destructive  schemes.  Bankers,  in  particular,  were  a  class  of  traders, 
who  from  the  nature  of  their  business,  had  many  customers,  among  per- 
sons requiring  much  accommodation  by  discount,  and  some  of  these 
sustained  very  great  losses.  The  bank,  in  a  state  of  general  distrust, 
having  refused  the  usual  discounts,  men  of  considerable  property  were 
embarrassed,  as  they  could  not  raise  money  to  discharge  engagements 
formed  on  the  (\xith  of  customary  accommodation,  and  for  several  months 
trade  was  stagnant.  Although  many  of  the  commercial  sufferers  were 
distressed,  not  from  want  of  property,  but  the  stoppage  of  its  usual  con- 
vertibility, no  measures  were  proposed  by  ministers  for  supporting  the 
mercantile  credit  of  persons,  who,  by  temporary  assistance,  might  have 
been  preserved  from  ruin.  Greatly,  however,  as  these  insolvencies  ob- 
structed trade  at  the  time,  they  did  not  prove  ultimately  injurious;  for, 
by  inculcating  caution  and  reserve,  they  rendered  credit  more  discrimi- 
nate, and  discouraged  the  desperate  schemes  of  gamblers,  and  other  un- 
principled or  infatuated  speculators.  This  beneficial  effect,  however, 
they  owed  to  the  natural  course  of  commercial  confidence,  without  any 
aid  from  the  policy  of  administration. 

Lord  North  had  now  acquired  a  stability  and  power,  much  greater 
than  any  of  his  predecessors  since  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Pitt.  In  the 
ministry  there  was  none  of  that  distraction  of  counsels,  which  contributed 
so  much  to  the  inefficiency  of  former  administrations.  The  first  lord  of 
the  treasury  excelled  most  members  in  parliamentary  eloquence,  and  he 
had  already  acquired  irrcat  reputation  for  financial  skill.  From  the  re- 
turn of  tranquillity  to  the  greater  part  of  America,  and  the  diminution  of 
licentiousness  at  home,  his  political  talents  were  generally  respected. 
The  opponents  of  government,  though  still  paramount  in  genius  and 
eloquence,  were  very  mucli  diminished  in  number,  and  less  severe  and 
vehement  against  a  minister  whom  tlicy  could  not  help  thinking  well 
qualified  for  his  office,  and  throughout  the  nation  lord  North  was  become 
the  object  of  esteem  and  confidence. 

The  subject  about  to  occupy  chiefly  the  ensuing  session  of  parliament 
was  the  affairs  of  Jndia,-  in  the  investigation  of  which  a  committee  of  the 
house  was  employed  during  the  summer.  Though  the  concerns  of  the 
company  h-id  been  brought  under  the  cognizance  of  parliament  so  early 
as  17(J7,  no  measures  of  correction  and  regulation  had  been  adopted, 
except  to  rescind  their  acts,  restrict  their  dividends,  and  obtain  from  them 
an  annual  sum  of  money  on  stipulated  conditions.  Inquiry  and  investi- 
gation now  afforded  abundant  proof,  that  a  comprehensive  and  radical 
refor:n  was  indispensably  necessary  to  the  interests  of  the  company,  the 
honour  of  England,  the  welfare  and  even  existence  of  the  natives,  and 
the  salvation  of  1»ritish  India. 

An  immense  accession  of  territory  had  unavoidably  compelled  the 
company  to  repose  very  great  trusts  in  their  servants,  and  this  confidence 
had  been  most  grossly  and  flagrantly  abused.     The  company's  ofliccrs 


1772.— Chap.  XI.  UEIGN  OF  GEORG?:  III.  289 

[Its  pecuniary  embarrassments.     Conduct  of  its  serrants.] 

were  guilty  of  complicated  and  extensive  malversation ;  their  ambition 
and  extravagar^ce  had  involved  their  employers  in  unnecessary  and  enor- 
mous expenses ;  and  their  extortion,  peculation,  and  iniquity,  made  a 
considerable  diminution  in  the  income  of  their  masters.     To  enter  on  a 
particular  detail  of  the  multifarious  means  which  were  employed  by  tlie 
company's  servants  for  defrauding  and  plundering  the  natives  of  India, 
would  far  exceed  our  limits  ;  but  a  short  sketch  of  the  character,  system, 
and  leading  consequences  of  the  peculation  is  a  necessary  part  of  our 
liistory,  as  a  momentous  fact  belonging  to  our  subject,  marking  the  prin- 
ciple, spirit,  and  operation  of  British  avarice  in  India,  and  ascertaining 
the  necessity  for  a  control  to  restrain  and  prevent  such  flagrant  and  de- 
structive wickedness.     It  was  before  observed,  that  the  plunder  of  India 
was  conducted  by  our  countrymen  according  to  mercantile  modes,  and 
this  remark  our  present  account  will  farther  illustrate.     The  chief  ser- 
vants of  the  company  made  it  their  first  business  to  inform  themselves 
of  the  most  valuable  and  marketable  commodities  in  the  provinces  which 
they  were  employed  to  govern,  for  the  benefit  of  their  masters  ;  they  found 
that  salt,  betel,  and  tobacco,  were  the  most  productive  merchandizes  ; 
and,  accordingly,  they  very  deliberately  formed  what  they  called  a  com- 
mercial association  for  inland  traffic  in  those  articles.     The  principle  of 
the  co-partnership  was  very  simple,  being  only  that  the  said  associators, 
namely  the  council  of  Calcutta,  its  friends  and  favourites,  should  have  the 
sole  power  of  buying  and  selling  those  commodities.    Thus  did  servants, 
without  any  authority  from  their  masters,  who  had  indeed  no  right  to 
grant  such  power,  establish  by  their  own  will,  and  for  their  own  benefit, 
a  monopoly  of  the  absolute  necessaries  of  life,  throughout  three  large, 
populous,  and  opulent  provinces.     Having  no  competitors,  they  bought 
and  sold  at  their  own  price :   empoverishing  the  people,  they  rendered 
them  unable  to  pay  the  stated  exactions  of  the  company  ;  and  thus  in 
robbing  the  natives,  they  defrauded  their  own  employers.    Not  satisfied, 
however,  with  commercial  pillage,   they  turned  their  views  also  to  terri- 
torial estates.     The  zemindars,  or  landed  proprietors,  held  their  posses- 
sions on  leases,  the  validity  of  which  had  never  been  doubted,  more  than 
any  other  legal  security  for  property.     The  company's  servants,  how- 
ever, destroyed  this  right,  deprived  the  proprietors  of  their  lands,  sold 
them  to  the  highest  bidders,  and  shared  the  profits  among  themselves, 
according  to  their  respective  rank  and  influence  in  this  combination  of 
rapine.     The  landholders,  deprived  of  the  secure  expectation  of  reaping 
the  fruit,  neglected  to  cultivate  the  soil ;  a  large  proportion  of  land  was 
left  untilled,  and  the  consequence  was  a  scarcity  of  food.    The  oppressed 
Indians  unable  to  procure  rice,  tried  to  subsist  on  roots ;  but  many  of 
these  proving  unwholesome,  pestilence  accompanied  famine  :   the  wa- 
ters of  the  Ganges' were  infected  by  the  number  of  carcases  which  they 
daily  received,  and  the  putrid  eflluvia  increased  the  mortality.     The  in- 
satiate avarice  of  Britons  thus  spread  desolation  over  India :  the  same 
iniquity  which  beggared  the  people,  empoverished  the  company ;  and 
vast  sums  were  spent  in  lucrative  jobs,  of  no  use  to  the  establishment. 
There  was,   indeed,  among  the  company's  servants,  one  predominant 
object, — to  amass  money  by  every  means,  however  iniquitous  and  de- 
structive ;  but  the  most  efficacious  expedients  of  avarice  were,  fraud  and 
breach  of  trust  to  their  employers,  devastation  of  the  possessions  which 
they  were  hired  to  improve,  and  plunder  of  the  natives  whom  they  were 
Vol.  VII.— 37 


290  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chav.  XI.— 1772. 

[Procccdingt  in  patliament.     Plan  of  lonl  North] 

pair!  to  jTovern.*  With  sncli  servants,  the  company,  instead- of  becom- 
ing opulent,  were  deeply  enibanasscd ;  they  had  borrowed  larjre  sums 
of  the  bank,  and  requested  the  assistance  of  government  to  hquidate 
their  debts.  Such  was  (he  essence  of  the  report  prepared  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  dehvcrcd  to  parliament,  which  met  on  the  26th  of  November. 
It  farther  appeared,  tliat  tlioir  distresses  had  been  increased  by  accepting 
bills  from  their  unprincipled  servants,  who  thus  procured  the  responsibility 
of  their  masters  for  engagements  by  which  the  servants  only  were  bene- 
fited. The  misconduct  of  tlio  company's  oilicers,  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, was  manifestly  imputable  to  the  want  of  an  efficient  control, 
proportionate  to  the  vast  powers  with  which  they  were  necessarily  in- 
trusted. In  the  present  situation  of  affairs,  therefore,  it  was  the  business 
of  the  legislature  to  establish  a  control,  which,  leaving  to  servants  every 
power  necessary  for  the  objects  of  their  employment,  should  only  re- 
strain malversation.  The  minister,  admitting  the  abuses  of  the  servants 
and  the  embarrassed  state  of  the  company's  affairs,  declared  that  the 
evils  might  be  removed  by  wise  and  vigorous  management.  The  com- 
pany were  themselves  preparing  to  send  out  supervisors,  to  direct  and 
reform  their  servants  ;  but  such  etTorts  would,  in  his  opinion,  be  inade- 
quate to  the  exigencies  of  affairs.  Before  he  himself  introduced  a  plan 
of  regulation,  he  proposed  a  secret  committee,  which  should  find  out 
c.\eyy  thing  necessary  to  be  known,  without  exposing  any  facts  of 
which  the  publication  would  be  injurious.  The  committee  reported,  that 
t!ic  company,  though  much  distressed  in  their  pecuniary  concerns,  were 
preparing  to  send  out  a  commission  of  supervision,  the  expense  of  which 
would  heavily  add  to  their  difficulties  ;  and  recommended  a  bill  to  prevent 
them  from  pursuing  their  intention  :  a  second  report  presented  a  state- 
ment of  the  effi3Cts,  debts,  and  credits,  of  the  company  at  home  and 
abroad.  On  the  reports  of  this  secret  committee,  together  with  those 
of  the  select  committee,  lord  North  formed  a  plan  respecting  India, 
which  consisted  of  three  successive  bills,  and  the  discussion  occupied 
the  principal  consideration  of  parliament  in  the  present  session.  The 
first  bill  was  framed  to  prevent  the  company  from  employing  the  intended 
means  for  the  correction  of  abuses  in  India,  and  was  preparatory  to  the 
interference  of  the  British  government  in  the  administration  of  that  coun- 
try ;  the  second  proposed  to  relieve  the  company  from  its  present  em- 
barrassments, by  a  loan ;  and  the  third  to  establish  regulations  for  the 
better  management  of  tiic  afiiiirs  of  the  company,  as  well  in  India  as  in 
Europe.  The  first  bill  was  opposed,  as  an  invasion  of  the  company's 
charter,  and  of  the  right  which  every  British  subject,  or  body  of  subjects, 
possesses,  of  manacing  their  own  aflairs.  The  company's  situation,  it  was 
contended,  was  not  so  distressed  as  to  be  irretrievable  by  its  own  effi^rts 
and  counsels.  Iti  the  progress  of  the  bill,  petitions  and  counsels  from  In- 
dian proprietors  maintained  the  same  doctrine.  Ministers  and  the  other 
supporters  of  the  bill  declared,  that  they  intended  the  good  of  the  company, 
as  well  as  the  security  of  the  public.  The  proposing  a  very  expensive 
commission  at  a  time  when  the  company  was  already  in  arrears  to  go- 
rernment,  and  so  distressed  as  to  be  applying  for  a  loan,  was  a  very  im- 
politic measure  ;  it  was  therefore  the  duty  of  parliament  to  prevent  them 

•  This  statement  is  compressed  from  the  report  of  the  select  committee,  deli- 
Tercd  to  the  house  in  November  1772. 


1773.— Chap.  X!.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  291 

[The  company  obtains  a  loan  from  parliament] 

from  being  involved  in  utter  ruin.  Beside  the  unsuitablcness  of  such  an 
establishment  to  their  circumstances,  it  was  totally  inadequate  to  the 
proposed  object.  The  malversations  in  India  were  too  great  for  any 
efibrts  of  the  court  of  directors  to  correct ;  the  power  of  government  only 
could  be  capable  of  curbing  rapacity  and  violence,  restoring  to  the  inha- 
bitants the  secure  enjoyment  of  their  property,  and  directing  the  revenue 
into  its  proper  channels.  A  great  majority  of  both  houses  voted  for 
the  law. 

During  the  progress  of  this  business,  the  company  petitioned  parlia- 
ment for  a  loan,  in  the  manner  and  on  the  terms  specified  in  several  pro- 
positions which  had  been  presented  to  the  house.     They  a^ked  for  one 
million  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  for  four  years,  at  four  per  cent, 
to  be  repaid  by  instalments  ;  and  engaged  that  the  dividends  of  the  com- 
pany should  not  exceed  six  per  cent,  until  half  the  sum  was  liquidated, 
after  which  they  might  raise  their  dividend  to  eight  per  cent.     When  the 
whole  loan  was  discharged,  the  net  profits  beyond  eight  per  cent,  should 
be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  company's  bond  debt,  until  it  was  re- 
duced to  1,500,000/.  and  after  that  reduction  the  surplus  should  be  di- 
vided between  the  public  and   the  company.     They  farther  requested, 
that  they  might  be  discharged,  during  the  remainder  of  the  five  years,* 
from  the  four  hundred  thousand  pounds,  and  might  have  leave  to  export 
their  teas,  free  of  duty,  to  America  and  foreign  countries.     Lord  North, 
admitting  the  policy  of  relieving  them,  proposed,  that  one  million  four 
hundred  thousand  pounds  should  be  lent  to  the  company,  and  that  their 
dividends  should  be  limited  to  six  per  cent,  until  the  repayment  of  the 
loan,  and  afterwards  to  seven  per  cent,  until  their  bond  debt  should  be 
reduced  to  1,500,000/.     Respecting  the  participation  of  profits  the  mi- 
nister proposed,  that  the  surplus  profits,  above  the  sum  of  eight  percent, 
should  pay  three-fourths  to  the  treasury,  and  the  remainder  be  applied  to 
the  farther  reduction  of  the  bond  debt,  or  to  discharge  future  contingen- 
cies of  the  company.     In  the  course  of  these  discussions,  the  minister 
contended,  that  the  state  had  a  right  to  territorial  possessions  acquired 
through  conquest  by  any  of  its  subjects.     Opposition  argued,  that  lands 
acquired  without  the  interference  of  the  state,  by  a  company  exercising 
the  corporate  rights  which  they  had  purchased  from  the  state,  could  no 
more  belong  to  Great  Britain,  than  the  advantages  of  any  other  contract 
could  belong  to  the  grantor  after  he  had  m.ade  the  convention  for  speci- 
fied value.     The  minister  persevered  in  asserting  the  right  of  the  state 
to  the  territorial  possessions  in  India,  but  thought  it  better  to  wave  that 
question  for  six  years  longer,  soon  after  which  period  the  charter  would 
expire.     Those  who  either  wished  to  oppose  ministry,  or  to  support  the 
pretensions  of  the  India  company,  chose  to  consider  the  state  and  com- 
pany as  two   independent  parties  discussing  a  question  of  property  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  England.     The  minister  took  a  different  view  :  he 
looked  on  the  East  India  company  as  a  body,  which  had  been   incorpo- 
rated for  a  certain  purpose,  but  was  now  placed  in  a  situation  totally 
different  from  the  intent  of  its  charters,  and  as  protected  in  its  commer- 
cial possession  by  those  charters  ;  but  that  its  territorial  acquisitions  con- 
stituted no  part  of  the  corporation's  rights  ;  and  became  a  question  of 

•  Sec  the  i)arllamenlary  transactions  of  1769,  in  this  volume,  p.  247. 


292  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XI.— 1773. 

[Free  exportation  of  tea.    Inquiry  into  the  conJuct  of  lord  Clive.] 

policy,  to  be  determined  on  the  general  principles  of  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence, and  not  of  law,  to  be  decided  by  courts  or  judicature. 

In  conformity  to  that  part  of  the  company's  petition  which  respected 
the  export  of  tea,  the  minister  proposed,  that  they  should  be  allowed  to 
send  it  without  paying  customs  wherever  they  could  find  a  market.  One 
cause  of  their  diminished  return  was,  the  rejection  of  that  commodity  by 
the  colonies  :  they  had  17,000,000  lbs.  on  hand,  which,  by  being  en- 
abled to  sell  at  a  reduced  price,  tliey  hoped  they  could  dispose  of  both 
in  Europe  and  America.  Lord  North  furtiier  intended,  by  thus  ofiering 
the  article  to  the  Americans  at  a  low  price,  to  tempt  them  to  purchase  it 
in  great  quantities  ;  and  tlius,  besides  benefiting  the  company,  to  add  to 
the  impost  revenue  from  the  colonies.  This  part  of  his  plan  led  eventu- 
ally to  more  important  consequences,  than  any  of  his  whole  system  for 
regulating  the  affairs  of  the  India  company. 

The  minister  proceeded  to  propose  a  third  bill  for  the  better  manage- 
ment of  the  company's  affairs  ;  containing  the  first  plan  framed  in  the 
British  legislature  for  governing  British  India.  The  scheme  was,  that 
the  court  of  directors  sliould  be  elected  for  four  years  ;  six  members  an- 
nually, but  no  one  to  continue  in  the  direction  longer  than  the  four  years  : 
that  none  should  vote  at  the  election  of  a  director,  who  had  not  been  a 
proprietor  twelve  months  ;  that  the  qualification  of  a  voter  should,  in- 
stead of  five  htindred  pounds  India  stock,  be  a  thousand  ;  that  the  may- 
or's court  of  Calcutta  should  be  confined  to  small  mercantile  cases  :  that 
a  new  court  should  be  established,  consisting  of  a  chief  justice  and  three 
puisne  judges,  who  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  a  superio- 
rity was  to  be  given  to  the  presidency  of  Bengal  over  the  other  establish- 
ments of  India.  In  support  of  this  bill  ministers  alleged  that  the  pre- 
sent brief  period  of  their  continuance  in  office  left  the  directors  no  leisure 
to  form  and  execute  projects  of  permanent  advantage  ;  that  six  months 
was  too  short  a  term  for  holding  stock  as  a  qualification  to  vote,  as  it  did 
not  preclude  temporary  purchases  for  that  purpose  ;  and  that  500/.  was 
not  a  sufficient  interest  in  the  company,  to  entitle  a  proprietor  to  a  vote, 
in  its  present  extensive  concerns.  The  mayor's  court,  composed  of 
merchants  and  traders,  though  competent  to  its  juridical  purpose  before 
the  territorial  acquisitions,  when  the  matters  submitted  to  its  decision 
■were  solely  commercial,  .was  now  totally  inadequate  to  the  exercise  of 
the  supreme  judicature,  and  therefore  a  now  court  was  proposed.  The 
minister  did  not  profess  to  expect  that  these  regulations  would  completely 
produce  the  desired  effect ;  yet  he  trusted  that  they  would  operate  pow- 
erfully towards  a  general  reform,  and  that  the  future  vigilance  of  the  le- 
gislature, instructed  by  experience,  would  provide  new  regulations,  suita- 
ble to  the  state  of  the  various  and  connjlicated  concerns.  The  bill  was 
long  and  vigorously  opposed  in  parliament,  and  strongly  deprecated  by 
India  proprietors  ;  not  only  by  the  holders  under  a  thousand  pounds 
stock,  who  asserted  that  the  franchise  which  they  had  purchased  was 
confiscated  without  delinquency  ;  but  by  others,  who  apprehended  that 
thereby  the  property  of  India  stock  would  decrease  in  value,  as  so  strong 
a  motive  to  purchase,  or  retain  was  withdrawn  :  however,  at  length  it 
passed  into  a  law.  The  conuniltee,  beside  collecting  information  to 
guide  and  induce  deliberative  amendment,  i'onnd  in  the  conduct  of  some 
of  the  company's  principal  servants,  grounds  for  very  severe  judicial  in- 
quiries.    A  direct  charge  was  adduced  against  thote  who  had  been  pria- 


irra.— cnAP.  xi.  reign  of  geouge  hi.  293 

[The  house  discontinues  the  inquiry.     War  with  the  Caribbs.] 

cipally  concerned  in  tlie  deposition  of  Surajah  Dowla.  (jleiicral  Bur- 
goyne,  chairman  of  the  select  committee,  having  enumerated  the  dis- 
tresses of  India,  and  the  acts  from  which,  according  to  the  committee, 
they  arose,  declared  that  he  would  prosecute  the  chief  delinquents  ;  he 
therefwre  moved  "  that  the  right  honourable  Robert  lord  Clive,  baron 
Plassey  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  in  consequence'of  the  powers  vested 
in  him  in  India,  had  illegally  acquired  the  sum  of  234,000/.  to  the  dis- 
honour and  detriment  of  the  state." 

The  arguments  to  support  this  charge  were  taken  from  the  result  of 
the  various  inquiries,  a  great  part  of  which  consisted  of  answers  to  inter- 
rogatories, put  to  the  accused  himself,  and  other  principal  actors.  Lord 
Clive  was  stated  to  be  the  oldest,  if  not  the  chief  delinquent,  and  to  have 
set  an  evil  example  to  all  the  rest ;  unless  he  were  punished,  therefore, 
every  other  offender  might  equitably  expect  indemnity.  Lord  Clive  made 
a  very  ingenious  and  dexterous  defence :  and  with  much  art  having 
avoided  a  close  discussion  of  the  question  on  its  own  ground  of  right  or 
wrong,  he  pleaded  the  thanks  of  the  directors  and  proprietors  on  his  re- 
turn home,  and  farther,  the  approbation  of  his  sovereign  and  country. 
In  certain  situations,  he  said,  there  was  a  critical  necessity,  in  which  the 
English  power  and  fortune  in  Asia  depended  solely  on  rapid,  well  timed, 
and  extraordinary  measures  ;  by  such  efforts,  he  contended  that  he  had 
saved  India.  The  presents  were  agreeable  to  the  general  custom  of  the 
east ;  Meer  JafKer  had  rewarded  all  those  who  had  been  instrumental  to 
his  success  ;  the  acceptance  of  such  recompense  he  had  never  deemed 
dishonourable,  and,  it  was  well  known,  he  had  never  concealed.  Other 
members  of  the  house,  beside  enlarging  on  these  topics,  farther  argued, 
that  his  high  character  and  immense  fortune,  after  having  been  quietly 
enjoyed  for  so  many  years,  ought  not  to  be  endangered  by  a  scrutiny 
into  a  remote  period ;  and  that,  moreover,  his  important  services  ought 
to  have  screened  him  from  those  charges.  This  species  of  logic,  that 
in  a  case  of  criminal  inquiry,  service  performed  at  one  time,  may  be 
pleaded  as  a  set-off  against  guilt  contracted  at  another,  was  strongly 
controverted  by  Mr.  Thurlow,  who  conducted  the  attack,  while  Mr. 
Wedderburne  headed  the  defence.  A  motion  being  made  for  censuring 
his  conduct,  the  acuteness  of  his  advocate  did  not  rest  the  vindication  of 
lord  Clive  on  a  plea  of  service,  which  he  as  fully  as  Mr.  Thurlow  ad- 
mitted to  be  irrelative  in  a  criminal  charge,  but  his  chief  ground  of  ar- 
gument was  the  nature  of  the  evidence,  which  arose  prncipally  from  the 
accused  himself,  and  other  leading  actors.  The  testimonies  were  given 
by  gentlemen  who  had  no  conception  that  their  statements  could  affect 
themselves  ;  and  if  rendered  the  foundation  of  a  prosecution,  they  would 
oblige  persons  to  be  witnesses  to  their  own  detriment,  than  which  no- 
thing could  be  more  inconsistent  with  justice,  and  the  judicial  course  of 
England.*  These  arguments,  strongly  impressed  by  Mr.  Wedderburne, 
induced  the  house  by  a  considerable  majority  to  put  an  end  to  the  inquiry. 

While  East  India  affairs  occupied  the  chief  attention  of  parliament, 
some  occurrences  in  the  West  Indies  were  also  brought  under  its 
consideration.  The  islands  of  St.  Vincent,  St.  Lucia,  and  Dominica, 
had  formerly  been  deemed  neutral,  both  by  the  French  and  the  English. 
The  proprietors  of  the  soil  were  the  Caribbs,  being  the  descendants  of 

•  Debrett's  Parliamcnlary  Debates,  for  May,  1773. 


294  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XI.— 1773. 

[Increase  of  half-pay  to  naval  captains.] 

the  aboriginal  Indians,  with  a  small  intermixture  from  fugitive  negroes. 
The  French  had  made  establishments  in  these  islands,  with  the  consent 
of  the  natives;  but  had  found  it  necessary,  for  the  secure  enjoyment  and 
improvement  of  their  new  acquisitions,  to  court  the  friendship  of  the  an- 
cient possessors.  At  the  cession  of  St.  Vincent  to  England,  the  Caribbs 
were  not  mentioned  ;  and  when  new  settlers  from  Britain  undertook  to 
plant  the  island,  orders  were  given,  that  while  these  Indians  were  inof- 
fensive they  should  not  be  disturbed.  Most  of  the  French  planters  sold 
iheir  estates  to  British  adventurers,  who  became  considerable  both  in 
numbers  and  property;  but  tlie  most  fertile  tracts  were  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  Indians.  The  new  colonists,  conceiving  that  such  valuable  pos- 
sessions would  be  much  better  improved  by  British  industry  than  by  In- 
dian indolence,  proposed  to  government  to  deprive  the  natives  of  the 
soil  fittest  for  cultivation,  and  bestow  on  them  tracts  more  commodious 
for  their  favourite  occupations  of  hunting  and  fishing;  and  administra- 
tion, foreseeing  no  opposition  from  the  natives,  approved  the  plan.  The 
exchange  was  offered  by  the  planters  to  the  Caribbs,  but  rejected  with 
indignation:  they  had  held  their  lands,  they  said,  independent  of  the  king 
of  France,  and  would  now  hold  them  independent  of  the  king  of  Great 
Britain.  The  British  settlers,  apprehensive  of  a  contest  with  such  in- 
flexible neighbours,  submitted  to  government,  whether  it  was  not  expe- 
dient, since  the  Caribbs  would  not  part  with  their  lands,  to  transport 
them  to  the  coast  of  Africa;  and  ministers  too  hastily  agreed  to  the 
scheme.  The  Caribbs  resolved  to  resist;  and  a  body  of  troops,  in  1772, 
Avas  ordered  frotn  North  America  to  reduce  them  to  subjection;  but  the 
rainy  season  prevented  our  forces  from  making  progress,  and  proved 
extremely  sickly.  These  hostilities  became  the  subject  of  severe  ani- 
madversion in  parliament;  we  had,  it  was  said,  unjustly  attacked  the 
immemorial  rights  of  the  Caribbs,  and  unwisely  sent  out  our  soldiers  at 
a  season  fatal  to  Europeans  who  had  newly  arrived  from  a  more  tempe- 
rate climate.  Motions  concerning  the  causes  of  the  war  and  the  state 
of  the  troops,  caused  long  and  ardent  debates  in  parliament:  which, 
though  severally  negatived  by  great  majorities,  highly  excited  the  public 
attention.  Intelligence  at  length  arrived,  that  major-general  Dalrymple 
and  the  Caribbs  had  concluded  a  peace,  in  which  they  acknowledged 
themselves  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  and  promised,  in  their  inter- 
course with  the  whites,  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  of  England ;  but  in 
their  own  territories,  and  in  matters  relating  to  each  other,  they  were  to 
retain  their  ancient  customs  and  usages:  they  agreed  to  cede  certain 
districts  to  the  British  planters,  and  acknowledging  that  they  owed  their 
lands  to  the  king's  clemency,  were  allowed  to  retain  all  that  was  neces- 
sary for  their  population  and  pursuits. 

In  this  session,  lord  Mowc  presented  a  petition  from  the  captains  of 
the  navy,  pr.iying  a  small  increase  of  their  half-pay.  From  the  reign  of 
Eli'/abctli  till  the  year  1715,  as  his  lordship  showed,  naval  captains  re- 
ceived a  half-pay  double  the  amount  of  that  which  they  received  in  1773, 
when  the  value  of  money  was  so  much  diminished.  It  would  be  super- 
fluous to  employ  argvunentation  in  demonstrating  the  merit  and  impor- 
tance of  that  gallant  class  of  gentlemen,  or  to  prove  that  the  allowance 
was  unsuitable  to  their  rank  in  society.  From  the  general  attachment 
of  Briton.s  to  the  navy,  and  their  conviction  that  the  recompense  was 
inadcfjuatc  to  the  service,  the  public  earnestly  desired  that  the  wish  of 


1773.— Chap.  XI.  UEIGN  OF  GEOKGE  III.  295 

[Dissenters.     National  debt.     Poland.    Russian  campaign.] 

the  .brave  veterans  should  be  accomphshed.  Tlie  minister,  admitting 
their  chiims,  lamented  that  the  situation  of  the  finances  did  not  allow  ad- 
ditional expenses.  The  application,  however,  was  so  very  popular,  that 
a  motion  was  carried  in  favour  of  the  petition,  a  suitable  address  present- 
ed to  his  majesty,  and  an  addition  of  two  shillings  a  day  (amounting  in 
all  to  six)  made  to  the  half-pay  of  navy  captains. 

The  dissenters,  notwithstanding  the  disappointment  of  the  former  year, 
brought  in  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  penal  laws  and  subscriptions,  which, 
being  supported  and  opposed  by  the  same  arguments  as  before,  was  re- 
jected. 

The  ways  and  means  of  this  session  showed  the  financial  skill  of  the 
minister  to  be  neither  excellent  nor  defective.  His  calculation,  indeed, 
on  the  reduction  of  the  national  debt,  had  proved  somewhat  erroneous, 
as  no  part  of  the  funded  incumbrance  was  actually  liquidated.  Exchequer 
bills  to  the  amount  of  1,800,000/.  were  discharged:  and  the  money  ad- 
vanced to  the  East  India  company  was  not  immediately  raised,  but  cre- 
dit pledged  for  it  in  exchequer  bills.  The  session  did  not  rise  till  July 
1st,  after  having  lasted  nearly  eight  months. 

During  this  winter  there  Mas  a  great  scarcity  of  corn,  especially  in 
Scotland,  and  tumults  ensued;  the  rioters,  however,  by  the  vigilance 
of  the  corn  dealers,  and  the  firmness  of  the  magistrates,  were  prevent- 
ed from  destructive  outrage.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  the  parti- 
tioning powers  this  j^ear  continued  to  be  the  principal  objects  of  observa- 
tion, while  they  completed  their  project  of  robbery,  and  compelled 
the  unhappy  Poles  to  sanction  their  various  steps  of  iniquity  and  usur- 
pation. As  they  advanced  in  spoliation,  they  grew  more  indi  Aerent  about 
even  the  semblance  of  justice;  and  whenever  the  Poles  offered  any  re- 
monstrance, they  immediately  threatened  to  overwhelm  them  with 
troops.*  A  few  of  the  nobility  having  escaped  from  Warsaw,  betook 
themselves  to  Cracow,  and  there  endeavoured  to  form  a  party  against 
the  plunderers  and  usurpers;  but  their  attempts  were  unavailing;  the 
partitioning  powers,  haying  dismembered  the  best  provinces  of  Poland 
under  pretence  of  amending  its  constitution,  confirmed  its  defects  and 
perpetuated  the  principles  of  anarchy  and  confusion.  It  would  be  fo- 
reign to  this  liistory  to  follow  those  ilragooning  lawgivers  through  the  de- 
tail of  their  acts,  but  they  all  showed  that  the  object  was  to  render  those 
parts  dependent  on  the  partitioning  powers  through  faction  and  internal 
disorder,  which  it  did  not  at  present!  suit  their  purpose  to  seize  by  their 
arms. 

Russia  was  by  no  means  so  successful  against  the  Turks  this  year,  as 
in  former  campaigns.  Elated  with  her  victories,  she  had  refused  all 
reasonable  terms  of  accommodation,  expecting  that  her  conquering  for- 
ces would  penetrate  to  Constantinople,  and  tliat  she  might  dictate  the 
peace  in  the  enemy's  capital.  Early  in  summer,  her  forces  on  the  Da- 
nube took  the  field,  and  after  some  partial  and  detached  advantages,  the 

•  See  the  manifestoes  of  the  three  several  powers,  addressed  to  Poland  ;  state 
papers,  1773. 

j  It  may  be  asked,  why  did  not  the  confederate  invaders  usurp  the  whole  king- 
dom of  Poland  ?  Of  the  reasons  of  tliis  forbearance,  the  Annual  Retjister  gives  a 
very  pi-obable  account.  "  It  would  have  been  a  m.itter  of  no  difficulty  to  form 
new  claims  xipon  as  good  a  foundation  as  those  wliicli  they  liad  already  made  ;  but 
it  would  not  have  been  so  easy  to  have  agreed  among  themselves  as  to  the  dis- 
tribution."    Annual  Kcgister,  1773,  p.  40. 


296  msTOUY  of  the  chap,    i.— 1773. 

[Views  of  France,    lletluction  of  ecclesiastical  power.] 

grand  army  penetrating  to  the  confines  of  Romania,  found  the  vizier  so 
strongly  posted,  tliatlie  could  prevent  the  progress  of  the  Russians  with- 
out being  compelled  to  ha/.ard  a  battle.  After  various  masterly  but 
ineftectual  movements  to  bring  the  enemy  to  a  decisive  engagement, 
Romanzow  ^vas  obliged  to  recross  the  Danube,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  campaign  found  himself  no  farther  advanced  than  at  the  begin- 
ning. In  the  Crimea  and  the  Levant,  the  Russian  operations,  much 
less  important,  were  equally  indecisive:  the  Turks,  indeed,  being  now 
rctaught  tlie  use  of  arms,  commanded  by  an  able  and  skilful  general  who 
possessed  the  confidence  of  his  soldiers,  no  longer  alforded  certain  and 
easy  victory. 

It  was  conceived,  that  France  and  Spain  were  this  year  preparing  to 
take  a  part  in  the  war  against  Russia,  of  whose  progress  and  power  the 
house  of  Bourbon  was  jealous.  Their  armaments  not  being  confined  to 
the  ports  on  the  Mediterranean,  and  being  greater  than  was  necessary  to 
act  against  the  Russians  in  the  Levant  and  Archipelago,  the  Baltic  was 
supposed  to  be  one  object  of  their  destination.  France  was  believed 
to  be,  through  her  intimate  connexion  with  the  king  of  Sweden,  instiga- 
ting that  prince  to  a  war,  which  from  his  lately  acquired  absolute  pow- 
er, he  could  the  more  readily  undertake.  The  equipments  of  the  Bour- 
bon sovereigns,  wliatever  might  be  their  purpose,  necessarily  aroused 
the  vigilance  of  England;  a  poAverful  fleet  was  speedily  prepared;  and 
the  ambassadors  of  Britain  at  their  respective  courts  announced,  that  if 
they  interfered  in  the  war  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  an  English  fleet 
sailing  to  the  ^Mediterranean  would  frustrate  their  projects.  The  king 
of  Spain,  always  inimical  to  this  country,  appeared  disposed  to  hosti- 
lities; but  the  French  king  and  ministry,  desirous  as  they  might  be  to 
check  the  progress  of  Russia,  Avere  far  from  wishing  to  involve  them- 
selves in  a  war  with  Britain,  and  by  their  influence  at  Madrid  they  pre- 
vented a  rupture.  In  Italy,  the  pope,  who  had  so  strenuously  maintain- 
ed the  cause  of  the  Jesuits,  and  so  obstinat6ly  endeavoured  to  support 
the  customary  extortion  of  his  priests,  v.as  now  dead.  His  successor, 
aware  that  a  bishop  of  Rome  wasof  little  consequence  out  of  his  own 
diocese,  unless  supported  by  the  power  of  lay  sovereigns,  determined  to 
ndtivate  the  friendship  of  those  princes.  To  gratify  the  united  house 
of  Bourbon,  he  suppressed  the  Jesuits;  but  allowed  individuals  who  had 
belonged  to  that  order,  to  remain  in  his  dominions,  provided  they  ren- 
dered themselves  useful,  v>ithout  advancing  doctrines  in  suppoit  of  their 
late  institution,  or  taking  any  steps  towards  its  restoration;  and  this  was 
the  final  blow  to  the  remains  of  an  order  the  most  celebrated  of  monkish 
fraternities.  In  all  the  Roman  catholic  states,  the  reduction  of  ecclesi- 
astical power,  begun  with  sucli  eftect  by  the  house  of  Bourbon,  was  be- 
come general;  indeed,  plans  of  this  sort  were  so  hastily  adopted  and 
executed,  as  rather  to  manifest  that  they  sj)rung  from  imitation  than 
from  rational  conviction.  The  exaltation  of  priests  far  beyond  their 
due  rank  in  society,  had  been  very  long  the  fashion,  so  thcjr  excessive 
depression  became  now  the  mode  of  catholic  courts;  and  undue  contempt 
of  ecclesiastics  was  a  favourite  sentiment  with  princes  and  ministers  111 
those  countries  wherein  they  had  very  recently  been  regarded  witli  un- 
deserved admiration  :  those  notions  very  naturally,  in  the  usual  course 
of  human  opinion,  running  itito  opposite  extremes,  accelerated  the  pro- 
gress of  infidelity  ;  and  in  their  remote  consequences,  precipitated  the 
downfall  of  their  abettors. 


irrS.— Chip.  XL  KEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  297 

[Prosperous  state  of  affairs  at  home  and  abroad] 

Though  the  stubborn  repubhcans  of  New-England  continued  to 
thwart  the  mother  country,  the  middle  and  southern  provinces  were 
peaceable  and  quietly  advancing  in  population  and  prosperity.  They 
seemed  resolved  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  Britain,  replete  with  bene- 
fit, and  which  for  several  years  no  measure  or  occurrence  had  tended  to 
intercept.  They  appeared  well  satisfied  with  the  administration  of  lord 
North,  under  which  the  chief  objects  of  their  complaints  had  been  re- 
dressed. Relieved  from  the  greater  j)art  of  the  obnoxious  imposts,  they 
gave  themselves  httle  trouble  about  the  reservation  of  the  principal ;  and 
while  their  purses  were  spared,  forebore  quarrelling  about  metaphysical 
propositions  ;  they  also  discouraged  the  republican  agents  of  their  north- 
ern neighbours.  Bred  in  monarchical  principles,  they  did  not,  like  the 
Bostonians,  wish  to  separate  from  Great  Britain  merely  because  it  was  a 
monarchy  ;  they  were  willing  to  give  allegiance  for  protection,  though  af- 
forded by  the  wearer  of  a  crown. 

At  home,  the  spirit  of  licentiousness  had  subsided  ;  the  minister,  unas- 
suming and  agreeable  in  his  manners,  and  candid  in  his  opinions,  was  es- 
teemed able  and  successful  in  his  administration.  His  plan  for  govern- 
ing India  greatly  increased  his  own  power  and  patronage,  and  was  yet 
pleasing  to  the  country.  It  was  necessary  to  restrain  by  some  means  the 
oppression,  extortion,  and  cruelty  of  the  company's  servants  ;  and  the 
nation  conceived  the  principles  and  provisions  of  his  system  to  be  effec- 
tual for  that  purpose.  His  new  arrangements  would,  it  was  supposed, 
by  preventing  the  extravagance  and  depredations  of  the  company's  offi- 
cers, increase  this  bountiful  source  of  revenue,  and  farther  diminish  the 
public  burthens.  The  nation  was  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and  appa- 
rently likely  to  continue  long  to  enjoy  tranquillity  ;  commerce  was  in- 
creasing, and  conceived  to  be  in  a  train  of  very  great  augmentation  ;  and 
every  tiling  appeared  favourable  to  private  and  public  prosperity.  Thus 
during  lord  North's  ministry,  his  country,  from  being  a  scene  of  turbu- 
lence and  discontent,  was  become  tranquil  and  satisfied  ;  America,  iVom 
refusing  our  manufactures,  distressing  our  commerce,  and  being  almost 
in  rebellion  against  our  government  and  laws,  now  afforded  an  advanta- 
geous market  for  our  commodities,  enriched  our  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers, employed  our  shipping,  exercised  our  sailors,  and  declared 
their  attachment  to  our  constitution  and  king.  India,  from  being  the 
scene  of  iniquity,  was  to  be  administered  with  justice.  Our  receipts,  re- 
cently unequal  to  our  annual  expenditure,  now,  without  farther  burthen- 
ing  the  subject,  enabled  us  to  reduce  the  national  debt,  and  thus  ultimate- 
ly to  lessen  the  taxes  on  the  people.  Such  was  the  situation  and  repute 
of  the  minister,  and  such  the  opinion  and  hopes  of  the  people,  at  the  pe- 
riod which  the  history  has  now  reached  ;  lord  North  being  now  in  the 
meridian  splendour  of  his  administration. 

Though  the  fairness  of  the  prospect  was  no  doubt  exaggerated  by  san- 
guine imaginations,  yet  to  discerning  judgment  it  was  by  no  means  un- 
pleasing;  tranquillity  was  restored  at  home,  and  in  most  of  the  colonies  ; 
some  progress  was  making  in  reducing  the  national  debt ;  trade  was  ac- 
tually increasing,  and  likely  still  farther  to  advance.  The  effect  of  the 
East  Indian  plan,  either  commercial  or  political,  could  not  with  any  pre- 
cision be  ascertained  ;  but  by  restraining,  in  some  degree,  fraudulent  and 
predatory  appropriation  of  Indian  wealth,  seemed  calculated  to  improve 
the  company's  finances,  and  the  revenue  of  Britain.  Reflecting  polui= 
Vol..  VII.— 38 


Ji98  HISTORY  or  THE  Chap,  XI.— 1773. 

[Imputed  to  the  policy  of  lord  North.] 

cians  saw,  that  the  favourable  change  in  our  affairs  could  not  be  all  traced 
to  the  minister's  counsels  or  measures,  but  they  certainly  perceived  that 
American  tranquillity  was  to  be  imputed  to  his  propositions.  In  these 
they  discovered  a  mind  more  inclined  to  conciliation  than  coercion,  and 
confidently  interred  that  lord  North  would  adhere  to  the  soothing  policy, 
of  which  they  had  already  experienced  the  salutary  effects.  No  event 
or  situation  had  occurred,  to  exhibit  lord  North  as  a  great  minister ;  but 
there  were  hitherto  no  grounds  to  question  his  capacity  for  successfully 
conducting  the  affairs  of  his  country,  in  circumstances  not  more  trying 
than  those  which  he  had  yet  encountered. 


irrS.— Chap.  XII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  29^.1 


CHAP.  XII. 


Object  or  the  minister  in  his  proposition  respecting  the  export  of  tea. — Alarm  at 
Boston. — Discovery  of  the  governor's  letters  to  the  English  muiistry. — News 
arrires  in  Boston,  that  ships  laden  with  tea  are  on  their  way. — Riots — Govern- 
or's proclamation  is  disregarded. — Ships  arrive  at  Boston. — A  mob  throws  the 
cargo  into  the  sea. — Meeting  of  parliament. — King's  message  respecting  the 
disturbances  at  Boston  is  discussed  in  parliament. — iiill  for  blocking  up  the  port 
of  Boston. — The  punishment  of  a  whole  community  for  the  acts  of  a  part,  is  de- 
fended by  ministers. — The  principle  and  provisions  of  the  bill  are  impugned  by 
opposition  as  unjust  and  unwise. — Precedents  discussed. — Opposition  predict, 
that  it  will  drive  the  colonies  to  confederate  revolt. — The  bill  passes  into  a 
law. — Mr.  Fuller's  motion  for  repealing  the  duty  on  tea. — Mr.  Burke's  cele- 
brated speech  on  American  taxation. — Coercive  plan  of  ministers  farther  de- 
veloped.— Bill  for  clianging  the  civil  government  of  Massachusetts. — Bill  for 
changing  the  administration  of  justice  therein. — Quebec  bill. — Inquiry  into  the 
state  of  prisons. — Howard. — Supplies. — Literary  property  ascertained  by  a  de- 
cision of  the  house  of  peers. — .Session  closes. — Expectations  and  apprehensions 
from  the  coercive  measures  of  the  legislature. 

I  coMF,  now  to  a  part  of  the  narrative  more  important  than  any 
which  has  hitherto  been  the  subject  of  this  history.  I  have  to  trace 
the  causes  and  the  commencement  of  a  vv^ar,  which  in  its  progress  in- 
volved maritime  Europe,  and  in  its  operations  displayed  very  fre- 
quently all  the  strength  of  the  British  character,  in  which,  though  the 
issue  proved  unfortunate,  as  the  counsels  were  not  rarely  unwise,  and 
the  executive  conduct  not  seldom  dilatory  and  indecisive,  yet  the  con- 
test was  on  the  whole  not  inglorious.  The  mass  of  British  energy 
was  unimpaired.  Military  ardour  and  enterprise,  naval  skill,  courage, 
and  ability,  manifested  themselves  in  all  ranks.  If  Britain,  having  the 
whole  force  of  her  ancient  foes  and  her  recent  friends  and  subjects  to 
combat,  did  not  come  off  victorious,  yet  she  was  not  vanquished  j  she 
indeed  lost  her  colonies,  but  did  not  lose  her  honour. 

Various  were  the  circumstances,  both  internal  and  external,  in  her 
cabinet,  her  senate,  her  camp,  and  the  combined  efforts  of  her  ene- 
mies, which  tended  to  depress  our  country  :  but  all  did  not  effect  a 
lasting  humiliation.  The  national  exertions,  though  far  different  in 
success  from  those  during  which  Pitt  had  guided  her  counsels, 
or  Marlborough  headed  her  troops,  proved  that  Britain  had  not  dege- 
nerated. Severely  as  the  effects  of  the  American  war  were  immedi- 
ately felt  by  this  country,  yet  its  distant  consequences  have  been  most 
dreadful  to  continental  Europe,  by  rapidly  accelerating  that  great  re- 
volution which  now  overwhelms  so  large  a  portion  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  has  made  the  chief  abettors  of  revolt  fall  into  destruction 
from  the  principles  which  that  revolt  cherished. 

Lord  North,  in  his  proposition  for  exporting  the  teas  of  the  com- 
pany without  paying  duty,  had  a  two-fold  object  in  view  :  to  relieve 
the  company,  and  to  improve  the  revenue.  The  Americans,  being  in- 
formed of  the  act,  viewed  it  only  in  the  latter  light.  The  association* 
against  iinporling  tea,  were  still  in  existence ;  although,  except  in 


300  HISTORY  OF  TIIR  Cnip.  XII.—1773. 

[Alarm  at  Boston.    Discovery  of  the  Hutchinson  letters.] 

Massachusetts  Ear,  little  regarded  ;  and  the  promulgation  of  this 
scheme  revived  their  spirit  in  the  more  moderate  colonies,  but  in 
Massachubelts  it  excited  great  rage  and  alarm.  It  was  foreseen,  that 
if  the  lea  were  once  introduced  and  landed,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
prevent  its  sale  and  consumption,  and  thus  the  inhabitants  would  be 
obliged  to  pay  the  duty,  notwithstanding  all  their  efforts  to  oppose 
taxation.  As  tea  had  been  clandestinely  imported  even  to  Boston,  the 
dealers,  who  were  very  numerous,  were  afraid  that  the  trade  might 
be  taken  out  of  their  hands,  and  become  entirely  dependent  on  the 
consignees  of  the  East  India  company.  These,  from  the  connexion 
now  subsisting  between  the  company  and  the  administration,  were 
gentlemen  who  favoured  government,  and  were  of  course  unpopular 
in  New-England. 

There  was  another  circumstance  also,  which  rendered  these  colo- 
nists more  inimical  than  ever  to  government,  and  consequently  more 
determined  to  oppose  its  measures  and  misconstrue  its  intentions. 
Some  years  before  this  time,  the  governor  and  deputy  governor  of 
Massachusetts  had  written  confidential  letters  to  official  persons  in 
England,  containing  a  very  unfavourable  view  of  the  state  of  affairs, 
and  of  the  temper,  dispositions,  and  designs  of  the  leaders  in  that  pro- 
vince. They  alleged,  that  a  republican  spirit  prevailed  there,  which 
would  resist  the  measures  of  Britain,  however  equitable;  that  to  re- 
duce the  inhabitants  to  obedience,  coercion  was  necessary  ;  and  that  a 
considerable  change  of  the  constitution  and  system  of  government  was 
requisite,  to  ensure  the  subordination  of  the  colony  ;  and  proposed, 
that  the  alteration  should  be  such  as  would  abridge  their  liberties. 
By  some  means  not  yet  discovered,  Doctor  Franklin,  agent  for  the 
province  in  England,  got  the  letters  into  his  possession.  Franklin  was 
also  depu;y  post  master-general  for  America,  an  office  which  he  held 
from  the  appointment  of  the  British  government;  from  gratitude, 
therefore,  he  might  have  been  presumed  to  be  attached  to  his  em- 
ployers. Perhaps  the  possessor  of  the  letters  might,  on  this  supposi- 
tion, have  shown  them  to  him,  in  order  to  illustrate  some  opinion  re- 
specting the  conduct  of  the  Americans;  but  howsoever  he  might  have 
discovered  them,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  he,  who  must  have  seen 
their  nature  and  tendency,  would  not  have  published  papers  which 
must  necessarily  embroil  the  governor  and  the  colonies.  Franklin, 
nevertheless,  did  make  them  known,  by  transmitting  them  to  the  pro- 
vincial assembly  then  sitting  at  Boston.  The  animosity  and  indigna- 
tion excited  by  their  perusal  were,  as  the  informer  must  have  fore- 
seen, vciy  violent.  The  assembly  sent  a  deputation  to  inquire  whether 
the  governor  acknowledged  the  signatures  ;  and  the  subscription  be- 
ing owned,  they  prepared  a  petition  and  remonstrance  to  bo  presented 
to  the  king,  charging  the  governor  with  betraying  his  trust  by  giving 
partial  and  false  information,  declaring  him  an  enemy  to  the  colony, 
and  praying  for  his  removal  from  office.  This  new  source  of  discord 
rendered  the  Boslonians  more  open  to  other  causes.  The  consignees 
of  the  East  India  compariy  were  chiefly  of  the  family  and  nearest  con- 
nexions of  the  governor  and  deputy  governor,  and  were  thus  more 
obnoxious  to  the  hatred  of  the  Boslonians. 

In  the  month  of  November,  intelligence  was  received  that  three 
ships  laden  with  tea  were  on  their  passage  to  Boston.  Tumults,  vio- 
lence, and  riot,  were  excited,  to  frighten  the  consignees  from  acting 


17r4.-CiiAr.  XII.  REIGN  OF  GEORCiE  III.  301 

[Arrival  of  the  tea-ships,  and  discharge  of  their  cargoes  into  the  sea.  Parliament.] 

in  their  intended  capacity.  Some  of  the  company's  agents  were  so 
intimidated  as  to  yield  to  this  lawless  violence,  and  to  relinquish  their 
appointments,  but  others  resolved  to  discharge  their  duty.  Commit- 
tees were  appointed  in  different  towns,  to  which  the  constituents  de- 
legated much  greater  powers  than  justly  and  legally  they  possessed 
themselves.  They  authorized  the  deputies  to  inspect  the  books  of 
merchants,  to  impose  tests,  and  to  inflict  punishment  on  those  who 
resisted  their  tyrannical  proceedings.  These  violent  measures  were 
not  confined  to  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  but  extended  to  the 
other  colonies  ;  it  was,  however,  at  Boston  that  they  proceeded  to  fla- 
grant outrage.  There  the  populace,  with  the  imperious  insolence  of 
a  democraiical  mob,  commanded  the  agents  to  relinquish  their  ap- 
pointments ;  but  those  gentlemen  refused  to  deviate  from  engage- 
ments which  justice  sanctioned,  and  law  authorized  ;  and  the  rioters 
attacked  the  houses  of  the  refractory  consignees,  whom  they  obliged 
to  take  refuge  in  Castle  William.  The  governor  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, commanding  the  civil  magistrates  to  suppress  the  riots,  and  pro- 
tect the  peaceable  and  well  disposed  inhabitants  ;*  but  the  proclama- 
tion was  disregarded  and  despised,  and  the  sheriff"  insulted  for  at- 
tempting to  read  it  at  one  of  the  illegal  meetings.  In  December, 
1773,  three  ships  belonging  to  the  company  arrived  at  Boston;  and 
the  very  day  on  which  they  came  to  port,  one  of  the  first  objects  that 
they  beheld  was  a  custotn-house  ofiicer  tarred  and  feathered  by  a  riot- 
ous multitude,  because  he  had  performed  the  duties  of  his  office.  The 
populace  manifested  so  general  a  spirit  of  enmity  and  revenge  against 
all  whom  they  supposed  to  be  connected  with  the  importation  of  tea, 
that  the  captains  were  afraid  to  attempt  the  landing  of  their  cargoes, 
and  off"ered  to  return  to  England,  if  they  could  obtain  the  proper  dis- 
charges from  the  consignees,  the  custom  house,  and  the  governor: 
but  though  these  officers  would  not  venture  to  land  the  tea,  they  re- 
fused to  give  the  captains  a  discharge  while  their  cargoes  remained 
on  board,  for  the  delivery  of  which  they  were  engaged  by  the  compa- 
ny. A  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  had  expressed  a  determination  to 
send  the  cargoes  and  ships  back  to  England,  and  applied  to  the  cus- 
tom-house for  a  clearance,  and  to  the  governor  for  leave  for  the  ships 
to  pass  Castle  William ;  and  the  refusal  of  both  being  reported,  the 
Americans  apprehended  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  government  of- 
ficers to  land  the  tea  privately,  which  would  render  it  impossible  to 
prevent  its  gradual  sale,  and  consequently  the  taxation,  which  the  Bos- 
tonians  abhorred.  To  oppose  this,  a  number  of  armed  men,  in  the 
evening  of  the  18th  of  December,  disguised  as  Indians,  boarded  the 
ships,  and  threw  the  cargoes  into  the  sea. 

Before  the  news  of  this  outrage  arrived  in  England,  parliament  had 
assembled.  That  august  body  met  on  the  13th  of  January,  1774.  The 
principal  subjects  of  the  king's  speech  were,  the  pacific  disposition  of 
other  loreign  powers,  though  the  war  between  Russia  and  Turkey 
still  continued ;  a  general  recommendation  to  employ  our  tranquillity 
from  abroad  in  improving  our  condition  at  home,  and  especially  to 
prosecute  such  measures  as  should  tend  to  advance  our  commerce 
and  revenue.  Under  these  heads  he  recommended  them  to  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  gold  coin,  which  was  then  very  much  impaired. 

•  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  vol.  i.  p.  84. 


302  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.  XlL-lTH. 

[Message  of  the  king  respecting  the  disturbances  in  Boston] 

On  the  disputes  of  America  his  majesty  did  not  enter,  as  no  informa- 
tion had  yet  been  received  of  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  colonists 
during  the  recess  of  parliament.    In  February,  however,  intelligence 
arrived  of  the  riot  in  Boston  ;  and  on  the  7th  of  March,  a  message  was 
delivered  from  his  majesty  to  the  house  of  commons  by  lord  North, 
purporting,  thut  in  consequence  of  the  unwarrantable  practices  car- 
ried on  in  America,   and  particularly  the  outrageous  proceedings  at 
the  town  and  port  of  Boston,  with   a  view  of  obstructing  the  com- 
merce of  this  kingdom,  and  upon  grounds  and  pretences  immediately 
subversive  of  the  constitution,  it  was  thought  fit  to  lay  the  whole  mat- 
ter before  parliament.    The  king  confided  as  well  in  their  zeal  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  majesty's  authority,  as  in  their  attachment  to  the 
general  interest  and  welfare  of  all  his  dominions.    He  trusted  that  they 
•would  not  only  enable  him  effectually  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
might  be  most  likely  to  put  an  immediate  stop  to  these  disorders,  but 
would  also  take  into  their  most  serious  consideration  what  farther  re- 
gulations and  permanent  provisions  might  be  necessary  to  be  esta- 
blished for  better  securing  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  the  just  de- 
pendence of  the  colonies  upon  the  crown   and  parliament  of  Great 
Britain.     This  message  being  delivered,  a  great  number  of  papers 
were  laid  before  the  bouse,  consisting  of  copies  and  extracts  of  letters 
from  the  different  magistrates  and  officers,  the  votes  and  resolutions 
of  the  inliabitants  of  Boston,  and  many  other  documents  both  authen- 
tic and  important.    An  address  to  his  majesty  was  proposed,  strongly 
expressing  the  readiness  of  parliament  to  comply  with  the  requisition 
of  the  royal  message.    Though  this  motion  was  carried  without  a  di- 
vision, it  produced  a  very  general  discussion  of  American  affairs,  and 
of  the  mode  and  extent  of  the  inquiries  which  should  be  made.   Mem- 
bers of  opposition  admitted,  that  America  was  in  a  very  disordered 
state ;  but   contended,  that  the  disturbances  arose  from  one  radical 
cause,  taxation;  and  until  that  was  removed,  discontent  would  always 
continue  in  the  colonies.    They  ought  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of 
the  Americans  who  had  resisted  government,  and  punish  them  ac- 
cording to  the  guilt  established  by  proof.   They  ought  also  to  examine 
the  system  of  violence  which  had  provoked,  and  of  weakness  which 
had  encouraged,  their  resistance.    Tiie  house  could  only  support  mi- 
nisters,  after   investigating  their  conduct,   and  finding  it   wise  and 
equitable  ;  therefore  a  strict  retrospect  into  their  management  was 
essentially  connected  with  an  inquiry  concerning  the  state  of  Ameri- 
ca.   If  tliey  had  acted  prudently,  such  a  review  would  terminate  to 
their  honour  ;  but  if  unwisely,  it  behooved  parliament  not  to  encou- 
rage weakness  and  ignorance.    The  retrospect  here  proposed  was  not 
for  a  judicial  purpose,  to  have  ministers  tried  or  punished ;  but  a  de- 
liberative, to  direct  the  conduct  of  the  legislature.    Ministers  warmly 
opposed  this  two-fold  consideration  of  the  subject;  and  contended, 
that  the  inquiry  should  be  confined  to  the  mere  misbehaviour  of  the 
Bostoniaiis.    Were  it  to  extend  to  other  subjects,   it   would  retard   a 
business  peculiarly  pressing  ;  and  also  encourage  the  disaffected  co- 
lonists, by  inducing  them  to  suppose  that  there  was  in  the  British  par- 
liament a  disposition  to  lessen  their  guilt  by  throwing  blame  on  the 
executive  government.    The  proposed  retrospect  was  therefore  not 
only  unnecessary,   iMit  even  dangerous  :   although  ministers  did   not 
here  prove  that,  in  examining  subjects  of  deliberative  measures,  it 


1774— CoAF.  XII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  393 

[Bill  for  blocking  up  the  port  of  Boston.    Arguments  of  lord  North.] 

was  better  to  rest  contented  with  part  of  the  facts  than  to  scrutinize 
the  whole  (and  that  was  the  an\ount  of  their  argument,*)  yet  they  suc- 
ceeded in  persuading  parliament  to  confine  its  attention  to  the  vio- 
lence and  outrages  of  the  Americans,  without  seeking  to  trace  the 
causes.  On  this  imperfect  knowledge  of  facts,  the  British  legislators 
proceeded  to  deliberate  on  questions  involving  the  preservation  or 
loss  of  a  most  valuable  part  of  the  empire.  As  the  grounds  of  their 
procedure  were  partial,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  they  would 
have  investigated  the  parts  which  they  professed  to  consider,  before 
they  passed  any  laws  upon  them :  it  will  be  presently  seen,  in  what 
manner,  and  to  what  extent,  cognizance  of  the  case  preceded  delivery 
of  judgment.  Parliament  agreeing  to  inquire  on  the  partial  system  pro- 
posed by  government,  ministers  contended,  that  two  subjects  must  be 
obtained, — satisfaction  to  the  East  India  company  for  the  loss  which 
they  had  incurred  by  the  destruction  of  the  tea;  and  reparation  to  the 
honour  of  Britain  for  the  insult  which  was  offered  to  it  in  the  forcible 
transgression  of  its  laws.  They  vindicated  the  conduct  of  the  govern- 
or, in  not  having  employed  the  military  force  of  the  castle  and  ships 
of  war  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  the  cargoes  :  the  leading  men  in 
Boston  had,  they  alleged,  always  remonstrated  against  the  interposi- 
tion of  the  army  and  navy,  and  had  imputed  the  past  disturbances  to 
their  interference.  Mr.  Hutchinson  manifested  great  prudence  and 
discretion  in  forbearing  an  employment  of  his  force,  which  would 
have  been  irritating  to  the  minds  of  the  people  ;  and  might  well  have 
hoped,  that  by  thus  confiding  in  their  conduct,  and  trusting  to  the  ci- 
vil power,  he  should  have  quieted  their  tumultuous  violence,  and  pre- 
served the  public  peace.  The  event,  however,  proved  contrary  to  his 
well-grounded  expectations;  the  disposition  and  temper  of  the  Bos- 
tonians,  freed  from  the  influence  of  fear,  had  been  fairly  tried,  and 
had  fully  manifested  themselves  ;  and  their  conduct  had  demonstrat- 
ed, that  it  was  impossible  for  the  powers  now  vested  in  government 
to  prevent  atrocious  outrages.  Our  commerce,  it  was  now  evident, 
could  no  longer  be  safe  in  the  harbour  of  Boston  ;  and  it  was  abso- 
lutely necessary,  that  some  other  port  should  be  found  for  receiving 
our  merchandise.  The  minister  therefore  proposed,  for  the  purpose 
of  private  indemnification  and  public  satisfaction,  a  bill  for  shutting  up 
the  port  of  Boston,  and  prohibiting  the  lading  or  unlading  of  all  goods 
or  merchandise  (except  stores  for  his  majesty's  service,  and  provi- 
sions and  fuel  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants,)  at  any  place  within  its 
precincts,  from  and  after  the  1st  of  June,  until  it  should  appear  to  his 
majesty,  that  peace  and  obedience  to  the  laws  were  so  far  restored  in 
the  town  of  Boston,  that  trade  might  again  be  safely  carried  on,  and 
his  majesty's  customs  be  duly  collected*  In  that  case,  his  majesty 
might,  by  proclamation,  open  the  harbour  ;  but  not  even  then,  until 
it  should  appear  that  dissatisfaction  had  been  made  to  the  East  India 
company  for  the  destruction  of  their  tea,  and  also  to  those  who  had 
suffered  by  the  riots  at  the  time  of  its  arrival  at  Boston. f 

Lord  North  observed,  during  the  progress  of  the  bill,  that  to  fine 
communities  for  their  neglect  in  not  punishing  offences  committed 

•  See  parliamentary  debates,  March,  1774  ;  and  afterwards  on  the  Boston  port 
bill. 

t  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  vol.  i.  p.  88. 


304  HISTORY  OF  TIIK  Chap.  XII.— 1774. 

[Reasoning  on  the  injustice  and  inexpediency  of  the  bill.] 

within  their  limits,  was  justified  by  several  precedents.  In  king 
Charles  the  second's  time,  when  Dr.  Lamb  was  killed  by  unknown 
persons,  the  city  of  London  was  fined  ;  when  captain  Porteus  was  vi- 
olently and  illegally  put  to  death  by  a  mob,  the  city  of  Edinburgh  was 
fined  and  otherwise  punished  ;  and  when  Mr.  Campbell's  house  at  Glas- 
gow was  pulled  down,  part  of  the  revenue  of  the  town  was  seques- 
tered to  make  good  the  damage.  Boston,  he  observed,  was  much  more 
criminal  than  either  of  the  three  cities  that  he  had  mentioned ;  that 
town  had  been  upwards  of  seven  years  in  riot  and  confusion ;  and 
there  all  the  disturbances  in  America  had  originated.  By  this  bill, 
Boston  might  certainly  suffer  ;  but  she  deserved  to  suffer,  and  she 
would  suffer  far  less  punishment  than  her  delinquencies  merited  :  the 
duration  of  her  punishment  was  entirely  in  her  own  power;  when- 
ever she  should  make  satisfaction  for  her  past  injuries,  and  give  full 
assurance  of  her  future  obedience,  his  majesty  would  doubtless  re- 
store her  to  her  former  situation,  and  open  her  port.  The  present 
was  a  crisis  which  demanded  vigour  j  for  it  was  necessary  to  con- 
vince America,  that  Britain  would  not  suffer  her  laws,  her  govern- 
ment, and  the  rights  of  her  subjects  to  be  violated  with  impunity.  It 
might  be  alleged  (ministers  said)  that  the  plan  was  wise  and  just,  but 
that  the  execution  would  be  difficult ;  to  this  they  replied,  that  though 
the  friends  of  British  authority  in  America  might  suffer  a  little  from 
their  adherence  to  the  cause,  which  was  unpopular  among  the  infatu- 
ated Bostonians,  and  our  merchants  might  experience  some  diminu- 
tion of  trade  from  the  determination  of  malcontents  to  refuse  British 
commodities,  and  from  the  exclusion  of  commerce  from  this  port,  the 
inconvenience  of  either  would  be  temporary  and  short.  The  present 
and  proposed  measures  would  either  induce  or  compel  those  deluded 
men  to  return  to  their  duty.  No  military  force  would  be  requisite  to 
carry  them  into  execution,  for  four  or  five  frigates  would  be  sufficient 
to  effectuate  our  double  purpose  ;  but  even  if  military  force  were 
wanted,  it  could  act  effectually  without  bloodshed.  The  other  colo- 
nies, it  was  expected,  would  approve  of  the  proper  punishment  being 
inflicted  on  those  who  had  disobeyed  the  laws  :  but,  even  were  they 
to  combine  with  the  rioters  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  consequences 
of  this  rebellion  would  rest  not  with  us,  but  with  themselves  :  wo 
were  only  answerable  that  our  measures  should  be  just  and  equi- 
table. 

During  the  progress  of  the  bill,  petitions  were  presented,  deprecat- 
ing its  acceptance,  upon  a  very  plain  principle  of  jurisprudence,  Ma^  no 
man  ormencanjustly  be  concUnmednvithout  being  heard  ;  that  the  charges 
against  the  Bostonians  were  adduced  on  the  report  of  the  governor,  who 
was  notoriously  at  variance  with  that  town  and  the  whole  province ;  that 
the  proposed  measure  proceeded  from  the  accusation  of  an  enemy,  on 
which  partial  ground  it  contained  a  sentence  delivered,  without  hear- 
ing the  accused  party  :  the  outrages  committed  were  not  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  city  of  Boston  ;  for  the  harbour  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  executive  power  ;  and  the  governor,  not  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton, was  answerable  for  a  neglect  of  authority  there.  In  the  alleged 
precedents  of  London  and  Edinburgh,  the  cases  were  totally  dissimi- 
\av  ;  the  offences  had  been  committed  within  the  jurisdiction  of  those 
cUies,  and  no  judgment  had  been  passed,  until  the  cause  was  fully 


1774.— Cn.u:   XII. 


UEIGN  OF  GEORGK   III. 


305 


[Opposition  predict  that  it  will  drive  the  colonies  to  rebellion.  Fabsed  into  a  law-] 

canvassed,  after  hearing  both  parties.*  This  was  the  purport  of  the 
petitions,  one  of  which,  from  natives  and  inlial)itants  of  North  Ameri- 
ca, was  lieard,  but  not  regarded  ;  anollier,  presented  by  the  agent  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  for  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  was  not  received. 
The  hill  was  opposed  in  the  house,  on  the  two  grounds  of  justice  and 
expediency.  The  arguments  on  the  lirsL  head  were  nearly  the  same 
as  those  which  were  employed  by  the  petitioners,  that  the  whole  city 
of  Boston  was  punished  for  an  offence  not  committed  within  its  juris- 
diction, and  without  being  heard  in  its  own  vindication  ;  it  was  besides 
alleged,  that  even  if  the  culpability  had  been  admitted,  the  punishment 
far  exceeded  the  crime.  Corporations,  for  neglecting  to  suppress  tu- 
mults within  their  jurisdiction,  had  been  frequently  fined,  but  never 
deprived  of  the  means  of  industry  and  trade.  The  restoration  of  their 
port  being  rendered  dependent  upon  the  king,  became  in  fact  depen- 
dent upon  the  king's  ministers  ;  and  thus  the  Bostonians  were  placed, 
without  a  trial,  in  a  situation  in  which  they  must  incur  commercial 
ruin,  or  comply  with  ministerial  mandates.  Besides,  intelligence  had 
arrived,  that  tea  had  been  destroyed  in  most  of  the  other  colonies  as 
Avell  as  Massachusetts;  why  then  make  an  act  of  parliament  for  pu- 
nishing a  part,  until  they  had  examined  the  conduct  of  the  whole  ?  It 
was  contrary  to  justice,  and  the  constitutional  rights  of  British  sub- 
jects, to  be  taxed  without  their  own  consent ;  and  all  the  disaffec- 
tion and  resistance  had  arisen  from  taxation,  combined  with  the  weak 

*  The  following'  statement,  drawn  np  from  ihe  petitions,  and  from  llie  reason- 
ings of  members  inimical  to  the  Boston  port  bill,  and  publislied  in  the  periodical 
works  of  the  times,  shows  the  absolute  inapplicability  of  Porteus's  noted  case  to 
the  riot  at  Boston. 

ruOCKEDINGS  AGAINST 
EnisBUHGH,  BosTOisr. 

Began  the  10th  of  Ftbruaiy,  1757,  Began  the  14th,  and  ended  the  31st 
and  ended  June  21st,  having  continued  of  March,  1774,  being  in  all  seventeen 
four  months.  days. 

Tlie  provost  and  magistrates  of  Edin-  Witnesses  examined  by  the  privy 
burgh,  the  judges  of  Scotland,  and  ma-  council,  and  their  evidence  suppressed, 
ny  other  witnesses  examined  at  the  bar 


of  the  house. 

Counsel  and  evidence  for  the  magis- 
trates and  city  fully  heard  at  the  bar. 

Two  members  for  Edinburgh,  forty- 
five  for  Scotland,  in  the  lov\t:i-  house; 
and  sixteen  in  the  ujjpcr. 

Charge-'-an  overt  act  of  rebellion,  and 
an  atrocious  murder ;  proved  on  a  lull 
hearing,  and  by  competent  eviciences. 

Frequent  conferences  htld  between 
the  two  houses,  to  compare  the  e\i- 
dence,  8cc. 

Punishment"  a  fine  of  2000^ 


The  agent  refused  a  hearing  at  the 
har. 

Not  one  member  for  Boston  in  either 
bouse,  nor  ior  all  oi'  any  ))arl  of  Ameri- 
ca, nor  even  a  voice  in  electing  one. 

Charge— a  riot  and  trespasses  ;  no 
evidence,  and   no  hearing. 

Not  one  conference. 


l'unishmcnt--llie  loss  of  their  port,  to 
the  injviry  of  the  town,  at  the  lowest 
rate,  5X10,000/  The  restoration  of  their 
]5orl,  and  the  use  of  their  properly  left 
at  the  king's  mercy;  after  they  shall 
liave  paid  for  rotten  tea  the  price  of 
sound,  to  the  amount  of  30,000/. 
Proof-  ionrnals  of  the  lords  and  com-  rroof.-jouvnals  of  (he  lords  and  com- 

mons in  i737,  against  Edinburgh  and     mons,  1774,  and  the  Boston  port  bill, 
the  bill. 

Vol.  VII.— 39 


306  HIS  roUY  OF  the  Cuap.  XII.— 1774. 

[Impart'iul  considerations.     General  Gage  sails  for  Boston.] 

and  wavering;  systems  of  ministry.  Administration,  aware  of  the  real 
Ciiuse,  eagerly  siiflecl  inquiry,  and  called  upon  legiblature  to  act  opon 
their  assertions  and  those  of  their  agents.  The  law  was  inexpedient 
in  a  commercial  view,  as  our  trade  must  suffer,  and  that  not  by  pre- 
clusion from  Boston  only  ;  for  other  colonies  were  equally  inimical 
to  the  tea  duty  us  Massachusetts,  and  had  discontinued,  or  at  least  di- 
minished, their  trade  with  Biilain.  It  was  politically  hurtful  ;  as  it 
would  irritate  and  tempt  the  colonies  to  resist,  instead  of  intimidating 
them  to  submit;  in  short,  it  was  the  offspring  of  narrow  understand- 
ing, incapable  of  comprehending  the  series  of  consequences  which 
>vould,  and  n\ust  result  from  such  a  law.  In  various  opinions  and  sen- 
timents the  colonies  were  divided,  but  on  the  subject  of  taxation  they 
•were  unanimous.  Thus  ministers  and  their  supporters  were  taking 
the  very  means  to  drive  to  a  confederacy,  provinces,  some  of  which 
might  have  been  kept  separately,  and  in  the  interests  of  the  mother 
country  ;  and  the  combination  would  necessarily  produce  a  forcible 
resistance  to  Hrilain,  which,  whatever  should  be  its  ultimate  issue, 
must  be  pernicious  to  the  contending  parties.  These  reasons,  how- 
ever forcible  they  were,  had  no  influence  with  the  majority  of  the 
parliament  ;  the  bill  was  carried  through  both  houses,  and  passed  into 
a  law,  alter  a  discussion  of  seventeen  days. 

The  historian  who  impartially  considers  this  momentous  law,  with 
all  the  circumstances  from  wliich  directly  or  indirectly  it  arose,  will 
allow,  that  the  proceedings  of  Massachusetts  Bay  had  for  a  series  of 
years  been  dictated  by  principles  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  consti- 
tutional authority  of  the  British  government  over  its  subjects;  that 
in  opposing  taxation,  they  had  manifested  a  democratical  spirit,  not 
only  in  declarations  and  writings,  but  by  acts  of  atrocious  outrage  ; 
that  it  was  very  natural  for-  ministers  to  be  incensed  against  the  avow- 
ers  of  such  doctrines,  and  the  perpetrators  of  such  deeds  :  but  he  will 
also  observe  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  fluctuation  of  mildness  and 
harshness,  coercion  and  indulgence,  (the  conciliatory  measures  being 
proposed  only  after  rigorous  experiments  had  been  found  ineffectual,) 
enraged  the  colonists  against  the  mother  country  for  her  apprehended 
intentions,  without  leading  them  to  fear  her  power.  In  the  measures 
which  were  adopted  in  consequence  of  the  riot  in  Boston,  the  histori- 
an must  discover  a  violence  and  precipitancy  which  more  obviously 
displayed  the  impuhe  of  anger,  than  discriminating  justice,  cautious- 
ly examining  every  circumstance,  or  expanded  wisdom  viewing 
causes,  operations,  and  their  consequences.  The  impartial  reader 
must  sec,  that  an  act  of  the  British  parliament,  most  important  in  its 
judicial  operation,  but  infinitely  more  momentous  in  its  political  ef- 
fort.s,  was  passed  when  the  legislative  assembly  was  influenced  by 
passion. 

Tiie  Boston  port  bill  being  passed,  a  fleet  of  four  ships  of  war  was 
ordered  to  sail  lor  Boston  ;  and  as  a  military  force  was  thought  necessa- 
ry to  reduce  the  inhabitants  to  obedience,  general  Gage,  commander 
in  chief  in  America,  was  appointed  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in 
the  room  of  Mr.  Hutchinson,  who  had  asked  leave  to  return  to  Eng- 
land. For  the  execution  of  the  act,  powers  were  granted  to  Gage,  by 
commission  under  the  great  seal,  to  bestow  pardons  for  treason  and  all 
other  crimes,  and  to  remit  fines  and  forfeitures  to  offenders  whom  he 
should  think  proper  objects  of  mercy. 


17r4.— Chap.  Xir.  KEICN  OF  GliOUGK  IIF.  307 

[Burke's  celebrated  speech  on  American  taxation.] 

Soon  after  llie  enactment  of  this  law,  Mr.  Rose  Fuller  made  a  mo- 
tion for  repealing  the  duty  on  tea,  the  only  remaining  part  of  Mr. 
Charles  Townshend's  plan  of  1767,  so  obnoxious  to  America.      While 
parliament,  he  said,  punished  the  outrages  of  the  licentious  and  riotous, 
it  was  wise  to  graiify  the  well  affected  colonists.  The  greater  number 
even  of  those  who  were  most  attached  to  the  mother  country  was  inimi- 
cal to  taxation  ;  the  duty  was  itself  trilling,  and  its  abandonment  would 
be  a  very  small  sacrifice,  were  it  either  to  preserve  or  restore  trantiuilli- 
ty  to  the  provinces.      The  arguments  of  most  sneakers  on  this  subject 
were  nearly  the  same  as  had  been  employed  in  former  discussions.    Mr. 
Edmund  Burke,  however,  delivered  a  speech  on  American  taxation, 
which  renders  this  motion  an  epoch  in  the   history  of  philosophical 
and  political  eloquence.      His  ground  of  argument  was  exfedience 
PROVED  FROM  EXPERIENCE.     He  traced  the  history  of  the  American 
colonies,  and  the  policy  of  this  country,  from  their  first  settlement  to 
thecommcncement  of  the  present  reign,  demonstrating  the  advantages 
of  the  former  policy.     The  measures  of  the  king's  ministers  were,  he 
said,  a  deviation  from  that  system  ;  a  deviation  unjust  both  to  Britain 
and  her  colonies.     Having  pursued  their  hisloiy  from  the  beginning 
to  the  time  at  which  he  spoke,  he  divided  it  into  periods,  described 
and  characterized  each  period,  and  the  principal  actors  by  whom  they 
were  respectively  influenced,  with  the  effects  on  the  welfare  ot  both 
the  colonies  and  the  parent  state  ;   he  deduced  from  the  whole  the  fol- 
lowing recommendation:    "Leave  the  Americans  as  they  anciently 
stood  ;  they  and  we,  and   their  and  our  ancestors,  have  been  happy 
under  that  system.      O/jfione  the  ancient  /lolicy  and  fxraclicc  of  the  cm- 
pirc^  an  a  ramfiart  againsC  the  sfteculationa  ofmuovntionf:,  and  they  will 
stand  on  a  manly  dnd  sure  ground."     In  u  few  lines  he   marked  the 
prominent  features  of  ministerial  policy,  with  the  utmost  accuracy  of 
historical  truth.     "  Never  have  the  servants  of  the  state  looked  at  the 
whole  of  your  complicated  interests  in  one  connected  view  :  they  iiave 
taken  things  by  bits  anrl  scraps,  just  as  they  pressed,  without  regard 
to  their  relations  and  dependt-ncies  :   they  never  had  any  system,  I'ight 
or  wrong,  but  only  occasionally  invented  some  miserable  tale  of  the 
day,  in  order  meanly   to  sneak  out  of  difficulties  into  which  they  had 
proudly  strutted."      Ministers  oppo-^ed  the  motion,  Ijecause  a  repeal 
at  such  a  time  would  show  fluctuation  and  inconsistency,  which  would 
defeat  the  good  effects  of  the  vigorous  plan  that,  after  too  long  remiss- 
ness, was  at  last  adopted.     The  motion  was  negatived.     The  disposi- 
tion to  carry  things  to  extremities  with  America  was  become  very  ge- 
neral.     As  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act  was  much  condemned,  and  its 
authors  greatly  decried  by  the  ministerial  adherents,  they  formed  the 
most  sanguine  expectations  that  strong  measures  would  prove  ulti- 
mately successful. 

The  Boston  port  bill  was  only  a  part  of  the  coercive  plan  which  ad- 
ministration had  now  adopted.  The  civil  government  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  was  inadequate,  ministers  alleged,  to  the  suppression  of  tu- 
mults and  the  preservation  of  the  peace.  To  remedy  this  defect,  an 
act  was  passed,  which  should  lleprive  the  lower  house  of  assembly  in 
MassacliMsetts  Bay  of  the  privilege  of  electing  the  members  of  the 
council,  and  vest  that  privilege  in  the  crown;  authorize  the  king,  or 
his  substitute  the  governor,  to  appoint  the  judges,  magistrates, and  she- 
riffs, and  empower  the  sheriffs  to  sumjnon  and  return  juries  ;  and,  for 
the  prevention  of  factious  assemblies,  prohibit  town  meetings  from  be- 


308  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XII.— 1774. 

[Bills  changing^  the  civil  g^overnment  of  Massachusetts,] 

ing  called  by  the  select  men,  unless  with  the  consent  of  the  governor.* 
In  support  of  the  bill,  it  was  alleged,  that  the  force  of  the  civil  power 
consists  in  the  /tossc  comitatus^  but  the  posse  are  the  very  people  who 
commit  the  riots.  If  the  democratic  part  disregarded  the  laws,  how 
were  they  to  be  enforced  by  the  governor?  He  could  neither  appoint 
nor  remove  magistrates  ;  that  power  was  vested  in  the  council,  the 
members  of  which  were  dependent  upon  the  people.  The  civil  ma- 
gistrate caught  the  tone  and  sentiments  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
lived  ;  from  llicm  he  ultimately  derived  his  appointment ;  and,  though 
the  military  forces  were  ever  so  numerous  and  active,  they  could  not 
move  to  support  magistracy,  as  no  magistrate  could  call  upon  them 
for  assistance.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  alter  the  executive  and 
judicial  powers  of  the  xMassachusets  government,  and  to  form  them 
upon  the  model  of  the  royal  governmeius  in  the  more  southern  colo- 
nies. It  was  objected  to  the  bill,  that  it  was  an  arbitrary  and  danger- 
ous measure  to  take  away  the  civil  constitution  of  a  whole  people  se- 
cured by  a  charter,  the  validity  of  which  was  not  so  much  as  question- 
ed at  law,  upon  loose  allegations  of  delinquencies  and  defects,  without 
evidence  to  show  the  necessity  of  such  an  act.  The  pretence  of  an- 
nulling the  charter  to  strengthen  government,  could  not  stand  the  test 
of  examination  ;  for  the  colonies,  already  regulated  in  the  manner  pro- 
posed by  the  bill,  were  no  less  inimical  to  taxation  than  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  The  part  of  the  act  which  affected  juries,  was  framed, 
•without  any  pretence  of  abuse  ;  and  the  case  of  captain  Preston  was 
in  itself  sufficient  to  show,  that  juries  could  act  justly  even  at  the  ex- 
pense of  popularity.  The  cause  of  the  disturbances  was  not  the  sys- 
tem of  polity  ;  it  was  the  imposition  of  taxes  which  had  rendered  the 
people  dissatisfied,  as  well  in  the  royal  governments  as  in  the  other; 
and  no  remedy  would  be  efficient,  without  the  removal  of  the  cause. 
This  act  had  a  quite  contrary  tendency  ;  instead  of  giving  strength  to 
government,  it  was  calculated  to  annihilate  the  reinains  of  British  au- 
thority in  the  colonies.  A  petition  was  presented  by  Mr.  Bollan,  the 
agent  of  Massachusetts  Bay  province,  praying  that  the  bill  might  not 
pass  until  advice  should  arrive  from  the  colony,  and  that  they  might 
be  heard  in  their  own  defence?  by  counsel  before  their  constitution, 
•which  had  been  confirmed  by  the  most  solemn  charters,  was  subvert- 
ed. In  the  conclusion  ihey  made  a  very  strong  and  pathetic  entreaty 
to  the  house  to  consider,  "  that  the  restraints  which  such  acts  of  se- 
verity impose,  are  ever  attended  with  the  most  dangerous  hatred  ;  in 
a  distress  of  mind  which  cannot  be  described,  the  petitioners  conjure 
the  house  not  to  convert  that  zeal  and  affection  which  has  hitherto 
united  every  Amei'ican  hnnd  and  heart  in  the  interests  of  England,  in- 
to passions  the  most  painful  cuu!  pernicious  ;  they  most  earnestly  be- 
seech the  house  not  to  attempt  reducing  them  to  a  state  of  slavery, 
which  the  English  princijjles  of  liberty  that  tiiey  inherit  from  their 
mother  country  will  render  worse  than  death  ;  and  that  the  house  will 
not,  by  passing  these  bills,  reduce  their  countrymen  to  the  most  abject 
state  of  misery  and  humiliation,  or  drive  them  to  the  last  resourcesof 
despair."  Alter  a  veiy  warm  debate,  the  bill  was  passed  by  a  great  ma- 
jority, on  the  22d  of  Muy,  1774,  in  the  house  of  commons  ;  and  nine 
days  after,  the  same  arguments  being  repeated,  it  passed  in  the  house 
of  peers. 

•  See  Stcdman's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  89. 


1774.-CHAP.  XII.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  IH.  309 

[and  the  administration  of  justice  in  that  province.] 

Lord  North  now  prepared  a  third  bill,  "  for  the  impartial  adminis- 
tration of  justice  in  the  cases  of  persons  questioned  for  any  acts  done 
by  them  in  the  execution  of  the  law;  or  for  the  suppression  of  riots 
and  tumults  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts  JJay  in  New- England." 
According  to  the  bill,  the  governor  was  empowered,  if  he  found  that 
any  person  indicted  for  murder,  or  some  other  capital  ofl'ence,  incur- 
red in  suppressing  tumults  and  riots,  should  not  be  likely  to  have  fair 
trial  in  the  province,  to  send  them  to  any  other  colony,  or  to  Great 
Britain,  This  bill,  the  minister  alleged,  was  necessary  to  give  effect 
to  the  two  others;  it  was  in  vain,  he  said,  to  appoint  a  magistracy  that 
would  act,  if  none  could  be  found  hardy  enough  to  put  their  orders 
into  execution.  These  orders  would  most  probably  be  resisted,  and 
this  resistance  would  render  force  necessary  to  execute  the  laws  ;  in 
this  case,  blood  would  probably  be  spilt.  Who,  said  lord  North,  would 
risk  this  event,  though  in  the  execution  of  his  clearest  duty,  if  the 
rioters  themselves,  or  their  abettors,  were  to  sit  as  the  judges  ?  How 
can  any  man  defend  himself,  on  the  plea  of  executing  your  laws,  be- 
fore those  persons  who  deny  your  right  to  make  any  law  to  bind  them- 
selves ?  He  further  alleged,  that  such  an  act  was  not  without  prece- 
dent; smugglers  apprehended  for  offences  committed  on  the  coast  of 
Sussex,  had  been  made  triable  in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  and  the 
Scotch  rebels  in  England.  The  proposed  act  did  not  tend  to  establish 
a  military,  but  a  civil  government ;  it  gave  to  the  province  a  council, 
magistrates,  and  justices,  when  in  fact  they  had  none  before  ;  it  did 
not  screen  guilt,  but  protected  innocence :  we  must  show  the  Ame- 
ricans, that  we  would  no  longer  quietly  submit  to  their  insults,  and 
that,  when  roused,  our  measures,  without  being  cruel  and  vindictive, 
were  necessary  and  efficacious.  This  act  would  complete  his  legis- 
lative plan  :  the  rest  depended  upon  vigilance  and  vigour  in  the  ex- 
ecutive government,  which  his  lordship  promised  should  not  be  want- 
ing. The  four  regiments  usually  stationed  over  America,  had  all  been 
ordered  to  Boston,  and  prosecutions  had  been  directed  against  the 
ring-leaders  in  sedition  ;  he  made  no  doubt  that,  by  the  steady  execu- 
tion of  the  measures  now  adopted,  obedience  and  the  blessings  of 
fieace  would  be  restored  ;  and  the  evenly  he  firedicted^  would  be  advan- 
tageous and  hafifiy  to  this  coxintry.  This  bill  was  opposed  with  no  less 
vehemence  and  force  than  the  two  preceding  laws  :  the  members  in 
opposition  denied  its  alleged  foundation,  that  it  would  tend  to  the  im- 
partial administration  of  justice  ;  if  a  party  spirit  against  the  authority 
of  Great  Britain  would  coridenin  an  active  ofiicer  there  as  a  murderer, 
the  same  party  spirit  for  the  authority  of  Great  Britain  might  here 
acquit  a  murderer  as  a  zealous  performer  of  his  duty ;  but  the  fact 
was,  that  though  by  the  bill  the  people  were  precluded  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  rights,  no  abuse  liad  been  proved,  or  even  attempted  to 
be  proved:  there  was  no  evidence  that  justice  had  not  been  impar- 
tially administered  by  the  tribunals  established  ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
instances  (colonel  Barre  observed)  which  had  happened,  were  direct 
confutations  of  such  charges.  Ttie  case  of  captain  Preston  was  re- 
cent ;  this  ofticer  and  some  soldiers  had  been  indicted  at  Boston  for 
murder,  in  killing  some  persons^during  the  suppression  of  a  riot ; 
they  were  fairly  tried,  and  fully  acquitted.  It  was  an  American  jury, 
a  New-England  jury,  a  Boston  jury,  which  tried  and  acquitted  the  ac- 
cused. Captain  Preston  had,  under  his  hand,  publicly  declared,  that 
the  inhabitants  of-the  very  town  where  their  fellow-citizens  had  been 


310  HIS  rOUY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XH.— 1774. 

[Speech  of  colonel  Ban  <$.] 

slain,  acquitted  himself.    This  was  the  very  case  which  the  act  sup- 
posed.   The  precedents  attempted  to  be  drawn  from  trials  for  smug- 
gling, it  was  contended,  were,  like  those  adduced  to  support  the  for- 
mer bills,  totally  inapplicable.    It  was  not  difficult  for  either  a  prose- 
cutor or  a  defendant  in  Sussex,  to  attend  the  trial  in  Middlesex;  but 
the  act  now  proposed  was  a  virtual  indemnity  for  all  inurders  and  ca- 
pital offences  committed  in  the  alleged  execution  of  the  laws.    The 
distance  was   so  great,   and    the  expenses  would   be  so   heavy,  that 
scarcely  any  man  would  undertake  to  be  a  prosecutor,   even    though 
his  near  relation  were  murdered.    Ministers  were  proceeding  on  the 
partial  information  of  interested  partisans,  and  upon  their  misrepre- 
senlalions  had  framed  the  most  destructive  laws  ;  the  consequence  of 
this  act  would  be,  the  establishment  of  a  military  government,  replete 
with  the  most  lawless  violence.   The  people  had  been  long  complain- 
ing of  oppression  ;  and  now,  that   so  many  troops  were  ordered  to 
Boston,  they  would  consider  them  as  the   instruments   of  furtlier  ty- 
ranny, which  there  were  no  longer  efficient  courts  of  law  to  restrain. 
The  soldiers,  it  was  said,  unawed  by  the  civil  power,  and  prepossessed 
■with  an  idea  that  the  people  weie  rebellious,   would,  in  spite  of  the 
vigilance  of  their  officers,  be  guilty  of  such  violence  as  would  rouse 
its  objects  to  resistance  ;  and  the  consequence  would  be  open  rebel- 
lion,   "  You  are  (said  colonel  Barre,  in  an  eloquent  and  iinpressive 
peroration)   urging    this  desperate,   this    destructive  issue  ;  you   are 
urging  it  with  such  violence,  and  by  measures  tending  so  manifestly 
to  that  fatal  point,  that,  though  a  state  of  madness  only  could  inspire 
such  an  inleniion,  it  would  ap|)ear  to  be  your  deliberate  purpose.    You 
have  changed  your  ground  ;  you  are  becon/uig    the  aggressors,  and 
are  offering  the  last  of  human  outrages  to  the  people  of  America,  by 
subjecting  them  in  effect  to  military  execution.    I  know  the  vast  su- 
periority of  your  disciplined  troops  over  the  provincials:  but  beware 
how  you  supply  the  want  of  discipline  by  desperation.    Instead  of  of- 
fering them  the  olive  branch,  you  have  sent  the  naked  sword;  by  the 
olive  branch,  I  mean  a  repeal  of  all  the  late  laws,  fruitless  to  you  and  op- 
pressive to  the  colonies.    Ask  their  aid  in  a  constitutional  manner,  and 
they  will  give  it  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability  ;  they  never  yet  refused 
it  when  properly  called  upon;  your  journals  bear   recorded  acknow- 
ledgments of  the  zeal  with  which  they  have  contributed  to  the  gene- 
ral necessity  of  the  state  :  they  might  be  flattered  into  any  thing,  bnt 
are  not  to  be  driven.    Have  some  indulgence  to  yoar  own  likeness; 
respect  their  sturdy  English  virtue;   retract  your  odious  exertions  of 
authority;  and   remember,   that  the  first  step  towards  making  them 
contribute  to  your  wants,  is  to  reconcile  them  to  your  government." 
Mr.  Rose  Fuller,    venerable  for  his  years  and   parliamentary   experi- 
ence, and  for  independence  of  character,  by  no  means  uniformly  an 
opponent  to  government,  and  indeed  belonging  to  no  party,  ended  a 
long  speech  against  this  bill  with  ilie  following  words:  "  l/,will  now 
take  my  leave  of  the  whole  i)lan  :  you  will  commence  their  ruin  trom 
this  day.    I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  not  only  the  Ikjusc  lias  fallen  into  this 
error,  but  the  people  approve  of  the  mea!<ure.    The  people,  I  am  sorry 
to  say  it,  are  misled  ;  but  a  short  time  will  prove  the  evil  tendency  of 
this  bill.    If  ever  there  was  a  nation  running  headlong  to  its  destruc- 
tion, it  is  this."    Whatever  reasons  could  be  urged  against  the  bill, 
the  voles  for  it  were  very  numerous,  and  it  passed  the  house  of  com- 
mons by  a  great  majority.    No  less  strength  of  argument  was  exerted 


irr4.— Chat.  XII.  REIGN  OF  GKOUGE  III.  311 

[Protests  against  the  bills.    Mr.  Fox.    Quebec  bill.] 

in  opposition  to  this  measure  in  the  house  of  lords  ;  and  though  from 
the  ample  discussion  which  it  had  undergone  among  the   commons, 
little  novelty  of  reasoning  could  be  expected  from  either  side,  yet 
one  new  consideration  was    urged   against  it  by  the  opposing  lords. 
The  means  adopted,  it  was  alleged,  for  retaining  the  colonies  in  obe- 
dience by  an  army  rendered  independent  of  the  ordinary  course  of 
law  in  the  place  where  they  were  employed,  would  prove  the  ruin  of 
the  nation,  by  extending  that  instrument  of  arbitrary  power.    Strong- 
protests  were  framed  against  the  three  several  bills.    The  protesting 
lords  were  chiefly  those  of  the  Rockingham  part  of  opjiosilion  ;  lord 
Chatham  was  himself  confined  by  illness:  neither  his  name,  those  uf» 
earls  Temple  or  Shelburne,  of  lord  Camden,  or  any  other  of  his  par- 
ticular friends,  are  found  in  the  lists  of  the  dissentients.    In  the  house 
of   commons,  the  two   divisions   of  anti-ministerial    senators   spoke 
strenuously  against  the  series  of  coercive  acts.    The  orations  on  these 
questions  displayed  distinguished  ability  on'both  sides,   but  the  most 
transcendent  genius  on  the  side  of  opposition.    Besides  Mr.  Burke, 
that  party  now  possessed  Mr.  Charles  Fox,'  whose  powers  far  sur- 
passed those  of  the   most  brilliant  and   illustrious  commoners    that 
were  ranged  on  the  side  of  administration.    This  extraordinary  man, 
with  hib  mind  fast  approaching  to  maturity,  on    being  abruptly    dis- 
missed from  his  office  of   a  lord  of  the    admiralty,  had    turned  his 
strength  against  the  niinister,  and  proved  the  most  formidable  adver- 
sary thai  he  ever  encoLiutered  while  at  the  head  of  affairs.    From  the 
nature  of  the  subjects,  a  grfiat  portion  of  the  speeches  on  the  three 
bills  beino-  intended  to  demonstrate  their  probable  effects  either  good 
or  bad,    was  prophetic.    On   comparing  the  predictions  of  ministry 
and  of  opposition  wiih  the  actual  course  of  evei)ts,  the  comprehen- 
sive reader  must  see  that  the  great  part  of  what  the  ministers  advan- 
ced proved  false,  and  of  what  opposition  advanced  proved  tiue.    Mi- 
nisters were,  indeed,  beyond  ail  ciuesiion,  extremely  deficient  in  in- 
formation.    They  had  by  no  means  employed  sufficient  pains  to  pro- 
cure an  adequate  knowledge  of  facts:  but  formed  their  judgment  and 
plans    from    imperfect   materials.     Opposition,   especially    governor 
Povvnall,  governor   Johnstone,   and  far  beyond  all,    Mr.    Burke,  ac- 
quired so. extensive  an  acquaintance  with  the  state,    sentiments,  opi- 
nions, and  characters  of  the  respective  colonies,  as  afforded  light  both 
to  themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  party.    Opposition,  indeed,  was  anx- 
ious to  open,  and  ministers  to  shut,  all  avenues  to  knowledge  con- 
cerning North  America,  the  most  important  subject  of  their  counsels 
and  pUns. 

The  session  was  now  drawing  near  the  usual  season  of  recess,  and 
many  of  the  members,  thinking  that  no  business  of  importance  would 
be  laid  before  parliament  previously  to  its  prorogation,  had  retired 
inio  the  couniiy.  They  were,  however,  mistaken  in  their  opinion  ; 
the  plan  of  government  respecting  America  was  not  yet  complete. 
In  the  beginning  of  June',  a  bill  was  brought  into  the  house,  for  the 
administration  of  the  province  of  Quebec.  The  professed  objects  of 
the  proposed  arrangements  were,  to  ascertain  the  limits  of  that  pro- 
vince, which  extended  far  beyond  what  had  been  settled  as  such  by 
the  king's  proclamation  of  1763  ;  to  secure  to  the  inhabitants  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion,  and  to  the  Roman  catholic  clergy  those 
rights  which  were  agreeable  to  the  articles  of  capitulation  at  the  time 
of  the  surrender  of  the  province  ;  to  restore  their  ancient  laws  in  ci- 


312  HISTORY  OF  THE  Ciiap.  XH.— 1774. 

[Arguments  for  and  against  the  Quebec  bill.] 

vil  cases  without  a  trial  by  jury,  as  being  more  acceptable  to  the 
French  Canadians  than  the  English  laws  with  the  trial  by  jury  :  and 
to  establish  a  council,  holding  their  commissions  from  and  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  king,  who  were  to  exercise  all  the  powers  of  legisla- 
tion, that  of  imposing  taxes  only  excepted.  Such  a  council,  composed 
principally  of  the  Canadian  noblesse,  it  was  supposed,  would  be  more 
agreeable  to  the  bulk  of  the  people,  than  a  house  of  representatives. 

In  favour  of  this  law,  it  was  argued,  tliat  political  establisliments 
ought  to  be  adapted  to  tiie  sentiments,  opinions,  manners,  and  habits 
of  those  for  whom  they  were  formed.  The  French,  who  constituted 
•a  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Canada,  having  been  accustomed 
to  an  absolute  government,  neither  valued  nor  understood  a  free  con- 
stitution. .The  Canadian  French  abhorred  the  idea  of  a  popular  re- 
presentation, from  observing  the  mischiefs  that  it  produced  in  the  co- 
lonies adjoining  their  country.  They  were  not  yet  ripe  for  a  British 
constitution  ;  their  landed  property  had  been  all  granted,  and  their 
family  settlements  made,  on  the  ideas  of  French  law  ;  as  for  the  laws 
concerning  contracts  and  personal  property,  they  were  nearly  the 
same  in  France  as  in  England.  Having  been  wholly  unused  to  trial  by 
jury,  they  disliked  it  as  an  innovation  ;  and  the  treaty  of  Paris  had 
secured  to  the  French  Canadians  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion, 
as  far  as  was  consistent  with  the  laws  of  England.  Our  acts  concerning 
popery,  it  was  asserted,  did  not,  like  the  king's  supremacy,  extend  be- 
yond the  kingdom  ;  the  Roman  catholic  Canadians  were  obliged  to  give 
a  prqof  of  their  allegiance ;  and  an  oath  was  prescribed  as  a  test  against 
papal  claims,  incompatible  with  the  duty  of  subjects.  By  securing 
their  tithes  to  the  popish  clergy,  the  act  did  no  more  than  restore  them 
lo  the  situation  which  they  held  at  the  conquest;  subject,  however,  to 
the  disadvantage,  that  no  person  professing  the  protesiant  religion  was 
to  contribute  any  thing  to  their  support.  The  extension  of  the  pro- 
vince beyond  the  limits  described  in  the  proclamation,  was  justified 
by  the  plea,  that  several  French  families  were  settled  in  remote  parts 
of  the  country,  beyond  the  former  districts,  and  un  entire  colony  was 
established  among  the  Illinois  Indians. 

The  arguments  against  the  i)ill  were  reducible  to  two  heads;  the 
incongruity  and  danger  of  an  arbitrary  government,  established  by  the 
British  legislature  in  any  part  of  the  empire,  and  the  establishment  of 
the  Roman  catholic  religion.  The  measure  was  said  lo  be  an  expe- 
riment of  absolute  power  tried  in  one  colony,  in  order  to  extend  by 
degrees  that  mode  of  ruling  to  all  the  others.  Tlic  immense  enlarge- 
ment of  tlie  boundaries  of  Canada  was  alleged  to  be  for  the  same 
purpose,  to  have  a  powerful  instrument  for  subjugating  the  colonics. 
The  proposed  annihilation  of  the  popular  assembly  was  attributed  lo 
the  dislike  which  ministry  entertained  for  the  rights  of  the  people. 
The  great  secuiity  of  liberty  consisted  in  the  power  of  having  civil 
actions  tried  by  a  jury,  and  in  cases  of  arbitrary  imprisonments,  and 
many  other  violations  of  the  rights  of  subjects.  I'his  had  always 
been  the  mode  of  seeking  redress;  and  the  English  hnrs  would  be 
greatly  aggrieved  in  being  sul>jcctcd  to  French  customs,  and  French 
forms  of  trial.  On  the  subject  of  religion,  it  was  contended,  that  the 
capitulation  had  only  provided  that  the  Roman  catholic  faith  should 
be  tolerated.  I'his  privilege,  (opposition  was  willing  to  allow  thcni 
in  the  fullest  extent;  but  by  the  proposed  bill,  they  said,  instead  of 


ir74 -Chap.  XII,  REIGN  OF  GKORGE  III.  313 

[Gold  coin.     Inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  prisons.] 

being  tolerated,  it  was  established.  The  people  of  Canada  had  hi- 
therto been  happy  under  toleration,  and  looked  for  nothing  farther. 
By  this  establishment,  said  they,  the  protestant  religion  enjoys  at  least 
no  more  than  a  toleration ;  for  the  popish  clergy  have  a  legal  parlia- 
mentary right  to  a  maintenance,  while  the  protestant  clergy  are  left 
at  the  king's  discretion.  Various  amendments  were  proposed  in  the 
house  of  commons,  and  several  changes  took  place ;  but  the  ground- 
work continued  the  same.  A  petition  was  presented  by  the  city  of 
London  to  the  king,  praying  him  to  withhold  the  royal  assent :  as  the 
bill  regarded  religion,  a  very  great  popular  clamour  was  excited,  and 
an  apprehension  of  popery  revived.  It  went  thiough  the  houses, 
hcvvevcr,  with  a  very  great  majority,  and  was,  on  the  22d  of  June, 
passed  into'  a  law. 

Although  America  occupied,  during  this  most  memorable  session, 
the  principal  attention  of  parliament,  several  other  affairs  of  consider- 
able importance  came  before  the  houses.  The  diminution  of  the  gold 
coin  had  been  long  a  subject  of  general  complaint.  In  the  close  of 
the  session  of  1773,  it  had  been  brought  before  parliament;  and  an 
act  was  passed  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  to  prevent  the  counter- 
feiting or  diminishing  the  gold  coin  of  the  kingdom.  By  the  law,  the 
loss  on  the  diminished  gold,  amounting  to  a  very  large  sum,  fell  upon 
the  immediate  possessors,  and  thereby  principally  affected  the  great 
money  holders  or  bankers.  During  the  recess  its  operation  had  been 
severely  felt,  and  the  more  especially  as  the  commercial  world  had 
not  yet  recovered  from  the  distresses  occasioned  by  the  failures  of 
the.  former  year.  The  law  had  become  very  unpopular  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  session  of  1774  ;  and  several  strictures  were  passed 
on  the  gold  coin  act,  which  was  affirmed  to  be  highly  oppressive  and 
injurious  to  individuals.  Bankers  had  received  coin  according  to  its 
nominal  value,  on  the  public  faith,  and  under  the  sanction  of  govern- 
ment. It  was  very  unjust  that  a  particular  body  of  men  should  be 
obliged  to  make  good  to  the  public  a  loss  sustained  through  the  ini- 
quity of  others,  and  the  culpable  negligence  of  the  police,  in  not  re- 
straining such  criminal  and  pernicious  practices.  The  lateness  of 
the  season  at  which  the  law  was  proposed,  when  many  members  had 
left  town,  and  the  hurry  with  which  it  had  been  carried  through  the 
houses,  so  as  to  afford  no  time  for  examining  its  nature  and  tendency, 
also  underwent  severe  animadversion.  It  was  answered  by  the  mi- 
nister, that  the  evil  had  been  so  urgent  as  not  to  admit  of  any  delay, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  to  be  remedied,  even  late  as  it  was  in  the 
session.  He  denied  that  it  was  unjust;  for  the  lo^s,.  he  contended, 
had  fallen  on  those  who  had  been  gainers  by  the  situation  which  occa- 
sioned it,  and  who  had  always  profited  by  the  public  money.  A  com- 
mittee, however,  was  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of 
the  gold  coin,  and  in  consequence  of  their  report,  weights  were  esta- 
blished, under  the  direction  of  the  officers  of  the  mint,  a  conformity 
to  which  was  necessary  to  constimte  a  current  gold  coin,  and  a  re- 
coinage  took  place  agreeably  to  that  standard.  The  effect  of  these 
regulations  was,  that  no  person  could  be  defrauded  in  the  receipt  of 
gold  coin,  except  by  his  own  negligence  in  not  weighing  the  prof- 
fered money,  and  this  was  a  very  material  reform  in  the  great  me- 
dium of  commerce. 

During  this  session  a  committee  having  been  appointed  for  in- 

Vot.  VII.— 40 


314  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chip.  XU.—1774 

(.Howaril.     Prosecutions  for  libels.    Supplies.] 

quiring  into  abuses  practised  in  gaols,  among  other  gentlemen  ex- 
amined was  Mr.  Howard,  sheriff  of  Bedford,  a  man  of  exquisite  phil- 
anthropy, who,  it  was  found,'  had  visited  those  mansions  of  misery 
through  the  greater  part  of  England  at  a  very  heavy  expense,  and 
with  a  continual  risk  of  his  life,  in  order  to  advise  and  administer  re- 
lief. From  the  reports  delivered  by  him  to  the  house,  several  im- 
provements were  immediately  suggested,  and  many  more  were  ulti- 
mately devised,  which  have  since  tended  so  poweriully  to  mitigate 
human  wretchedness.  The  thanks  of  the  house  were  unanimously 
returned  to  the  benevolent  man  who  had  inspected  such  scenes  of 
distress,  for  the  purpose  of  alleviation;  and  the  various  inquiries 
which  arose  from  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Howard,  tended  not  only  to  soften 
the  evils  of  poverty,  but  to  diminish  concomitant  evils,  and  to  prevent 
the  frequency  of  infectious  distempers,  which  were  before  so  preva- 
lent, from  the  squalid  and  noxious  atmosphere  of  mismanaged  gaols. 

Some  proceedings  on  ah  enclosure  bill  gave  rise  to  a  libel, 
which  was  severely  prosecuted  by  the  commons.  Several  petitions, 
it  seems,  had  been  presented  against  the  enclosure  in  question  ;  and 
the  attention  bestowed  upon  these  by  the  speaker,  had  not  satisfied 
the  advocates  of  the  bill.  A  most  virulent  letter  was  immediately 
printed  in  the  Public  Advertiser,  charging  sir  Fletcher  Norton  with 
gross  partiality.  The  commons  not  only  acquitted  their  speaker  of 
the  accusation,  but  voted  the  letter  a  false,  scandalous,  and  malicious 
libel,  contrary  to  all  law  and  justice,  and  an  open  violation  of  their 
privileges.  The  printer  being  summoned,  threw  himself  upon  the 
rnercy  of  the  house.  He  declared  that  he  had  received  the  letter 
fcom  Mr.  Home  ;  that  it  had  been  published  in  the  hurry  of  business  ; 
and,  as  he  had  never  before  offended  the  house,  he  expressed  his 
hopes  for  its  compassion.  On  inquiry,  it  was  found,  that  Mr.  Home 
was  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Home.,  clergyman  of  Brentford.  It  was  moved, 
that  ^Fr.  Woodfall,  the  printer,  should  be  committed  to  the  custody  of 
the  sergeant  at  arms  ;  and  Mr.  Charles  Fox,  ardent  in  enmity  to  the 
licentiousness  of  the  press,  friendly  as  he  has  ever  shov.n  himself  to 
its  liberty,  proposed  that  Newgate  should  be  the  scene  of  confine- 
ment; the  more  gentle  motion,  however,  was  carried.  Mr.  Home 
was  next  summoned,  but  eluded  tlic  order,  by  pretending  not  to  con- 
sider himself  as  the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  The  next  day 
being  taken  into  custody,  Mr.  Horne  pleaded  not  guilty.  The  only 
evidence  against  him  being  Mr.  Woodfoil,  who  was  thought  to  be  in- 
competent because  he  was  himself  in  custody  and  a  parly,  Mr.  Home 
was  discharged.  Mr.  Fox  the  same  day  compKiined  of  a  letter  in  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  as  a  libel  on  the  constitution  and  the  royal  fa- 
mily ;  and,  at  his  instance,  directions  were  given  for  prosecuting  the 
printer. 

The  supplies  proposed  for  this  year  caused  great  debates :  oppo- 
sition alleged,  that  the  number  of  forces,  twenty  thousand  for  the 
fleet,  and  eighteen  thousand  for  the  army,  was  greater  than  a  peace 
establishment  required,  and  the  expenses  being  io  several  articles, 
and  upon  the  whole,  higher  than  usual,  produced  loud  complaint  and 
severe  censure  fioin  opposition.  The  minister  admitted  the  expen- 
diture to  be  great,  but  insisted  that  it  arose  from  circumstances  which 
he  could  not  prevent,  and,  /or  the  future-)  he  was  conjident  he  would 
be  able  to  lesnen  the  cx/ienditure. 


17r4.-CuAP.  XII.  liKlGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  315 

[Literary  property  ascertained  by  a  decision  of  the  house  of  peers.] 

The  house  of  lords  this  session,  in  its  judicial  capacity,  determined 
the  great  question  of  literary  property,  which  was  brought  before 
them  by  an  appeal  from  a  decree  in  chancery.  The  present  age,  in 
this  country,  favourable  to  every  species  of  meritorious  and  benefi- 
cial industry,  has  been  peculiarly  advantageous  to  literary  ability  In 
former  times,  when  the  circulation  of  learned  productions  was  con- 
fined, and  the  number  of  readers  small,  genius  often  lay  buried  in 
obscurity,  and  merit  was  not  sufficient,  without  a  fortunate  coinci- 
dence of  circumstances,  to  insure  protection  and  support:  the  most 
successful  adventurers'could  receive  no  other  recompense  than  the 
patronage  of  the  great,  and  at  best  could  only  enjoy  a  precarious  and 
irksome  dependence.  Since  the  art  of  printing  has  rendered  the  mul- 
tiplication of  copieb  easy,  and  the  progress  of  science  and  erudition 
has  introduced  a  taste  for  reading  among  nuuicious  classes  of  people, 
authors  have  had  it  in  their  power  to  repay  theniaclvcs  for  their 
labours,  without  the  humiliating  idea  of  receiving  a  donative.  But 
the  degree  in  which  they  were  to  reap  this  benefit,  depended  on  the 
security  and  the  duration  of  their  literary  property.  The  protection 
afforded  by  the  laws  of  the  country  to  this  species  of  labour,  is  not 
only  important  to  the  author,  but  also  to  the  public  ;  for  literary  works, 
like  all  others,  will  be  undertaken  and  pursued  with  greater  spirit, 
when  to  the  motives  of  public  utility  and  fame,  is  added  the  induce- 
ment of  private  emolument. 

The  occasion  which  brought  this  question  before  the  public  was 
as  follows  :  certain  booksellers  had  supposed,  that  an  author  possessed 
by  common  law  an  exclusive  right  for  ever  to  the  publication  of  his 
own  works,  and  consequently  could  transfer  that  right.  On  this  sup- 
position, some  of  them  had  purchased  copy-rights,  and  had  prosecuted 
others  who  published  the  same  books,  as  invaders  of  an  exclusive 
right  which  they  had  acquired  by  purchase.  A  decree  of  chancery 
had  been  obtained  in  favour  of  Mr.  Becket,  a  prosecutor  on  these 
grounds,  against  Messrs.  Donaldsons,  as  pirates,  in  having  published 
a  work  belonging  to  Mr.  Becket,  The  defendants  had  appealed  to 
the  house  of  peers;  and  the  question  rested  principally  on  three 
points:  1st.  Whether  the  author  of  a  book,  or  literary  composition, 
has  a  common  law  right  to  the  sole  and  exclusive  publication  of  such 
book,  or  literary  composition  ?  2.  Whether  an  action  for  a  violation 
of  common  law  right,  will  lie  against  those  persons  who  publish  the 
book  or  literary  composition  of  an  author  without  his  consent  ?  and, 
3d.  How  far  the  statute  of  the  8th  of  queen  Anne  affects  the  suppo- 
sition of  a  common  law  right  ?  Under  the  first  head  it  was  contended  by 
the  advocates  of  perpetual  literary  property,  that  this  right  was  founded 
in  the  general  principle  by  which  every  man  is  entitled  to  the  fruits 
of  his  own  labour.  Whoever  by  the  exertion  of  his  rational  powers 
has  produced  an  original  work,  appears  to  have  a  clear  right  to  dis- 
pose of  the  identical  work  as  he  pleases;  and  any  attempt  to  vary  the 
disposition,  seems  an  invasion  of  that  right.  The  identity  of  a  literary- 
composition  consists  entirely  in  the  sentiment  and  language  :  the  same 
conceptions,  clothed  in  the  same  words,  must  necessarily  be  the  same 
composition ;  and  whatever  method  be  taken  of  exhibiting  that  com- 
position to  the  ear  or  the  eye  of  another,  by  recital,  by  writing,  or 
by  printing,  in  any  number  of  copies,  or  at  any  period  of  time,  it 
is  always  the  identical  work  of  the  author  which  is  so  exhibited. 


;Mb  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XII.— 1774 

[Reasoning  of  lords  Mansfield  and  Camden.] 

On  these  grounds  of  natural  justice  it  was  contended,  that  common 
law  respecting  literary  property  was  founded,  and  by  that  common  law 
the  right  of  an   author  or  his  assignee  was  perpetual.     A  statute  of 
queen  Anne  liad  declared  an  author  and  his  assigns  to  have  aright  to  a 
work  for  fourteen  years,  and  for  fourteen  years  more  if  the  author  should 
so  long  live.     Certain  judges,  among  whom  was  lord  Kaimes  in  the 
court  of  session,*  and  Yatesf  in  London,  denied  that  ever  such  a  right 
existed  at  common  law.     This  opinion  they  founded  on  the  following 
allegations  ;   that  a  literary  composition  is  in  the  sole  dominion  of  the 
author  while  it  is  in  manuscript  ;  the  manuscript  is  the  object  only  of 
his  own  labour,  and  is  capable  of  a  sole  right  of  possession  ;  but  this 
is  not  the  case  with  respect  to  his  ideas.      .A'^j  /losfiession  can  be  taken^ 
or  any  act  of  occupancy  asserted,  on  mere  ideas.     If  an  author  have  a 
property  in  his  ide.-i".  it  luuat  be  from  the  time  when  they  occur  to 
him  ;  therciuic,  it  another  man  should  afterwards  have  the  same  ideas, 
he  must  not  presume  to  publish  them,  because  they  were  pre-occu- 
pied,  and  become  private  propeity.     Lord  Mansfield  showed  the  falla- 
cy of  the  maxim,  that  nothing  but  corporeal  substance  can  be  an  ob- 
ject of  property  ;  reputation,  though  no  corporeal  substance,  was  pro- 
perty, and  a  violation  thereof  was  entitled  to  damages.     Every  man's 
ideas  arc  doubtless  his  own,  and  not  the  less  so  because  another  per- 
son may  have  happened  to  fall  into  the  same  train  of  thinking  with 
himself:  but  this  is  not  the  property  which  an  author  claims;  it  is  a 
property  in  liis  literary  composition,  the  identity  of  whicli  consists  in 
the  same  thoughts,  ranged  in  the  same  order,  and  expressed  in  the 
same  words.     This  illustrious  judge  conceived  a  common  law  right  to 
the  copy  of  his  work  to  be  vested  in  an  author  and  his  assigns  origin- 
ally, and  still  to  exist,  notwithstanding  the  statute  of  queen  Anne.     It 
was  agreeable  to  the  principles  of  right  and  wrong,  conv.enience  and 
policy,  and  therefore  to  the  common  law.     The  court  of  chancery, 
proceeding  upon  its  conception  of  moral  justice  and  general  equity, 
had  uniformly  decreed  that  this,  like  every  other  species  of  property, 
was  perpetual  to  the  original  acquirer,  his  heirs,  assigns,  or  others  to 
whom  li  might  be  transferred  by  gift,  sale,  or  any  other  means  of  trans- 
mission.    Lord  Camden  did  not  contest  the  conformity  to  natural  jus- 
tice of  either  lord  Mansfield's  principle  or  the  chancery  decrees,  nor 
undeitake  to  prove  that  there  was  any  reason  in  the  nature  of  literary 
productions  for  rendering  the  property  of  these  less  durable  than  that 
of  other  fruits  of  labour,  but  confined  himself  to  what  he  apprehended 
to  be  the  written  law  of  the  land.     The  statute  of  queen  Anne,  he  af- 
firmed, took  away  any  right  at  common  law  for  an  author's  multiply- 
ing copies  exclusively  for  ever,  if  such  right  ever  existed. 

The  house  of  peers  concurred  in  his  opinion,  the  decree  was  revers- 
ed, and  thenceforth  literary  property  depends  on  the  statute  of  the  8th 
of  queen  Anne,  which  secures  to  the  autiior  or  his  assigns  an  exclu- 
sive properly  for  fourteen  years,  and  fourteen  years  after  the  expira- 
tion of  that  period  if  he  so  long  live  ;  but  on  the  expiration  of  tJie  one 
or  both  of  these  terms,  ordains  the  copy  right  to  be  at  an  end. 

•  On  a  different  cas<?,  but  the  same  general  p  inciple,  and  in  which  Donaldson 
was  also  defendant,  a  little  before  the  decree  of  chancery. 

f  In  the  case  of  Andrew  Miller  plaintiff,  cliarging  Robert  Taylor  defendant,  with 
publishing  and  selling  copies  ofThomson*te  Seasons,  of  which  Miller  alleged  him- 
8elf  to  be  sole  proprietor. 


17r4.— CUAP.  XIJ.  RKIGN  OF  r.EOIir.E  III.  317 

[I'lorogatlon  of  parliameiit.]    . 

On  the  22d  of  June,  was  concluded  a  session  of  parliament,  as  im- 
portant as  any  that  had  occurred  since  the  revolution.  Changes  of 
ereat  magnitude  had  been  effected  in  certain  colonies,  which  placed 
them  on  a  footing  totally  different  from  the  other  British  dominions. 
Civil  and  political  right  had  been  annihilated,  and  arbitrary  power 
had  been  established  over  a  considerable  part  of  North  America. 
From  those  measures,  ministers  and  their  supporters,  both  in  and  out 
of  parliament,  entertained  the  most  sanguine  expectations  that  sub- 
mission would  be  immediate,  and  that  complete  obedience  and  tran- 
quillity would  be  established  with  permanent  security  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  their  opponents  apprehended,  from  the  system  which  they 
were  pursuing,  more  bitter  discontent,  and  more  obstinate  resistance, 
than  any  that  had  been  exhibited  in  the  former  dissensions. 


31g  lUS  I ORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIII.— 1774 


CHAP.  XIII. 


Continental  aO'airs. — I'rop^rcss  :uul  conclusion  of  the  war  between  Russia  and 
Turkey — terms  ot  peace-motives  of  Catharinp. — Poland. — Views.of  Prussia 
and  Austria, -France. — Death  of  I.oiiis  XV.— character— tool  of  his  favourites, 
he  did  not  discern  the  commencini^  changes  of  pul)lic  opinion. — Promismg  be- 
ginnings of  Louis  XVI. — Spain  (lf])rivest!ie  inquisition  of  its  most  terrible  pO'W- 
ers. — America. — Effects  of  the  Boston  port  bill— ferment  through  the  provin- 
ces —  communicates  to  other  colonies.— Resolutions  of  the  provincial  assem- 
blies—general concert  proposed— solemn  leag^ue  and  covenant — A  general 
congress  meets  at  Philadelphia — approves  of  the  conduct  of  Massachusetts,  and 
promises  support — declares  principles  and  objects  of  association. — Decliaration 
of  rights — of  grif^vances,  and  proposed  redress — Petition  to  the  king. —  Ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  Britain  — Of  Canada. — Remonstrance  to  general  Gage. — 
Address  to  the  colonies. — Meeting  breaks  up. —  General  spirit  of  the  colonial 
proceedings. — Military  preparations  -  Massaciiusetts  Bay  the  great  hinge  of 
peace  and  war --contention  with  the  governor — forms  a  provincial  congress, 
which  assumes  the  supreme  power. 

In  continenlni  Europe,  the  Russians  and  Tiuks  still  conliniiing  their 
bloody  war,  occupied  the  chief  attention  of  their  neighbours.     Vigour- 
ous  preparations  were  made  on  both  sides ;  Catharine,  fronn  the  supe- 
rioritv  which  she  had  manifesled  during  the  greater  part  of  the  war,  ex- 
pected that  success  inu^-t  ultimately  attend  her  armies  when  powerfully 
re-enforced  ;  while  the  Turks,  elated  wilh  the  advantage  of  the  preced- 
ing cam|)aign,  and  farther  encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  rebellion  in 
the  eai?tern  and  .southern   provinces  of  Russia  under  PugatchefT,  hoped 
by  mililary  exertions  to  regain  what  they  had  lost.     The  Porte  excited 
the  Tartars  to  join  tiie  Russian  rebels,  in  order  to  increase  the  distur- 
bances of  Russia  on  that  side,  \vhile  the  Turkish  force  should  be  con- 
ccntr-ikul  again.st  their  main  army  on  the  Danube.     In  the  beginning  of 
this  year,  the  death  of  the  emperor  Mustapha  produced  a  change  in  the 
disposition  and  conduct  of  the  army.     Considering  his  son  Selim,  then 
in  tliC   thirteenth  year  of  his  age,  as  too  young  to  sustain  the  reins  of 
government  in  so  critical  a  situation  of  aflairs,  he  appointed  his  brother 
.\bdulhamet  to  succeed  him  on  the  throne.     Some  of  the  Janizaries 
were  dissatisfied  wilh  the  succession  of  the  late  sultan's  brother,  wishing 
Selim  to  be  placed  immediately  on  his  father's  throne ;  and,  as  these 
troops  influenced  the   whole   Turkish   army,  their  dissensions  created 
parties  among  the  rest  of  the  forces.     A  very  great  army,  however,  was 
levied,  consisting   (when  they  arrived  at  tl)e   Danube)  of  two  hundred 
tliou.-:and  men.      Mar.shal  Romanzow  was  posted  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river  with  about  eighty  thousand  soldiers.     After  a  considerable  opposi- 
tion, Romanzow  crossed  the  river,  and  Bulgaria  again  became  the  scene 
of  war.     A  severe  en<:agement  took  place  between  general  SatiofFatthe 
head  of  a  detachment  of  Russians,  and  a  body  of  Turks,  in  which  the 
former  with  much  difficulty  kept  the  field.     On  the-  20th  of  June,  gene- 
rals Kammshi  and  Suwarrow  encountered  the  Reis  EfTendi,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  forty  thousand  men  ;  but  both  the  cavalry  and  infantry  of  the 
Turks  deserted  their  colours  and  camp,  without  striking  a  blow.     From 


1774.— Chap.  XIII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  3I9 

[Peace  between  Russia  and  Turkey.     Motives  of  Catharine.] 

this  time  the  Ottomans  were  in  every  quarter  seized  with  a  dismay  that 
made  them  absolutely  refuse  to  face  the  enemy  ;  and,  in  tine,  they  mu- 
tinied against  their  own  leaders.  They  phuidered  the  baggage,  robbed 
and  murdered  their  officers,  disbanded  themselves,  and  pillaged  their 
own  country  all  the  way  to  Constantinople.  The  grand  camp  under  the 
vizier  was  deserted,  and  his  immense  army  crumbled  uway  to  "an  incon- 
siderable number.  Marshal  RomanzoW,  not  faihng  to  take  advantage 
of  this  dreadful  situation  of  the  enemy,  cut  ofl'  all  communication  between 
them,  their  magazines,  and  the  capital.  The  Turkish  leaders  had  now 
no  alternative,  but  to  sue  for  peace  on  such  terms  as  the  conqueror 
should  dictate.  The  conditions  were,  the  cession  of  Asoph,  Kinbrun, 
and  Janikala  .to  the  Russians ;  the  free  navigation  of  the  Propontis, 
Euxine,  and  Archipelago '  'the  independence  of  the  Crimea ;  and  the 
sum  of  4,500,000  rubles,*  as  an  indemnification  for  the  expense  of  the 
war.  So  moderate  were  these  terms,  that  they  were  little  more  than 
what  Russia  had  demanded  while  the  Turkish  armies  were  entire.  Did 
we  consider  Russia  merely  in  relation  to  her  enemy,  we  might  be  sur- 
prised that  she  did  not  impose  harder  conditions  on  a  foe  that  had  given 
her  great  disturbance,  had  actually  been  the  aggressor,  and  was  now  at 
her  mer?y  ;  but,  on  viewing  her  situation,  both  internally  and  relatively  to 
other  powers,  we  must  be  convinced  that  she  was  guided  by  sound  policy. 
There  were  two  powerful  parties  at  the  court  of  Petersburgh,  one  headed 
by  count  Panin,  and  the  other  by  count  OrlofT:  the  former  had  recom- 
mended peace  on  moderate  terms  ;  the  latter,  the  continuance  of  the  war, 
unless  the  enemy  yielded  to  the  conditions  which  Russia  chose  to  dic- 
tate. Catharine,  who  found  it  her  interest  to  observe  a  neutrality  be- 
tween the  two  parties,  both  of  which  she  knew  to  be  zealously  attached 
to  her  own  government,  had  now  an  opportunity  of  gratifying  them  both  ; 
the  one  by  concluding  peace,  the  other  by  imposing  the  terms.  The 
rebel  PugatchefT,  a  man  of  great  abilities,  intrepid  courage,  and  rapid 
enterprize,  was  becoming  daily  more  formidable.  Her  treasure  was 
nearly  exhausted  by  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  the  improvement  of 
her  extensive  dominions  was  greatly  interrupted.  The  Poles  were  in 
many  places  in  a  state  of  insurrection,  especially  in  her  part  of  t!ie  di- 
vided territories  ;  and  combinations  were  forming  for  a  more  general  as- 
sertion of  their  rights.  Austria,  although  she  agreed  in  the  partition  of 
Poland,  was  not  by  her  recent  share  of  spoils  lulled  to  a  forgetfulness  of 
the  dangers  which  might  accrue  to  her  from  her  partners  in  the  plunder. 
She  still  regarded  with  the  most  vigilant  jealousy  the  progress  of  the 
Russian  arms  so  near  her  frontiers.  The  king  of  Prussia  himself,  closely 
connected  as  he  was  with  the  czarina,  by  no  means  desired  her  aggran- 
dizement where  he  could  not  come  in  for  a  share  of  the  accession.  The 
more  southern  powers  she  well  knew  to  be  very  much  inclined  to  oppose 
her  and  her  advances  ;  her  ally,  Great  Britain,  was  fully  occupied  witii 
her  own  internal  and  colonial  affairs.  For  all  these  reasons,  it  was  the 
interest  of  Catharine  to  conclude  a  peace  on  the  terms  which  she  pro- 
posed ;  and  she  soon  reaped  the  advantage  of  her  policy,  by  being  en- 
abled to  vanquish  the  Polish  insurgents,  to  crush  intestine  revolt,  and 
bestow  a  less  divided  attention  on  improving  her  immense  dominions  in 
various  constituents  of  national  prosperity. 

•  At4s.  6d. 


320  HISTORY  OF  THE  cuai'.  xiii.— irr4. 

[Death  and  character  of  Louis  XV.    Popularity  of  his  successor.] 

In  France  an  event  took  place  this  year,  which  caused  a  great  change 
m  the  internal  policy  of  that  country.  On  the  10th  of  May,  Louis  XV. 
died,  in  the  sixty-fit'th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  fifty-ninth  of  his  reign. 
This  king,  who  possessed  very  moderate  talents,  was  educated  in  the 
ignorance  so  general  among  arbitrary  princes  in  long  established  govern- 
ments, where  little  personal  eflbrt  is  necessary  to  maintain  a  slavery  con- 
firmed by  prescription,  and  in  that  hi.xury  which  had' so  long  prevailed  at 
the  court  of  France.  Of  a  plea:-ing  figure,  he  acquired 'tho.sc  exterior 
accoinplishnionts  and  light  graces  which  the  joint  vivacity  and  frivolity 
of  fashionable  France  were  so  well  fitted  for  bestowing.  He  was  in  one 
sense  a  man  of  good  dispositions,  for  he  was  mild  and  compassionate, 
xmlcss  driven  to  be  otherwise  by  the  impidse  of  his  counsellors.  He  did 
not  exercise  tyranny  from  inclination  and  choice,  but  often  permitted  it 
from  imbecility.  Having  neither  vigour  of  understanding  nor  firmness  of 
mind  for  guverning  himself,  he  was  through  life  the  pupil  of  others.  Al- 
ways in  a  state  of  intellectual  minority,  the  administration  of  his  aftairs 
was  wise  or  foolish,  good  or  bad,  according  to  the  character  of  those 
who  happened  to  be  his  guardians.  Thus,  during  the  ministry  of  cardi- 
nal Fleury,  his  policy  was  pacific  ;  afterwards  aggressively  warlike  and 
ambitious  ;  and  in  the  latter  period  of  his  life,  he  was  again  pociuc.  Un- 
der some  ministers,  he  was  moderate  in  his  internal  government ;  under 
others,  he  was  despotic.  When  priests  presided  in  hi.s  cabinet,  he  was 
the  tool  of  clerical  encroachment ;  when  deists  took  the  direction,  he  was 
the  agent  of  irreligion,  by  weakening  the  veneration  of  his  people  for 
the  institutions  of  the  church.  His  violent  proceedings  against  the  par- 
liaments arose  not  from  the  violence  but  from  the  weakness,  of  his  cha- 
racter; he  was  then  under  the  tutelage  of  tyrannical  ministers.  A  reign 
of  near  sixty  years  bears  no  stamp  of  uniformity  of  character.  His  prin-' 
ciples,  sentiments,  and  conduct,  varied  with  the  successive  changes  of 
his  mini.sters  and  mistresses.  Louis  XV.  was  nominally,  but  not  really 
the  sovereign  of  France  :  for  civil,  military,  and  political  operations,  for 
every  department  of  government,  we  find  the  real  sovereigns  in  the  royal 
favourites.  I^ouis  was,  however,  suflficiently  qualified  for  being  a  mere 
pageant  of  state,  and  going  through  the  forms  of  sovereignty  in  the  pa- 
ralysed stillness  of  undisputed  despotism  ;  he  was  therefore  very  fit  for 
sitting  on  a  throne  so  much  adored  as  it  had  been  in  the  reign  of  his  pre- 
decessor, and  as  it  was  during  a  great  part  of  his  own.  Toward  the 
close,  a  spirit  manifested  itself  which  required  a  prince  of  a  different  cha- 
racter to  manage  ;  and  though  its  operations  were  checked,  yet  the  re- 
pression was  only  temporary,  and  the  very  means  employed  to  stop  its 
progress,  gave  it  ultimately  an  augmented  force.  Louis  was  succeeded 
by  his  grandson,  who  ascended  the  throne  by  the  title  of  Louis  XVL 
This  prince,  long  distinguished  for  amiableness  of  disposition,  was  ex- 
tremely popular.  On  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he  showed  himself 
sen.silile  that  a  chai:ge  was  taking  place  in  the  national  sentiments,  and 
that  it  was  the  wisest  policy  in  a  king  to  accommodate  his  administration 
to  such  a  change.  He  therefore  annulled  the  unpopular  measures  of  the 
late  reign,  set  about  restoring  the  ancient  parliaments,  and  promoted  po- 
pular men  to  various  offices  ;  at  the  same  time,  however,  he  circumscribed 
the  pretensions  of  the  parliaments,  granting  them  only  their  established 
functions,  without  suffering  them  to  make  those  encroachments  on  kingly 
prerogative,  which,  guided  in  some  instances  more  by  the  principles  of 


1774.— CuAi'.  XIII.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  in.  321 

[Change  in  the  inquisition.     Efiectsof  the  Boston  port  bill.] 

liberty  than  by  prevailing  usage,  they  had  attempted  during  the  latter 
years  of  his  grandfather,  lie  had  not,  indeed,  changed  the  ministry, 
but  he  had  changed  the  counsels.  The  nation,  dchghted  with  the  res- 
toration of  parlianionts  and  the  other  popuhir  acts  of  their  monarch, 
overlooked  (he  circumscriptions  ;  and  as  the  king  appeared  to  make  the 
happiness  of  his  peojjle  the  rule  of  his  conduct,  he  was  regarded  by  them 
witii  the  warmest  atiection  :  such  was  the  first  prospect  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  the  sixteenth. 

The  king  of  Spain  was  at  this  time  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  empe- 
ror of  Morocco,  which  was  carried  on  in  desultory  hostilities  for  several 
years  with  vory  little  success.  This  year,  however,  is  remarkable  in 
Spain;  for  in  it  that  tremendous  instrument  of  superstition  and  tyranny, 
the  inquisition,  was  deprived  of  its  most  formidable  powers.  The  court 
of  Madrid,  intent  on  the  promotion  of  manuiuctures  and  commerce,  and 
aware  of  the  obstruction  wliich  they  received  from  the  dread  of  such  an 
intolerant  tribunal,  took  from  it  its  jurisdictions  and  its  prisons,  and  ren- 
dered it  little  more  than  a  convocation  for  religious  discussion. 

Having  narrated  the  measures  pursued  concerning  America,  and  stat- 
ed the  eflects  which  they  were  expected  to  produce,  our  history  now 
proceeds  to  their  actual  consequences. 

In  the  month  of  May  the  intelligence  arrived  at  Boston,  of  the  act 
passed  by  the  British  parliament  for  shutting  up  the  port.  This  infor- 
mation, together  with  a  copy  of  the  act,  was  immediately  published  on  a 
paper  with  a  black  border,  symbolical  of  mourning,  and  hawked  about 
the  streets  as  a  barbarous  and  bloody  murder  of  rights  and  liberties.  The 
fatal  news  was  wholly  unexpected,  and  the  consternation  which  it  caused 
among  all  orders  of  people  was  inexpressible;  and  nothing  was  to  be 
heard  from  the  Bostonians,  but  frantic  exfiressions  of  rage  and  resent- 
ment against  the  tyranny  and  inhumanity  of  the  British  ministry  and  par- 
liament; vengeance  was  loudly  demanded  and  threatened.*  They  lost 
little  time  in  general  exclamations  and  menaces,  but  proceeded  to  con- 
sider what  could  be  done  for  redress;  a  town  meeting  was  held,  reso- 
lutions were  proposed  and  adopted,  which,  after  expatiating  on  the  impo- 
licy, injustice,  and  cruelty  of  the  act,  and  appealing  from  it  to  God  and 
to  man,  addressed  themselves  particularly  to  the  other  colonies,  and  in- 
vited them  to  enter  into  an  agreement  to  stop  all  imports  and  exports  to 
and  from  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  every  part  of  the  West  Indies,  until 
the  act  should  be  repealed;  the  only  measure  (they  said)  that  was  left, 
for  the  salvation  of  North  America  and  her  liberties.  These  resolutions 
were  transmitted  with  great  expedition  to  the  rest  of  the  provinces,  and 
copies  of  the  act  were  multiplied  and  despatched  to  every  part  of  the 
continent  with  wonderful  celerity;  which,. like  the  torch  of  the  fury,  set 
in  a  flame  the  countries  through  Avhich  they  passed:  in  the  several  colo- 
nies great  bodies  of  the  people  were  called  together  by  public  advertise- 
ment, and  the  odious  law  was  burned  with-awful  solemnity.  Meanwhile 
general  Gage  arrived  in  his  government  at  Boston:  this  officer  being 
personally  known  there,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  America,  was  much 
beloved  and  higlily  respected;  he  was,  besides,  successor  to  a  very  un- 
popular governor.  These  circumstances,  however,  which  would  have 
been  so  auspicious  to  his  entrance  upon  government  had  affairs  been  in 

•  Stcdman's  Illslorv  of  the  American  "War,  vol.  i.  p.  93. 
Vol.  VII.— 41 


32^  JflSTOKY  OF  THK  Chap.  XIII —17r4. 

[Resolutions  oi  provincial  assemblies.     General  concert  proposed.] 

Ji  trnn(|uil  state,  were  now  countpracted  by  the  prevalent  rage  against 
Britain.  Tiie  asseinbly  met;  and  lie  informed  them,  that  on  the  1st  of 
June  they  were  to  remove  to  Salem,  which  was  thenceforward  to  be  the 
seat  of  tlie  provincial  government.  The  assembly,  not  pleased  with 
this  mtimalion,  petitioned  him  to  appoint  a  day  for  a  general  fast  and 
prayer;  but  he  declined  compliance,  and  soon  afterwards  adjourned  the 
session  to  the  7th  of  June,  appointing  Salem  to  be  the  place  of  meeting. 
The  other  colonies  having  received  copirs  of  the  act,  and  of  the  Bosto- 
nian  addresses,  resolved  to  support  the  cause  which  they  considered  as 
their  own.  However  much  the  middle  and  southern  colonies  had,  on  gene- 
ral principles  of  government,  ditiered  from  their  northern  neighbours,  they 
agreed  in  repugnance  to  taxation.  On  that  ground  they  had  all  resisted 
ll>e  import  of  tea,  and  thus  had  shared  in  the  alleged  criminality  of  Bos- 
ton. Though  some  were  more  temperate  than  others,  they  all  concur- 
red in  e.xpressing  the  greatest  disapprobation  of  the  measures  pursued 
by  the  British  government,  an  abhorrence  of  the  ne\V  act,  a  condemna- 
tion of  the  princi^i4es  on  wriich  it  was  founded,  and  a  resolution  to  oppose 
its  etfects,  and  to  support  their  brethren  who  were  to  be  its  immediate 
victims.  Indeed,  if  ministry  had  formed  a  design  of  driving  the  Ameri- 
cans into  confederation,  they  could  not  have  devised  more  effectual 
means,  than  by  punishing  and  disfranchising  one  colony,  because  un- 
known persons  in  it  had  heea  guilty  of  an  outrage  that  sprung  from  re- 
sistance to  an  impost  which  all  the  colonies  reprobated.  The  assembly 
of  Virginia,  which  was  sitting  at  the  time  when  the  despatches  from  Bos- 
ton arrived,  set  the  example:  in  that  meeting  a  resolution  was  passed, 
for  appointing  the  1st  of  June,  the  day  on  which  the  Boston  port  bill  was 
to  take  effect,  to  be  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  prayer,  and  humiliation, 
"  to  implore  the  divine  interposition  to  avert  the  heavy  calamity  which 
threatened  destruction  to  their  rights,  with  all  the  evils  of  a  civil  war, 
and  to  give  one  heart  and  one  mind  to  the  people,  firmly  to  oppose  every 
injury  to  American  liberties."  Informed  of  the  resolution  and  of  the 
general  spirit  of  the  assembly,  the  earl  of  Dunmore  determined  to  dis- 
solve that  body;  but  the  members  held  a  private  meeting,  in  which  they 
drew  up  a  declaration,  setting  forth,  that  the  punishment  about  to  be  in- 
flicted on  the  inhal)ilants  of  Boston,  in  order  to  compel  them  to  submit  to 
the  PAYMENT  OF  UNCONSTITUTIONAL  TAXES,  was  in  truth  an  attack  on 
all  the  colonies,  and  would  ultimately  prove  destructive  to  American 
rights  and  liberties,  uidess  their  united  wisdom  should  be  applied  to  pre- 
vent its  0|)eration  and  effects.  They  therefore  recommended  to  the 
committee  of  correspondence,  to  propose  to  the  committees  of  the  other 
colonies,  that  an  annual  congress  should  be  held  for  all  the  colonies,  to 
delibr-rate  on  such  general  measures  as  the  common  interest  of  America 
mi?ht  from  time  to  time  require.  Virginia  had  always  been  distinguished 
for  lovalty  and  attachment  to  the  British  constitution;  and  in  its  present 
propo.'ition  to  combine  against  acts  of  government,  it  declared  itself  to 
be  determined  by  constitutional  principles.  At  Philadelphia,  three  hun- 
dred of  the  inhabitants  assembling,  appointed  a  committee  to  write  to 
Boston.  In  a  letter,  temperafe  yet  firm,  they  recommended  that  lenient 
measures  should  he  tried  before  they  had  recourse  to  extremities;  and 
that  commerce  with  Britain  should  not  entirely  be  discontinued  until  all 
measures  had  failed.  If,  by  satisfying  the  East  India  company  for  the 
t«as,  they  could  terminate  the  unhappy  controversy,  and  leave  to  the 


17'74,-Chap.  XIII.  RKIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  323 

[Solemn  league  and  covenant  of  Massachusetts.] 

Bostonians  their  ancient  constitutional  liberty,  there  could  be  no  doubt 
M'hat  part  wisdom  would  dictate.     But   the  matter  in  consideration  was 
not  now  the  value  of  the  tea,  it  was  the  indefeasible  right  of  giving  or 
withholding  their  own  money,  a  right  from  wliich  they  could  never  re- 
cede.     At  New- York,  though  moderate  and  temperate   in   its  conduct, 
one  resolution  of  a  contrary  kind  was  carried  in  a  town  meeting;  ihia 
was,  to  prevent  the  prosecution  in  the  provincial  courts,  of  any  debts 
owing  by  inhabitants  to  Britain.     This  resolution,  however,  was  neither 
adopted  nor  confirmed  by  the  provincial  adseml)iy  held  soon  alter,  nor 
was  it  any  where  carried  into  practice.     In  general,  the  proposals  for  a 
"total  interruption  of  commerce,  v/ere  by  no  means  favourably  received, 
but  considered  as  the  last  deplorable  resort  when  every  other  expedient 
should  prove  ineffectual.     The  middle  and  southern  colomes  were  at 
that  time  evidently  desirous  of  avoiding  a  rupture  with  Britain.     On  the 
other  hand,  all  the  colonies  concurred  in  a  resolution  to  resist  taxation, 
and  to  hold  a  general  congress;  and  in  the  mean  time  tliey  made  very 
liberal  contributions  for  the  relief  of  the  Bostonians.     While  the  Boston 
port  bill  was  producing  an  effect  so  very  opposite  to  that  which  its  framera 
and  supporters  expected  and  intended,  copies  arrived  in  Massachusetts 
Bay  of  the  other  two  bills  for  altering  the  constitution  of  that  province. 
The  opposition  to  government  now  became  more  vehement  through  the 
colonies.      Concerning  the  Boston  port  bill,  the  other  provinces  had  not 
taken  their  tone  from  Massachusetts  Bay,  but  had  resolved  to  support 
the  cause  on  tlie  principles  of  the  British  constitution.     TL  he  Massachu- 
setts colonists  had  then  apphed  to  their  neighbours  as  suppliants;   and, 
somewhat  doubtful  of  the  reception  that  they  should  meet,  had  cauti- 
ously abstained  from  promulgating  doctrines  and  sentiments  which  might 
shock  the  loyalty  and  constitutional  principles  of  their  southern  brethren. 
Assured  of  the  co-operation  of  the  other  colonies  in  resisting  taxes,  and 
trusting  that  the  concert  might  be  more  extensive,  they  now  took  a  lead; 
and  henceforward  the  deliberations  of  the  whole  most  frequently  bore  the 
stamp  of  New-England  republicanism.    The  colonists  of  Massachusetts 
now  determined  to  carry  to  the  utmost  extremity  their  resistance  to  the 
British  government.     By  the  suggestion  of  the  provincial  assembly,  an 
association  was  framed,  the  subscribers  to  which  most  solemnly  bound 
themselves  to  break  ofTall  commercial  intercourse  with  Great  Britain 
from  the  last  day  of  the  month  of  August,  until  the  Boston  port  bill,  and 
the  other  obnoxious  acts  of  parliament  should  be  repealed,  and  the  coh»ny 
restored  to  the  exercise  of  its  chartered  rights;  to  renounce  all  dealings 
with  those  who  should  refuse  to  enter  into  this  agreement;  or  who  hav- 
ing engaged,  should  afterwards  violate  their  compact.     To  sanction  the 
whole,  a  resolution  was  added,  that  the  names  of  delinquents  should  be 
published  in  the  newspapers  as  enemies  to  their  country.*     To  this 
agreement  they  gave  tlie  memorable  title  of  the  solemn  league  and 
covenant;  which,  having  been  a  name  afbxed  in  the  last  century  to  an 
engagement  inimical  to  the  church  and  monarchy,  afforded  some  indica- 
tion of  the  views  which  they  entertained,  and  the  lengths  to  which  they 
were  disposed  to  proceed.     In  most   of  the  colonies  there  were  three 
classes  of  political  opinions;  the  first,  of  those  who  resolved  to  resist 
taxation,  and  advised  the  most  violent  measures  to  be  immediately  adopt- 

•  See  Slcdnijin,  and  Kuinsa/. 


324  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XUL— 1774. 

[Proclamation  of  general  Gage.     Hostile  preparations.] 

ed:  secondly,  of  those  persons  who,  equally  determined  to  impose  Bri- 
tish imposts,  were  more  cautious  and  temperate,  and  who  wished  to  try 
the  effect  of  conciliatory  propositions,  before  they  resorted  to  the  extre- 
mity of  resistance;  the  third  consisted  of  approvers  of  the  British  system 
and  acts.  This  third  set  was  small  in  number,  and  of  no  weight  in  the 
colonial  deliberations.  The  second,  in  the  beginning,  predominated  in 
most  of  the  other  colonies;  the  first  was  paramount  in  Massachusetts 
Bay,  where  there  evidently  prevailed,  not  merely  a  disposition  to  resist 
acts  on  the  ground  of  incompatibility  with  the  rights  of  British  subjects, 
but  of  contrariety  to  their  conception  of  republican  freedom. 

General  Gage,  to  counteract  the  covenant,  issued  a  proclamation, 
which  declared  it  illegal  and  traitorous,  contrary  to  the  allegiance  due  to 
the  king,  and  subversive  of  the  authority  of  parliament;  and  cautioned 
the  people  against  giving  any  countenance  to  that  engagement,  under 
the  penalties  annexed  to  such  heinous  offences.  This  act  was  far  from 
producing  the  desired  effect,  by  deterring  the  colonists  from  the  combi- 
nation. Popular  writers  found  in  it  a  theme  for  the  display  of  ingenuity 
and  legal  knowledge,  in  showing  that  the  governor,  by  calling  that  asso- 
ciation traitorous,  assumed  a  power  not  claimed  by  the  king  himself,  of 
making  that  conduct  treason,  which  was  not  ordained  to  be  treason  by 
the  laws,  and  thus  rendering  the  declared  will  of  one  of  the  king's  offi- 
cers equivalent  to  an  act  of  the  legislature.  General  Gage,  perceiving 
the  sentiments  and  intentions  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts  to  be  so  un- 
favourable to  the  British  government,  as  to  require,  for  their  repression, 
more  powerful  restraints  than  proclamations,  ordered  some  regiments  of 
foot,  with  a  detachment  of  artillery,  to  be  sent  to  Boston.  These,  upon 
their  arrival,  were  encamped  on  a  common  between  the  isthmus*  called 
Boston-neck,  which  joins  the  peninsula  of  Boston  to  the  continent,  and 
the  town  itself.  The  professed  intention  of  the  governor  was,  to  prevent 
desertion,  then  very  much  encouraged  by  the  provincials;  but  this  dispo- 
sition of  the  troops  was  construed  to  be  designed  for  the  purpose  of 
blocking  up  the  town,  and  compelling  it  by  famine  to  submit  to  any 
terms  which  might  be  imposed.  The  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent  country 
assured  the  Bostonians,  tliat  several  thousands  of  armed  men  were  ready 
to  assist  them,  should  their  aid  be  necessary. 

In  August,  commissions  arrived  for  those  who  were  intended  to  con- 
stitute the  new  council,  by  the  act  for  altering  the  constitution  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Of  thirty-six,  tw(!nty-four  only  accepted  the  commissions  ; 
and  against  those  the  rage  of  the  people  was  so  great,  that  all  but  a  few 
who  resided  in  Boston,  and  were  protected  by  the  troops  to  save  their 
property  and  lives,  resigned  their  appointments.  So  many  obstructions, 
indeed,  occurred  in  every  department,  that  civil  government  ivas  entirely 
dissolved  ;  whoever  rendered  himself  odious,  by  discovering  his  attach- 
ment to  the  motlu'r  country,  and  a  wish  to  submit  to  her  laws,  was  in- 
sulted by  the  popidaco  ;  and  many,  hunted  from  their  dwellings  in  the 
country,  were  obliged  to  take  rciiige  in  iJoslou.  Arms  were  provided, 
ammunition  and  warlike  stores  began  to  be  collected,  and  the  young 
men  were  employed  in  training  themselves  to  military  discipline.     Per- 

•  The  reader  may  perhaps  not  recollect,  that  Boston  is  situated  in  a  peninsula. 
This  geographical  fact,  however,  is  very  necessary  to  be  attended  to  in  the  course 
wf  the  history. 


1774.— Chap.  XIII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  in.  325 

[Meeting  of  a  general  congress  at  Philadelphia.] 

cciving  such  appearances  of  hostile  intention,  general  Gage  ordered 
all  the  military  stores  which  were  deposited  in  the  several  magazines 
through  the  provinces,  to  be  brought  to  Boston.  The  colonists,  appre- 
hendinji  from  this  measure  that  he  meant  to  commence  hostilities,  several 
thousands  of  militia  marched  toward  Boston  :  finding  that  none  had  been 
attempted,  they  retired  ;  but  the  general  thought  it  expedient  to  fortify 
Boston-neck  against  future  attacks.  The  colonists  of  Massachusetts 
now  began  to  make  vigorous  preparations  for  a  forcible  resistance  to  the 
British  government ;  associations  were  formed  for  promoting  the  know- 
ledge of  military  discipline,  and  the  use  of  arms  ;  resolutions  were  passed 
for  holding  a  provincial  congress,  which,  without  any  regard  to  the  go- 
vernor, should  be  considered  as  the  legislature  of  the  colony.  They 
even  remonstrated  on  the  raising  fortifications,  and  the  seizure  of  the 
public  magazines ;  thus  interfering  with  the  executive  authority  of  the 
crown.  They  declared,  that  should  any  person  be  seized  for  supporting 
the  cause  of  the  colonies,  they  would  retaliate  upon  every  British  officer 
whom  they  could  find ;  and,  lastly,  they  recommended  to  the  receivers 
of  the  public  revenue,  to  keep  it  in  their  own  hands,  until  the  constitution 
of  the  province  was  restored,  or  until  it  should  be  otherwise  disposed  of 
by  a  provincial  convention. 

Though  the  other  colonies  did  not  proceed  to  such  extremities,  nor 
make  any  preparations  for  war,  yet  all,  except  Georgia,  concurred  in  re- 
solving to  hold  a  congress,  and  not  submit  to  the  payment  of  any  internal 
taxes  that  were  not  imposed  by  their  own  assemblies  ;  and  to  suspend 
all  commerce  with  the  mother  country,  until  the  American  grievances  in 
general,  and  those  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  particular,,  should  be  fully 
redressed.  In  the  proceedings  of  the  congress,  instructed  by  the  re- 
spective colonies,  we  fully  see  the  dispositions  and  views  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

The  attention  of  all  parties  was  now  turned  to  the  general  congress, 
which,  on  the  5th  of  September,  met  at  Philadelphia,  as  a  central  situa- 
tion. The  congress  consisted  of  fifty-one  delegates,  representing  twelve 
of  the  colonies  lying  along  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  tVom  New  Hamp- 
shire to  South  Carolina  inclusive  :  the  greatest  number  of  delegates  of 
any  one  colony  being  seven,  and  the  swallest  two.  But  this  disparity  in 
the  number  of  delegates  did  not  affect  the  votes  ;  as  it  was  agreed  that 
each  colony  should  have  but  one  vote,  whatever  was  its  number  of  dele- 
gates. The  delegates  received  their  instruction  from  their  constituents  ; 
some  of  these  violent,  and  some  moderate  ;  but  all  uniting  in  condemning 
the  Boston  port  bill,  and  the  other  acts  of  the  last  session  of  parliament 
relating  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  in  denying  the  right  of  the  British 
parliament  to  tax  the  colonies.  But  the  most  material  of  their  instruc- 
tions, and  what  in  a  great  measure  superseded  the  use  of  all  others,  was 
a  power  given  to  their  delegates  to  agree  to  whatever  measures  should 
meet  with  the  concurrence  of  a  majority  of  the  congress.*  The  con- 
gress sat  with  their  doors  locked ;  no  one  was  permitted  to  be  present 
at  their  deliberations  ;  and  all  their  proceedings,  except  those  which  they 
thought  fit  to  publish,  were  kept  profoundly  secret.  Assembled,  says 
captain  Stedman,  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  they  nevertheless  thought  fit 
to  observe  a  form  practised  only  in  the  most  despotic  governments. 

•  See  Stedman, 


326  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cha».  XlII.~17r4. 

[Approbation  of  the  conduct  of  Massachusetts.  Principles  and  objects  of  congress.] 

Their  proceedings  being  wrapped  up  in  mystery,  and  all  the  intermediate 
steps  leading  to  a  conclusion  being  hidden  from  the  public  eye,  their  de- 
crees when  promulgated,  were  received  like  the  oracles  of  ancient  times, 
as  the  dictates  of  profoimd  wisdom. 

The  first  public  act  of  the  congress  was,  a  declaratory  resolution  mani- 
festing their  di.«posifion  with  respect  to  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
and  immediately  intended  to  confirm  and  encourage  that  people.  They 
expressed  their  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  their  countrymen  in  that 
province,  under  the  operation  of  the  late  unjust,  oppressive,  and  cruel 
acts  of  the  British  parliament ;  they  thoroughly  approved  of  the  wisdom 
and  fortitude  with  whirh  the  opposition  to  these  ministerial  measures 
had  hitherto  been  conducted,  and  declared  that  contributions  for  allevi- 
ating the  distress  of  their  brethren  at  BOston,  should  be  continued  as  long 
as  their  exigencies  required  relief.  They  further  declared  that,  if  the 
British  government  attempted  to  carry  the  acts  complained  of  into  exe- 
cution by  force,  all  America  should  combine  in  opposing  that  force. 
They  recommended  to  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  that  as  jus- 
tice could  be  no  longer  legally  administered  by  the  late  acts,  they  should 
submit  to  its  suspension  until  they  were  repealed  ;  and  that  every  person 
who  should  judge  or  act  under  any  commission  or  authority  derived  from 
the  late  act  of  parliament  changing  the  form  of  government,  and  violating 
the  charter  of  that  province,  ought  to  be  held  in  detestation,  and  con- 
sidered as  the  wicked  tool  of  a  despotism,  which  prepared  to  destroy  the 
rights  that  God,  nature,  and  compact  had  conferred  on  America.  They 
passed  a  resolution,  declaring  that  the  transportation  of  any  person  for 
the  trial  of  oflfcnces  committed  in  America,  justified  and  ought  to  produce 
resistance  and  reprisals.* 

The  congress  also  proceeded  to  declare  the  principles  and  objects  of 
their  association.  They  avowed  their  allegiance  to  his  majesty,  their 
affection  to  Britain,  their  dependence  upon  her,  and  the  benefits  and  fa- 
vours which  they  had  received  from  the  parent  state.  In  the  most  ex- 
plicit terms  they  disclaimed  any  wish  of  separating  from  the  mother 
country ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  declared  themselves  entitled  to  a 
participation  of  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  British  free-born  subjects; 
that  the  present  grievances  and  distresses  arose  from  a  ruinous  system 
of  colonial  administration,  adopted  by  the  British  ministry  about  the  year 
1763,  and  evidently  calculated  for  enslaving  these  colonies,  and  with 
them  the  British  empire.  Thence  had  arisen  the  acts  for  taxing  Ameri- 
ca, and  for  depriving  American  subjects  of  the  constitutional  trial  by 
juries  ;  thence  the  late  cruel,  oppressive,  and  unconstitutional  plans  con- 
cerning Boston  and  the  wliole  province  ;  and  the  plan  of  extending  Ca- 
nada, establishing  an  arbitrary  government,  and  discouraging  the  settle- 
ments of  British  subjects  in  that  country,  and  disposing  and  enabling  the 
established  inhabitants  to  act  with  hostility  a<£ainht  the  freedom  of  the 
protestant  colonies.  To  obtain  redress  for  these  grievances,  they  thought 
that  the  best,  most  effectual,  and  peaceable  measure  would  be,  to  abstain 
from  every  sjjecies  of  commercial  intercourse  with  Britain,  until  that  re- 
dress should  be  obtained  by  a  repeal  of  all  the  coercive  acts.  On  the 
one  hand,  they  specified  the  various  articles  of  merchandise  in  which  they 
had  dealt  with  Britain,  and  which  they  now  combined  to  refuse ;  on  the 

•  Stedman's  History  of  the  Arncricun  \\ar,  \ol.  i.  p.  103 


1774— Chap.  XIIT.  RKIGN  OF  GEOIIGE  III.  327 

[Petition  to  the  king.     Address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain.] 

other,  tlioy  enumerated  tl)C  various  acts,  or  clauses  of  acts,  of  which  they 
required  the  repeal.  The  amount  of  their  requisition  was  the  reversal 
of  the  whole  ministerial  system  pursued  since  1763.  They  afterwards 
agreed  to  petition  the  kiuiit,  and  accordinp^ly  framed  a  representation  to 
his  majeslv.  Perhai)s  subjects  never  offered  to  their  sovereign  an  address 
consisting  of  stronger  and  more  comprehensive  reasoning,  with  more 
impressive  eloquence  :  it  stated  every  important  act  since  the  change  of 
system  in  1764  ;  its  peculiar  featvues,  its  general  principles,  and  its  con- 
nexion with  other  acts  ;  it  exhibited  the  whole  plan  of  recent  and  present 
government,  with  the  actual  and  probable  consequences  :  the  petitioners 
declared  the  warmest  attachment  and  the  highest  veneration  for  the  king 
and  the  constitution  ;  they  wanted  no  new  privileges,  but  merely  prayed 
to  be  restored  to  their  fcjrmer  rights,  which  other  British  subjects  still 
enjoyed  ;  we  ask  (they  said)  but  for  peace,  liberty,  and  safety  ;  we  wish 
not  a  diminution  of  the  prerogative  ;  we  do  not  solicit  the  grant  of  any 
new  right  in  our  favour  ;  your  royal  authority  over  us,  and  our  connexion 
with  Great  Britain,  we  shall  always  carefully  and  'zealously  endeavour 
to  support  and  maintain.  The  peroration  very  happily  united  the  re- 
spectful deference  of  loyalty  with  the  temperate  firmness  of  freedom. 
"  Permit  us,  then,  most  gracious  sovereign,  in  the  name  of  all  your 
faithful  people  in  America,  with  the  utmost  humility  to  implore  you,  for 
the  honour  of  almighty  God,  whose  pure  religion  our  enemies  are  under- 
mining ;  for  your  glory,  which  can  be  advanced  only  by  rendering  your 
subjects  happy,  and  keeping  them  united  ;  for  the  interests  of  your  family 
dejjending  on  an  adherence  to  the  frinciplcs  that  enthroned  it ;  for  the 
safety  and  welfare  of  your  kingdoms  and  dominions,  threatened  with 
almost  unavoidable  dangers  and  distresses ;  that  your  majesty,  as  the 
loving  father  of  your  whole  people,  connected  by  the  same  bonds  of  law, 
loyally,  faith,  and  blood,  tiiough  dwelling  in  various  countries,  will  not 
suffer  the  transcendent  relation  formed  by  these  ties,  to  be  further  vio- 
lated, in  uncertain  expectation  of  effects,  which,  if  attained,  never  can 
compensate  for  the  calamities  through  ivhich  they  must  be  gained.  We 
therefore  most  earnestly  beseech  your  majesty,  that  your  royal  authority 
and  interposition  may  be  used  for  our  relief;  and  that  a  gracious  answer 
may  be  given  to  this  petition  :  that  your  majesty  may  enjoy  every  felicity 
through  a  long  and  glorious  reign  over  loyal  and  happy  subjects,  and  that 
your  descendants  may  inherit  your  property  and  dominions  till  time  shall 
be  no  more,  is,  and  always  will  be,  our  sincere  and  fervent  prayer." — 
The  petition  was  subscribed  by  all  the  fifty-one  delegates. 

An  address  was  then  framed  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  which 
was  also  a  very  masterly  composition ;  it  stated,  that  the  Americans, 
sprung  from  the  same  ancestors  as  the  Britons,  entertained  the  same 
sentiments  and  principles  which  had  produced  and  supported,  the  British 
constitution,  and  considered  themselves  entitled  to  equal  rights  with  other 
Britisii  subjects.  "  We  consider  ourselves,  and  do  insist  that  we  are, 
and  ought  to  be,  as  free  as  our  fellow  subjects  in  Britain  ;  and  that  no 
power  on  earth  has  a  right  to  take  our  property  from  us  without  our  con- 
sent. We  cJfiim  all  the  benefits  secured  to  the  subject  by  the  English 
constitution,  and  particularly  that  inestimable  one  of  the  trial  by  jury.  We 
hold  it  essential  to  English  liberty,  that  no  man  be  condemned  unheard, 
or  punished  for  supposed  ofliences,  without  having  an  opportunity  of 
making  his  defence."     Having  detailed  the  various  grievances  which 


328  mSTOUY  of  the  CnAr.  X1U.—1774,. 

[Address  to  the  Canadians.     Declaration  of  riglits  and  grievances.] 

they  alleged  themselves  to  have  suffered,  they  endeavoured  to  show, 
that  the  people  of  England  had  in  the  last  century  contended  with  their 
kings  for  the  preservation  of  the  same  rights  which  the  Americans  were 
now  deprived  of  by  a  British  parliament.  They  insisted  that  the  oppres- 
gion  was  essentially  the  same,  although  the  oppressors  were  changed. 
But  not  altogether  relying  on  the  efficacy  of  this  appeal  to  the  justice  of 
the  nation,  the  address  endeavoured  to  gain  it  over  to  the  cause  of  Ame- 
rica, by  representing,  that  the  certain  consequences  of  unconditional 
submission  being  exacted  from  her,  would  i)e  tlie  subversion  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  mother  country,  by  the  tyrannical  aristocracy  which  was 
engrafted  on  the  power  of  the  crown.  They  expressed  deep  regret  at 
being  obliged  to  adopt  measures  detrimental,  in  their  consequences  to 
niuubers  of  their  fellow  subjects  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland;  but  they 
hoped,  that  the  magnanimity  and  justice  of  the  British  nation,  would 
furnish  a  parliament  of  such  wisdom,  independence,  and  public  spirit,  as 
might  save  the  violated  rights  ot"  the  wliole  empire  from  the  devices  of 
wichcd  ministers,  and  evil  counsellors,  whether  in  or  out  of  office ;  and 
thereby  restore  that  harmony,  friendship,  and  fraternal  affection,  between 
all  the  inhabitants  of  his  majesty's  kingdoms  and  territories,  so  ardently 
wished  for  by  every  true  and  honest  American.  Their  several  addresses 
were  indeed  particularly  well  adapted  to  the  temper  and  passions  of  the 
parties  whom  they  endeavoured  to  gain.  They  also  addressed  the  in- 
habitants of  Canada  ;  described  with  great  eloquence  the  blessings  of  a 
free  constitution,  and  the  advantaijes  which  the  Canadians  might  have 
reaped  from  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  system.  Ministers  had,  they  said, 
kept  those  new  subjects  of  Britain  ignorant  of  its  advantages  ;  they  there- 
fore undertook  to  explain  them  to  the  Canadian  French,  and  endeavoured 
to  e.xcite  the  indignation  of  that  province  against  the  late  acts,  as  pre- 
cluding them  from  the  freedom  which,  in  their  new  relation  as  British 
subjects,  they  ouglit  to  enjoy.  They  paid  high  compliments  to  their 
countryman  Montesquieu;  and  having  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  new 
plan  of  governing  Canada  was  most  disgraceful  to  its  subjects  and  injuri- 
ous to  its  rights,  they  quoted  his  sentiments  delivered  in  a  chapter  on  the 
British  constitution  ;  from  which  they  inferred,  that  this  great  political 
philosopher  would  have  deemed  the  Canadians  to  be  in  a  state  of  slavery. 
They  concluded  with  strenuously  inviting  them  to  join  in  the  league  of 
the  colonies.  The  congress  likewise  published  a  declaration  of  rights 
and  grievances.  This  paper  contained  a  summary  of  all  the  privileges 
appertaining  to  British  subjects  ;  to  the  free  exercise  of  these  they  were, 
they  contended,  entitled  by  the  immutable  laws  of  nature,  by  the  British 
constitution,  and  by  their  several  charters.  All  former  distinctions 
between  legislation  and  impost,  between  external  and  internal  taxes, 
were  now  laid  aside.  They  claimed,  on  behalf  of  the  colonies,  the  sole 
and  exclusive  privilege  of  legislating  for  themselves  in  all  cases  what- 
soever;  b'.il,  from  the  mere  necessity  of  circumstances,  were  v/iUing  to 
submit  to  such  acts  of  parliament  as  were  bona  fide  intended  to  regulate 
their  foreign  commerce ;  excluding,  however,  all  ideas  of  taxation,  in- 
ternal or  external,  for  raising  a  revenue  from  the  people  of  the  colonies 
without  their  own  consent.  Their  grievances  (they  said)  arose  from 
eleven  act-s  of  parliament*  passed  in  the  present  reign;  but  the  most 

*  All  these  have  been  successively  mentioned,  and  most  of  tliem  repeatedly 
alluded  to  in  the  course  of  the  history. 


1774.— Chap.  XIII.  KEldSr  OF  GEOUGE  III.  329 

[General  spirit  of  the  colonlul  proceedings.     Military  preparations.] 

intolerable  re?ulted  from  the  three  acts  of  the  last  session  of  parliament 
respecting  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Hay,  and  the  law  for  extending 
the  limits  of  Canada.  They  wrote  a  letter  to  general  Gage,  declaring 
it  to  be  the  fixed  and  unalterable  resolution  of  all  the  colonies  to  unite 
for  the  preservation  of  their  common  rights,  in  opposition  to  the  late  acts 
of  parliament,  and  in  support  of  their  brethren  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 
They  remonstrated  against  his  military  proceedings,  bearing  (ihey  said) 
a  hostile  appearance,  which  even  the  tyrannical  acts  did  not  warrant. 
They  requested  that  he  would  discontinue  the  fortifications,  and  give  or- 
ders that  the  intercourse  between  the  town  and  country  should  be  unin- 
terrupted ;■  they  addressed  the  colonies,  declaring  that,  upon  impartially 
examining  the  conduct  of  the  British  government  in  North  America  from 
17t)3,  they  found  that  all  tlie  disturbances  had  proceeded  from  an  un- 
conditional assumption  and  oppressive  acts  on  the  part  of  Britain.  Re- 
presenting perseverance  in  union  as  the  only  means  of  security  against 
the  arbitrary  designs  so  evident  in  the  conduct  of  the  British  ministers, 
they  proceeded  to  state  the  trust  which  was  reposed  in  the  congress, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  discharged  their  duty  ;  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  series  of  oppression  experienced  from  Britain,  they  had  made 
conciliatory  advances  ;  and  while,  inspired  by  constitutional  liberty,  ihey 
had  shown  themselves  resolved  to  maintain  their  rights,  guided  by  loyalty 
to  their  king,  and  affection  to  their  fellow  subjects,  they  had  manifested 
their  earnest  desire  of  preserving  peace  and  amity  with  their  mother 
country.  After  the  performance  of  these  acts,  during  a  session  of  fifty- 
one  days,  the  first  general  congress  of  the  North  American  provinces, 
on  the  26th  of  October,  terminated  its  meeting. 

The  amount  of  the  reasonings  and  the  spirit  of  the  proceedings,  in 
either  partial  meetings,  provincial  assemblies,  or  the  general  congress, 
may  be  exhibited  m  few  words;  "The  British  system  from  1763  has 
violated  the  chartered  and  constitutional  rights  of  us,  the  British  subjects 
in  the  American  colonies:  we  will  not  submit  to  such  usurpation;  we 
will  not  pay  duties  unjustly  imposed,  and  we  Will  have  no  commerce 
with  Britain  until  the  obnoxious  act?  be  repealed.  If  the  British  go- 
vernment attempt  to  enforce  its  unconstituhonal  decrees,  self-preserva- 
tion compels  us,  and  our  condition  enables  us,  to  resist  force  by  force. 
Yet  that  extremity  W3  deprecate  as  pernicious  to  both  parties:  we  pray 
our  sovereign  and  request  our  fellow-subjects,  to  co-operate  with  us  in 
averting  so  deplorable  a  calamity.  We  ask  no  new  privilege;  we  desire 
only  the  restoration  of  those  rights  which,  until  1763,  we  enjoyed  with- 
out interruption."  Such  were  the  sentiments  and  acts  of  the  colonists 
in  North  America;  such  t!ie  first  consequences  of  the  ministerial  system 
of  1774. 

Before  the  meeting  of  the  general  congress,  nono  of  the  middle  or 
southern  colonies  had  commenced  preparations  tor  war,  but  when  that 
convention  broke  up  and  its  members  returned  to  their  constituents,  the 
other  provinces  became  actuated  bv  the  spirit  of  New-Enjiland.  The 
militia  were  very  frequently  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  discipline; 
arms  were  provided  for  those  who  were  without  them;  and  resistance,  by 
open  force,  to  the  power  of  the  mother  country,  was  made  the  subject  of 
common  discourse.  Soon  afterwards  a  copy  arrived  of  a  proclamation 
issued  in  England,  to  prevent  warlike  stores  from  being  exported:  and 

Vol.  VII.— 42 


330  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XHI.— 1774. 

[Massachusetts.    Contention  with  the  governor.] 

this  prohibition  rendered  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  more  eager  to 
procure  supplies  of  the  various  kinds  of  ammunition. 

In  consequence  of  the  determination  of  congress,  all  the  colonies 
deeply  interested  themselves  in  the  affairs  of  Massachusetts  Bay;  and 
upon  the  transactions  in  tliat  province,  depended  more  immediately  the 
doubtful  issue  of  peace  and  war.  The  governor  and  council  had  issued 
writs  for  holding  a  general  assembly;  but  the  events  that  afterwards  took 
place,  and  the  heat  and  violence  which  every  where  prevailed,  made 
them  think  it  expedient  to  countermand  their  writs  by  a  proclamation, 
and  to  defer  holding  the  assembly  to  a  season  of  more  security.  The 
election,  however,  was  carried  on,  without  regard  to  the  proclamation; 
the  new  members  met  at  Salem,  but  the  governor  did  not  attend  to  ad- 
minister the  oaths  and  open  ttie  session.  Having  waited  a  day,  and 
neither  the  governor  nor  any  substitute  for  him  arriving  iheij  voted  them,' 
selves  into  u  provincial  compress,  to  be  joined  by  such  others  as  had  been 
or  sliould  be  elected  for  that  puri)Ose.  Mr.  Hancock,*  who  was  offen- 
sive to  the  governor's  partv,  was  chosen  chairman,  and  they  adjourned 
to  the  town  of  Concord,  about  twenty  miles  from  Boston.  Thence  they 
presented  a  remonstrance  to  the  governor,  on  the  subject  of  the  fortifi- 
cations at  Boston-neck,  and  the  alarm  occasioned  by  the  collection  of 
military  force  at  Boston,  tending  to  endanger  the  lives,  liberty,  and  pro- 
perty, not  only  of  the  liostonians,  but  of  the  whole  province.  The 
general,  though  unwilling  to  return  an  answer  to  an  illegal  assembly, 
thought  it  expedient  in  the  present  case  to  overlook  forms.  In  replying 
to  the  provincial  congress,  he  told  them,  that  the  lives  and  liberties  of 
none  but  avowed  enemies  of  Britain,  could  be  in  danger  from  British 
soldiers,  who,  notwithstanding  the  enmity  which  had  been  shown  to 
them  in  withholding  what  was  necessary  for  their  preservation,  had  not 
discovered  that  resentment  which  might  have  been  expected  from  such 
hostile  treatment.  He  rcnunded  them  that  while  they  were  complain- 
ing of  alterations  made  in  their  charter,  they  were  themselves  subverting 
it  by  their  present  ille^'al  meeting;  and  he  admonished  them  to  desist 
from  such  unconstitutif)nal  proceedings.  Boston  was  now  bcsome  the 
place  of  refuge  to  all  the, friends  of  British  government.  On  the  ap- 
)>ro!ich  of  winter,  tlic  governor  thought  it  necessary  to  erect  temporary 
barracks  for  the  troops,  not  only  to  accommodate  his  soldiers,  but  to 
prevent  them  from  being  qiiartered  on  the  inhabitants;  which,  in  the  pre- 
sent «tale  and  temper' of  both,  might  be  attended  with  dangerous  conse- 
q\ierices.  The  Bostonians  did  every  thing  in  their  power,  without  em- 
(iloying  open  violenre,  to  obstruct  the  erections.  Very  great  mutual 
distrust  and  animosity  prevailed  between  (he  government  and  the  people. 
Boston,  however,  was  now  the  only  place  in  Massachusetts  that  con- 
taninl  Britisli  forces;  and  from  the  hostile  disposition  of  the  provincials, 
and  the  insulated  situation  which  they  occupied,  their  circumstances 
were  not  much  unlike  to  those  of  persons  b<;siegcd  by  open  enemies. 
The  provinrial  ootitrress  not  «)tdy  continued  their  sittings,  but  passed  re- 
aoiiitions  which,  from  the  disposition  and  jiromplitude  of  the  people,  had 
all  the  weight  and  efficacy  of  laws;  their  injunctions,  under  tlie  form  of 

•  Thi«  was  the  same  p^entlemaii,  the  seizure  of  wliose  sloop  for  contraband 
practices  had  occasioned  an  insurrection  at  Boston  in  the  year  1768;  and  the  con- 
%c<]iienc(-s  of  wliirli  insiirrof'inn  aif  siippnscfl  by  many  to  liave  precipitated  tiie 
dispute  btlwecn  llie  nioilicr  country  and  her  colonics  toward  its  crisis. 


1 


1774.— Chap.  XIII.  KEICN  OF  GKOIICJE  III.  331 

[l'roceeding3  of  the  provincial  congress.] 

advice,  directed  the  ren^ulation  and  exercise  of  the  militia,  the  collection 
and  disposition  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the  provision  of  arms  and 
military  stores.  Thus  they  assumed  the  powers  of  the  supreme  govern- 
ment; and  in  the  tirst  provincial  congress  of  Massachusetts,  we  see, 
strongly  drawn,  the  outlines  of  American  independence.  The  governor 
thought  it  necessary  to  issue  a  proclamation,  warning  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province  against  suffering  themselves  to  be  ensnared  by  the  provin- 
cial congress,  or  led  by  thoir  influence  to  incur  the  penalties  of  sedition 
and  rebellion;  and  strictly  prohibiting  all  his  majesty's  loyal  subjects 
from  paying  any  regard  to  the  recommendations  and  resolves  of  such  an 
unlawful  assembly.  But  the  governor's  proclamation  was  treated  with 
contempt,  while  the  requisitions  of  the  provincial  congress  were  obeyed 
as  laws.  That  assembly  appointed  another  congress  to  be  held  in  the 
month  of  February  1775,  and  toward  the  end  of  iVovember  dissolved 
itself. 


332  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIV.— 1774. 


CHAP.  XIV. 


Impression  in  Biit»in  from  the  Americun  dispute* — Dissolution  of  parliament. — 
General  eieciion. —  l.t-udiiij;  characters  in  tlie  new  parliament — Meeting  of 
parLument. — l\,iiii;'s  speech  —  address — indecision  of  ministers. — Character  and 
policy  of  lord  North — opinions  of  his  power  :itk1  efficiency. — Petitions  present- 
ed from  America,  and  American  merciiants.  to  pnrfiament  and  the  kinjjf — dis- 
missed without  a  hearintj. —  Lord  Chatham,  thoiitjh  loaded  with  infirmities,  re- 
turns to  the  house — his  introductory  speech — liis  j^lan  of  conciliation  rejected. 
— Conquest  of  America  conceived  by  ministers  to  be  easy. — .\mcricans  assert- 
ed to  be  all  cowards. — Mr  Fox's  observations  (jn  the  inspirin};;  efficacy  of  liber- 
ty.— Parliament  declares  Massachusetts  Bay  to  be  in  a  state  of  rebellion. — 
Message  from  the  king,  requiring"  an  augmentation  of  forces. — Hill  for  prohi- 
biting the  New-England  provinces  from  commerce  and  fishery. —  Lord  North'.s 
plan  of  conciliation — apprehended  by  courtiers  to  concede  too  mucli,  by  oppo- 
sition to  concede  too  Utile  --Mr.  Fox  opposes  its  inconsistency. .--Lord  Nortli's 
policy  wavering  and  irresolute. --Dexterous  retreat  to  satisfy  the  supporters  of 
Coercion. ---Mr.  Burke's  conciliatory  plan,  on  the  grounds  of  expediency— out- 
lines and  character— predicts  civil  and  foreign  war  from  the  conduct  of  minis- 
ters---rejected.--Mr.  Hartley's  conciliatory  bill— rejected.— -Ministers  averse  to 
all  conciliatory  overtures.— Bill  for  extending  connnercial  prcjhibitions.— Loy- 
altv  of  New-York  province— -re|)resentation  from  it  to  the  commons— dismissed 
unheard  —Supplies.— Session  closes.— War  unavoidable.— Literary  advocates 
for  and  against  America. 

Whilk  the  proceedin£T.s  in  and  coucerning  A  merira  were' so  extreinely 
important,  tliey  ditl  not,  in  F>rilain,  appear  to  attrac^t  the  attenlion  of  the 
nation  in  proportion  to  liieir  niagniuido.    Tliore  were,  indeed,  politician.s 
and  philosophers  who  saw  them  in  their  real  aspect,  and  dreaded  the 
consequences;  but  thi.s  view  was  far  from  being  general;  even  merchants 
and  maniiracturers,  to  whom  a  rupture  with  tlie  coh)nies  would  be  so  cala- 
mitous,   seemed    now  lulled   into  equal  .security  with   the  rest  of  their 
coimtrymen.     This  inattention  arose  from  various  catjses.     The  con- 
tests with  the  colonies  were  no  longer  new,  but  from  the  year  17fi.'5  they 
had,  with  very  few  and  i^hort  intermissions,   been  the  chief  subjects  of 
parliamentary  deliberation.     To  those  who  did  not  minutely  and  criti- 
cally examine  the  new  occurrences,  and  the  change  of  sentiments  which 
were  now  become  so  general  in  North  America,    most  of  the  topics  ap- 
peared exhausted;   the  various  arguinents   for  ta.xalion  had  been  often 
di.scussed,  and  on  the  triteness  of  the  reasoning,  great  numbers  over- 
looked the  new  effects  wliicli  the  system  was  producing.     Confederacies 
against  the  impr)rtation  of  British  cf)rnmodities  had  before,  and  recently, 
been  violated :   and   the   present  condiinations  would,^ many  trusted,  be 
equally  short    lived.       IHspute.s   had    l)i  <  ii    frequently  e^rfied     to    tlie 
verge    of  a  rupture,    and    had   b(Mn    afterward.s    accoirunodated ;    some 
means  of  conciliation,  they  flattered  themselves,  would  be  again  devised. 
The   Americans  would   tjr.e   of  associatioiis,  that  deprived  them  of  the 
chief  conveniences  of  life,  which   were  rendered  by  habit  almost  neces- 
saries;   besides,   ministers    and  their   adherents   had  very  industriously 
spread   an  opinion,   that   vigorous   measures,  with  perseverance,  would 
soon  finish  a  contest,  which  nothing  but  former  indulgence  had  nou- 


irr4.— CuAv.  XIV.  REIGN  OF  GEOKGE  HI,  333 

[Dissolution  of  parliament.     General  election] 

rishcd ;  and  also,  that  the  present  administration  possessed  in  an  eminent 
deg^ree  the  qualities  requisite  for  honourably  and  advantageously  termi- 
nating the  dispute.  Ministers,  indeed,  had  allorded  no  satisfactory 
proofs  either  of  their  vigour  or  poHcy;  but,  as  they  iiad  not,  on  the  other 
hand,  manifested  cither  feebleness  or  folly,  they  and  their  friends  repre- 
sented the  counsellors  of  his  majesty  as  a  body  of  very  uncommon 
ability.  A  great  part  of  the  nation,  with  that  unsuspecting  credulity 
which  frequently  distinguishes  a  people  otherwise  so  eminent  for  sound 
judgment,  gave  administration  credit  for  all  the  talents  and  qualities  for 
which  they  chose  to  take  credit  to  themselves.  For  these  reasons,  it 
was  not  doubted  that  the  coercive  system  which  had  been  adopted  and 
carried  into  execution  under  the  direction  of  such  men,  would  soon  inti- 
midate its  objects  from  forcible  resistance;  but  that,  if  it  did  not  awe 
them  to  submission,  their  reduction  would  be  speedy  and  certain;  sup- 
ported by  the  greater  part  of  the  country,  the  cabinet  was  the  more  able 
and  determined  to  proceed  with  the  plan  of  dictation  which  had  com- 
menced so  strongly  in  the  preceding  session. 

Parliament  was  now  in  its  seventh  year.  In  the  reign  of  George  11. 
it  had  generally  lasted  near  the  whole  time;  the  first  parliament  of  the 
present  king  had  also  continued  seven  full  years.  On  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1774,  about  six  years  and  a  half  from  the  former  election,  a  pro- 
clamation was  issued  for  the  dissolution  of  parliament,  and  the  convoca- 
tion of  a  new  one,  for  which  the  writs  were  made  returnable  on  the  9th 
of  the  following  November.  An  abridgment  contrary  to  recent  custom 
excited  great  surprise  among  those  who  judged  from  precedent  more 
than  from  present  circumstances  and  expediency:  but  many  reasons 
were  assigned  for  tliis  unusual  measure;  the  most  probable  appears  to 
be,  that,  as  a  new  state  of  things  had  arisen  in  America,  new  councils 
might  be  requisite  on  the  part  of  the  legislature.  On  the  one  hand,  should 
it  be  found  necessary  to  deviate  from  the  coercive  system,  the  old  par- 
liament might  be  restrained  by  a  sense  of  consistency  from  rescinding 
its  own  laws,  while  a  new  one  would  be  more  at  liberty  to  act  according 
to  the  exigency  of  the  case.  On  the  other  hand,  as  at  present,  it  was  de- 
termined to  persevere  in  coercion,  and  the  majority  of  the  people  appear- 
ed to  approve,  it  was  probable  that  a  parliament  would  be  returned, 
favourable  to  the  continuance  of  that  system;  and  thus  government 
would  have  an  assurance  of  a  long  co-operation,  of  which  it  might  be 
deprived  by  a  change  of  circumstances  and  of  public  sentiment,  were 
the  election  deferred  till  the  succeeding  year. 

In  London,  the  opposition  party  carried  the  election  of  all  its  candi- 
dates. In  Middlesex,  Mr.  Wilkes,  now  lord-mayor  elect,  was  chosen 
to  represent  the  county  ;  and  ministers  were  not  so  imprudent  as  again 
to  controvert  a  scat  which  had  already  given  government  so  much  distur- 
bance. A  considerable  change  of  individual  members  took  place  through 
the  nation  ;  but  it  was  soon  found,  that  there  was  no  alteration  of  politi- 
cal sentiment,  and  that  a  great  majority  supported  the  ministerial  project 
of  coercing  America. 

The  subjects  which  were  to  occupy  the  deliberations  of  the  new  par- 
liament, have  rarely  been  equalled  in  importance  in  the  legislative  history 
of  any  age  or  country.  On  its  counsels  was  to  depend,  whether  by-con- 
ciliation we  should  restore  the  reciprocally  beneficial  harmony  that  had 
so  long  subsisted  between  Britain  and  her  colonics  ;  or,  by  persistance 


334  IIISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIV.— 1774. 

[Leading  characters  in  the  new  parliament.] 

in  coercion,  drive  sucli  valuable  dependencies  to  a  rebellion,  which  either 
would  not  be  quelled,  or,  if  crushed,  could  be  reduced  only  by  etibrts 
which  must  e.xhaust  the  parent  country,  and  destroy  the  provinces  that 
she  sought  to  render  more  productive  and  lucrative. 

For  examining  such  momentous  questions,  seldom  has  a  national 
council  contained  a  greater  assemblage  of  ability,  than  the  British  parlia- 
ment now  exhibited.  In  the  house  of  commons,  among  many  men  of 
considerable  talents  and  extensive  knowledge,  there  were  ranged  on  the 
side  of  ministers,  the  financial  information  and  accurate  results  of  sir 
Grey  Cooper ;  the  perspicacious  detail,  solid  judgment,  and  orderly 
arrangement  of  sir  Gilbert  Elliot ;  and  the  intrepid  confidence  and  manly 
boldness  of  Mr.  Rigby.  In  rising  progression  there  followed  the  sound 
and  vigorous  understanding,  the  unremitting  industry,  the  commercial, 
political,  and  diplomatic  knowledge,  the  lucid  disposition,  the  correct  and 
perspicuous  expression  of  Jenkinson  ;  and  the  acuteness,  closeness,  and 
neat  precision  of  Germaine.  Dundas,*  from  his  first  entrance  into  pub- 
lic life,  exhibited  those  qualities  by  which  he  has  been  uniformly  distin- 
guished ;  an  understanding  quick,  sagacious,  and  powerful ;  reasoning 
forcible  and  direct,  strictly  adhering  to  the  point  at  issue  ;  an  expeditious 
despatch  of  difficult  business  ;  and,  regarding  the  senate  as  a  council  for 
the  direction  of  national  affairs  more  than  a  theatre  for  the  display  of 
eloquence,  he  was  in  his  language  intelligible  and  strong,  without  orna- 
ment or  elegance.  A  mind  by  nature  penetrating,  brilliant,  and  inventive, 
formed  and  refined  by  erudition  and  by  lileraiyf  society,  sharpened  and 
invigorated  by  professional  occupations,  and  enlarged  by  political  studies 
and  pursuits  ;  an  eloquence  that  he  could  admirably  vary  to  the  occasion, 
and  exhibit  either  in  argumentative  force,  logical  subtlety  and  skill,  or 
with  all  the  ornaments  of  rhetoric  and  the  graces  of  persuasion,  rendered 
AN  edderburne  a  valuable  accession  to  any  c.ause  which  he  chose  to  sup- 
port.;}; For  masculine  energy  of  intellect,  force  devoid  of  ornament,  and 
exhibiting  itself  in  efforts  direct,  sim[)le,  and  majestic,  Thurlow  stood 
eminent.  Lord  JS'orth  was  equally  remarkable  for  pleasing  and  varied 
wit  and  humour,  classical  taste,  erudition,  and  allusion,  as  for  dexterity 
of  argument  and  felicity  of  reply.  On  the  other  side  were  arrayed,  the 
patriotism  and  solidity  of  Dempster  and  Savilie  ;  the  industry  and  colo- 
nial information  of  Pow'nal ;  the  colloquial  pleasantry,  vivacity,  and  clas- 
sical erudition  of  "Wilkes  ;  the  animated  declamation  of  Barre  ;  the  quick 
apprehension,  commercial  and  political  knowledge  of  Johnstone ;  and 
the  constitutional  principles,  legal  precision,  readiness,  acuteness,  and 
vigour,  of  Dunning.  Above  these,  rose  the  extensive,  accurate,  and 
multifarious  knowledge,  the  abundant  and  diversified  imagery,  the  lumi- 
nous illustration  and  rapid  invention ;  the  reasoning,  dilated  or  com- 
pressed, digressive  or  direct,  disjointed  or  continuous,  which,  if  not 
always  pointedly  convincing,  never  failed  to  be  generally  instructive ; 
the  comprehensive  views  and  philosophical  eloquence,  of  a  Burke.  A 
senator  was  now  rising  to  the  first  rank  in  the  first  assembly  of  the  world, 

•  Lord  advocate  of  Scotland. 

f  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Smith,  TJohertson,  and  Tergiison,  and  their 
colemporaries,  in  their  early  yoars  ;  and  cultivated  an  acquaintance  willi  Uurke, 
Juhnfion,  and  other  eminent  sclioiars,  in  liis  more  advanced  life. 

t  The  judicial  maxims  and  character  of  Wcddcrburnc  will  appear  in  tliis  and 
the  succeeding  volume. 


1774.-CUIV.  XIV.  KiiIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  335 

[House  of  peers.    Speech  of  the  king.] 

who  must  have  held  a  very  exalted  situation  in  any  convention  of  states- 
men and  orators  recorded  in  history,  this  was  Charles  James  Fox.     In 
the  twentieth  year  of  his  age  he  had  become  a  member  of  parliament, 
and  young  as  he  was,  distinguished  himself  among  the   many  eminent 
members  of  the  house,  and  was  at  first  one  of  the  ablest  supporters  of 
administration.     The  facility  with  which  he  made  himself  master  of  a  new 
question,  and  comprehended  with  such  force  of  judgment  the  strength, 
weakness,  and  tendency,  of  a  proposition  or   measure ;    his  powerful 
argumentation,  his  readiness  of  tlie  most  appropriate,  significant,  and 
energetic  language,  soon  rendered  him  conspicuous  ;   while  his  daily  and 
obvious  improvement  showed  that  his  talents  had  not  then  nearly  reach- 
ed the  pinnacle  at  which  they  were  destined  to  arrive.     Since  he  joined 
opposition,  his  talents  and  exertions  appeared  more  potent  and  formida- 
ble than  even  had  been  expected.* 
U    In  the  house  of  peers,  the  chief  supporters  of  administration  were, 
lord  Hillsborough,  a  nobleman  of  sound  judgment  and  ofticial  experi- 
ence ;  earl  Gower,  a  peer  of  good  character  and  extensive  influence, 
who,  in  the  minority  of  the  duke,  headed  the  Bedford  party  ;  and  the  earl 
of  Sandwich,  acute  and  intelligent  as  a  senator,  but  a  judicious  speaker 
rather  than  a  splendid  orator.     The  only  peer  of  transcendent  genius 
who  joined  ministers  in  the  coercive  system,  was  lord  Mansfield ;  a  per- 
sonage very  eminently  distinguished  for  abilities  and  erudition,  and  for 
argumentative,  refined,  and  persuasive  eloquence  ;  but  the  fame  of  this 
illustrious  senator  was  principally  founded  upon  his  oratorial  and  judicial 
powers  and  efforts,!  and  derived  little  accession  from  his  counsels  as  a 
statesman.     The  most  distinguished  peers  who  were  inimical  to  the 
coercive  system,  were  the  marquis  of  Rockingham,  whom    we    have 
viewed  as  minister;  the  didie  of  Richmond,  a  nobleman  of  respectable 
abilities,  active,  indefatigable,  and  ardent ;  lord   Shelburne,  whom  we 
have  seen  a  secretary  of  state,  distinguished  for  extent  of  general  know- 
ledge, and  peculiarly  marked   for  his  extensive  views  of  the  reciprocal 
relations,  commercial  and  political,  of  European  states ;  lord  Camden, 
the  great  bulwark  of  English  law,  profoundly  versed  in  our  constitution, 
with  that  mild,  clear,  and   nervous  eloquence,  which  is  the  firm  and 
cflicacious  instrument  of  wisdom  ;  and  lastly,  in  liimself  a  host,  the  earl 
of  Chatham. 

Surveying  and  examining  the  principal  actors  on  the  grand  political 
theatre,  the  reader  may  perceive  that,  both  for  and  against  ministers, 
there  was  a  constellation  of  abilities  ;  but,  in  opposition,  the  highest  ta- 
lents, and  the  most  approved  wisdom. 

On  the  30th  of  November  the  new  parliament  met.  His  majesty's 
speech  stated  to  the  houses,  that  a  daring  spirit  of  resistance  and  diso- 
bedience to  the  laws  still  unha))pily  prevailed  in  the  province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Ray,  and  had  in  divers  parts  of  it  broken  forth  in  fresh  violences 
of  a  criminal  nat\ue  ;  but  these  proceedings  had  been  countenanced  and 
encouraged  in  others  op  the  colonies,  and  unwarrantable  attempts  had 
been  made  to  obstruct  the  commerce  of  tins  kingdom  by  unlawful  combi- 

•  A  part  of  tltis  accotint  is  taken,  with  considerable  variations,  from  the  life  of 
Burke,  first  edition,  p.  210  to  218. 

f  The  reader  will  find  a  character  of  this  great  man  in  the  narrative  of  the 
year  1788  ;  for  the  judicial  part  of  which  I  am  chiefly  indebted  to  a  gentleman  of 
high  eminence  for  literary  and  legal  erudition. 


336  HlSTOKY  OF  THE    "  Chap.  XIV.— 1774. 

[Character  of  the  address.    Protest  in  the  house  of  lords.] 

nations  :  such  measures,  however,  had  been  employecl,  as  were  judged 
most  ellectual  for  canvino;  the  acts  of  the  preceding  session  into  execu- 
tion, protecting  coininerco,  and  restoring  and  preserving  order  and  good 
government  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts.     It  expressed  his  ma- 
jesty's resolution  to  withstand  every  attempt  to  diminish  the  autliority  of 
])arlianiiMit  over  the  dominions  of  liie  crown  ;   the  maintenance  of  which 
authority  was  necessaiy  for  the  (hgnily  and  well'are  of  llie  British  empire: 
it  stated  the  satisfaction  of  the  king  at  the  restoration  of  complete  tran- 
quillity to  Europe,  by  the  peace  between  Russia  and  Turkey;  and  con- 
cluded with  recommending  tirmness  and  unanimity  in  parliamentary  pro- 
ceedings.    Avowing  the  taxation  of  the  colonies  to  be  an  essential  right 
of  the   Hritish  legislature,  and  that  the  late  acts  must  be  executed,  the 
speech*  declared,  that  no  regard  was  to  be  paid  to  the  opinions  and  sen- 
timents which  had  produced  a  confederation  of  the  colonies,  and  that 
ministers  were  not  moved  by  the  proceedings  in  America  to  deviate  from 
tiie  plans  of  tlie  former  session.     Wiiile  the   speech  demonstrated  the 
intentions  of  government,  the  address,  carried  by  a  great  majority  (tliough 
not  without  strenuous  opposition,)  manifested  that  the  new,  like  the  old 
parliament,  was  resolved  to  persist  in  taxing  British  subjects  without  their 
own  consent ;  establishing  in  some  colonies,  systems  of  polity  diiierent 
from  the  IJritish  constitution  ;  punishing  those  who  had  never  been  tried, 
and  ordaining  trials,  dilferent  in  principle  and  mode  from  those  which  are 
recognised  by  our  laws  ;  it  proved  also,  that  the  new  parliament  esteemed 
the  representation  of  the  colonists  undeserving  of  regard.    The  address, 
indeed,  sanctioned  the  general  policy  of  ministers ;  and  the  parliament, 
at  the  very  commencement  of  its  deliberative  proceedings,  unequivocally 
evinced  its  determination  to  tread  in  the  steps  of  the  former.      The  op- 
position speakers  exhorted  legislature  to  investigate  facts  before 
THEY  PROCEEDED  TO  JUDGMENT;  and  not  to  pledge  themselves  impli- 
citly to  follow  the  example  of  their  predecessors,  without  fully  examining 
the  grounds  on  which  they  had  acted,  and  the  effects   which  tlieir  acts 
had  produced  and  were  producing.     Having  moved  for  a  communication 
of  all  the  intelligence  that  had  been  received  by  his  majesty  respecting 
America,  and  the  motion  being  negatived,  they  affirmed,  that  as  the 
ministers  and  former  parliament  had  passed  sentence  without  taking  cog- 
nizance of  the  case,  the  present  parliament  was  pursuing  the  same  plan. 
They  next  proceeded  to  the  consequences,  as  they  had  verified  or  falsi- 
fied the  predictions  of  ministers,  contended,  that  whereas  his  majesty's 
counsellors  had  prophesied  that  the  j)roceedings  respecting  Boston  would 
strike  terror  into  America,  they  had  really  combined  into  one  party  all 
the  colonists,  though  before  divided  and  detached  ;  and  that,  instead  of 
friirhtcning  them  severally  into  suljmission,  they   had  compelled   them 
jointly  to  resistance.     In   the  house  of  lords  a  very  strong  protest  was 
made,  which,  after  stating  the  evils  of  the  ministerial  system,  added  the 
following  words  :   "  it  affords  us  a  melancholy  prospect  of  the  disposition 
of  the  lords  in  the  present  parliament,  irlien  vc  see  the  house,  under  the 
pressure  oj  so  severe  and  uniform  an  experience,  again  ready,  irilhnui  any 
inquiry,  In  countenance,  if  not  to  adopt,  Ike  spirit  of  the  former  fatal  j}ro- 
reedintis.'^ 

Viewing  the  conduct  of  ministry  as  to  utility  of  object  and  justness 

•  See  slate  papers,  November  50,  1774. 


ir>'4.— CHAr.  XIV.  HEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  .337 

[Indecision  of  ministers.     Character  and  policy  of  lord  Norlii.] 

of  principle,  the  historical  reader  may  probably  have  formed  some  judg- 
ment of  the  character  of  their  policy ;  he  has,  in  the  imm(;diately  subse- 
quent act.i,  a  farther  opportunity  of  estimating  their  qualifuations  by  the 
means  which  they  employed.  To  coerce  America  was  the  determina- 
tion of  ministry  and  the  legislature.  If  coercion  must  be  used,  a  stronger 
force,  it  was  naturally  expected,  would  be  demanded,  than  that  which 
was  requisite  in  times  of  tranquillity;  but  when  the  supplies  came  under 
consideration,  ministers  proposed  to  diminish,  instead  of  increasmg,  both 
sea  and  land  forces;  and  required  seventeen  thousand  troop.-,  instead  of 
eighteen  thousand,  and  sixteen  thousand  seamen  instead  of  twenty  thou- 
sand. On  this  subject,  opposition  charged  ministry  witli  an  mter.ticn  of 
deluding  the  people  to  war,  while  they  pretended  to  exptct  peace;  but 
that  the  hostilities,  which  they  deprecated  as  ruinous  in  themselves, 
would  be  rendered  still  more  fatally  destructive  by  derectivo  p'-eparation ; 
there  was  (they  said)  either  inadequacy  of  force  to  the  end  proposed,  or 
feeble  and  paltry  artifice  to  conceal  obvioun  irtenuons.* 

Ever  since  the  debate  on  the  address.  j:reat  indecision  had  appeared 
m  the  conduct  of  the  minister.  He  studiously  avoided  any  farther  dis- 
cussion on  American  politicsj  and  frequently  absented  himself  from  the 
house.  From  these  circumstances  it  was  conjectured,  that  he  did  not 
fully  concur  in  the  coercive  system;  and  this  hypothesis  was  by  no  means 
inconsistent  with  either  tys  known  disposition  or  abilities.  It  was  pre- 
sumed, that  a  man  of  such  a  conciliating  temper,  and  whose  first  minis- 
terial actl  had  been  concession  to  appease  the  colonists,  could  really  be 
n©  friend  to  violent  and  irritating  measures ;  and  that  a  statesman  of  his 
undoubted  talents  could  not,  from  the  dictates  of  his- own  understanding, 
devise  or  recommend  such  acts.  Lord  North,  it  was  imagined,  could  not 
long  be  so  completely  deceived  as  to  fact,  and  erroneous  in  argument,  as 
the  proposers  of  the  ministerial  measures  appeared.  Besides,  it  was 
supposed  that  his  intellect  was  too  enlightened,  and  his  mind  too  Uberal, 
to  possess  that  contemptible  obstinacy  of  character  which  is  incident  to 
men  at  the  same  time  weak  and  vain,  who  adhere  to  a  plan,  not  because 
it  is  proved  to  be  right,  but  because  they  had  once  favoured  its  adoption.  J 

•  See  the  speeches  of  opposition,  in  Debrett's  Parliamentary  Debates  in  De^ 
cember  1774;  especially  of  Mr.  Fox.  in  a  committee  of  supply. 

f  See  the  account  of  parliament  1770,  vol.  i. 

T  It  has  been  very  often  asserted,  and  by  many  believed,  that  lord  North  ori- 
ginally was,  and  always  continued  in  bis  private  sentiments,  inimical  to  the  Ame- 
rican war ;  although  he,  as  prime  minister,  in  every  measure  of  carrying  it  on,  in- 
curred the  chief  responsibility.  This  opinion,  as  an  historian,  I  have  not  documents 
either  to  confirm  or  refute  with  undoubted  certainty.    To  those  who  would  con- 
fine themselves  to  comparison  of  the  plans  and  conduct  of  government  during 
that  awful  period,  with  the  talents  often  displayed  by  his  lordship,  the  conjecture 
may  appear  probable.    But  persons  who  take  a  candid  view  of  the  respectable 
and  estimable  moral  qualities  of  the  prime  minister,  will  hesitate  in  justifying 
his  wisdom  at  the  expense  of  his  integrity;  they  will  sooner  admit  that  a  man 
of  genius,  literature,  and  political  knowledge,  reasoned  falsely  and  acted  imwisely, 
than  that  a  man  of  moral  rectitude  acted  in  deUberate  and  lasting  opposition  to 
his  conscience,  thereby  involving  his  country  in  misfortune.     At  the  same  time« 
I  am  fully  aware  that  there  is  a  third  hypothesis  possible,  and  by  many  believed, 
if  not  by  some  known  to  be  true.     The  opinion  in  question  rather  changes  the 
situation  than  degrades  the  character  of  lord  North,  by  representing  him  as  merely 
his  majesty's  first  commissioner  of  the  treasury  and  chancellor  of  the  exchequer, 
instead  of  the  prime  political  counsellor.    Persons  of  very  considerable  respecta- 
bility, of  very  high  veneration  for  the  character  of  lord  North,  and  who  with  invio- 
Vol.  VII.— 43 


338  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIV,— 1775- 

Petitions  from  America  dismissed  without  a  hearing  ] 

The  theory  of  an  interior  cabinet  was  revived;  and  it  was  asserted,  that 
lord  North,  thoueh  ostensibly  minister,  was  really  compelled  to  obey  the 
dictates  of  a  secret  junto.  Having,  however,  no  satisfactory  evidence 
that  such  a  cabal  existed,  nor  that  an  alile  and  estimable  nobleman  sub- 
mitted to  such  a  disgraceful  mancipation,  I  cannot  record  conjecture  as 
a  historical  truth,  and  must  narrate  the  measures  proposed  or  adopted 
by  lord  North  as  his  own,  because  for  them  he  declared  himself  respon- 
sible. 

Until  the  Christmas  recess,  the  minister  continued  to  abstain  from 
giving  any  determinate  opinion  concerning  American  affairs.  During 
the  adjournment,  the  North  American  merchants  of  London  and  Bristol, 
having  more  deeply  considered  the  consequences  resulting  to  their  trade, 
were  seriously  alarmed;  as  were  also  the  manufacturers  of  Birmingham. 
Meetings  were  called,  and  petitions  to  parliament  were  prepared  by  these 
bodies,  representing  the  great  losses  which  they  had  sustained  from  the 
suspension  of  traffic,  the  immense  sums  due  from  America,  and  the  ruin 
that  must  accrue  to  them  unless  intercourse  should  be  speedily  re-opened 
with  the  colonies.  They  were  presented  as  soon  as  parliament  met; 
and  also  petitions  from  various  other  bodies  and  parts  of  the  kingdom. 
The  West  India  merchants  and  planters  stated  how  deeply  they  were 
concerned  in  this  dispute,  as  the  sugar  islands  not  only  drew  a  great 
part  of  their  provisions  from  America,  but  were  supplied  with  lumber 
from  thence,  for  which  they  bartered  their  rum  and  sugars;  so  that  an 
interruption  of  the  intercourse  between  the  l^ritish  American  continent 
and  those  islands,  was  likely  not  only  to  deprive  the  latter  of  the  means 
of  sending  their  produce  to  Europe,  but  to  cause  a  great  body  of  people 
to  perish  for  want  of  sustenance.  The  various  petitions  were  referred 
to  a  committee  of  the  house;  but  from  the  little  attention  that  was  paid 
to  them,  it  was  called  Ihe  committee  of  oblivion.  The  petition  from  the 
congress  to  the  king  had  been  transmitted  to  London ;  his  majesty  re- 
fused to  receive  it  from  a  body  of  which  he  could  not  acknowledge  the 
legality,  but  referred  it  to  parliament.  On  the  26th  of  January,  sir 
George  Saville  presented  a  petition  to  the  house  from  three  American 
agents  praying  to  be  heard  on  the  subject  of  the  petition  presented  by 
them  from  the  congress  to  the  king,  and  which  his  majesty  had  referred 
to  the  house.  A  hearing  was  refused  by  the  commons  on  the  same 
ground,  that  no  attention  could  be  paid  to  that  petition  without  acknow- 
ledging the  authority  of  the  meeting. 

The  opponents  of  coercion  now  received  a  re-enforcement  of  genius, 
eloquence,  and  political  wisdom,  by  the  appearance  of  lord  Chatham  in 
the  house  of  lords,  after  an  absence  of  several  years.  That  illustrious 
statesman,  who  had  carried  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  his  country  to  so 
exalted  a  pitch,  now  left  the  sick  room,  that  lie  might  try  to  avert  the 
cvilk  with  which  it  was  threatened,  from  the  feeble,  fluctuating,  and  erro- 

lable  fidelity  adhered  to  him  in  every  vicissitvide  of  fortime,  have  given  their  opin- 
ion, that  he  was  not  really  minister,  but  the  ofFtcial  executor  of  positive  commands. 
I  »m  aware  also,  that  in  this  assertion  tliey  are  said  to  proceed,  not  merely  on 
general  inferences,  but  on  specific  evidence.  From  the  nature  of  the  allegku 
DoccMKNTS,  1  know  well  that  if  they  exist,  they  cannot  at  present  be  made  public. 
If  the  truth  of  this  account  were  established,  we  should,  indeed,  have  to  consider 
his  lordship  as  officially  obeying  orders,  but  not  as  voluntarily  proposing  counsels  ; 
this  perhaps,  might  excuse  him  as  the  servant  of  a  master,  but  would  not  be  suffi- 
cient to  acquit  him  as  member  of  a  deliberative  assembly.  Even  in  this  last  view, 
palliations  might  be  found  to  apologise  to  the  indulgent,  though  it  might  be  more 
difficult  to  discover  facts  and  arguments  which  would  satisfy  the  rigidly  just. 


irrs.— Chap.  XIV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  339 

[Lord  Chatham  returns  to  the  house.     His  introductory  speech.] 

neous  policy  of  his  successors  in  administration.  Lord  Dartmouth, 
secretary  of  state  for  the  American  department,  having  laid  sundry  pa- 
pers before  tlie  house  relative  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  America,  lord 
Chatham  moved  an  address  to  the  king  for  recalling  the  troops  from 
Boston.  The  speech  that  introduced  the  motion  was  replete  with  that 
forcihie,  brilliant,  and  impressive  eloquence,  which  during  forty  years 
had  delighted,  instructed,  and  astonished  parliament.  "  The  Americans, 
(said  he,)  sore  under  injuries  and  irritated  by  wrongs,  stript  of  their  in- 
born rights  and  dearest  privileges,  have  resisted  oppression,  and  entered; 
into  confederacies  for  preserving  their  common  liberties.  Under  this 
idea,  the  colonists  have  appointed  men  competent  to  so  great  an  under- 
taking to  consider  and  devise  the  most  effectual  means  for  maintaining 
so  inestimable  a  blessing.  Invested  with  this  right  by  the  choice  of  a 
free  people,  these  delegates  have  deliberated  with  prudence,  with  wis- 
dom, and  with  spirit;  and,  in  consequence  of  these  deliberations,  have 
addressed  the  justice  and  the  honour  of  their  country.  This  is  their 
fault,  this  is  their  crime;  they  have  petitioned  for  that,  without  which  a 
free  people  cannot  possibly  exist.  Much  has  been  said  of  late  about 
the  authority  of  parliament.  Its  acts  are  held  up  as  sacred  edicts  de- 
manding implicit  submission,  because,  if  the  supreme  power  does  not 
lodge  somewhere  operatively  and  effectively,  there  must  be  an  end  of  all 
legislation.  But  they  who  thus  argue,  or  rather  dogmatize,  do  not  see 
the  whole  of  this  question  on  great,  wise  and  liberal  grounds.  In  every 
free  state,  the  constitution  is  fixed,  and  all  legislative  power  and  autho- 
rity, wheresoever  placed,  either  in  collective  bodies  or  individuals,  must 
be  derived  under  that  established  polity  from  which  they  are  framed. 
Therefore,  however  strong  and  effective  acts  of  legislation  may  be  when 
they  are  formed  in  the  spirit  of  this  constitution,  yet  when  they  resist  its 
principles,  or  counteract  its  provisions,  they  attack  their  own  foundation; 
for  it  is  the  constitution,  and  the  constitution  only,  which  limits  both  so- 
vereignty and  allegiance.  This  doctrine  is  no  temporary  doctrine  taken 
up  on  particular  occasions  to  answer  particular  purposes,  it  is  involved 
in  no  metaphysical  doubts  and  intricacies,  but  clear,  precise,  and  deter- 
minate: it  is  recorded  in  all  our  law  books;  it  is  written  in  the  great  vo- 
lume of  nature;  it  is  the  essential  and  unalterable  right  of  Englishmen, 
and  accords  with  all  the  principles  of  justice  and  civil  policy,  which  nei- 
ther armed  force  on  the  one  side,  nor  submission  on  the  other,  can  upon 
any  occasion  eradicate.  Dreadful  will  be  the  effects  of  coercive  mea- 
sures. Government  has  sent  an  armed  force  of  above  seventeen  thou- 
sand men  to  dragoon  the  Bostonians  into  what  is  called  their  duty.  Minis- 
ters, so  far  from  turning  their  eyes  to  the  impolicy  and  dreadful  conse- 
quences of  this  scheme,  are  constantly  sending  out  more  troops,  and 
declaring,  in  the  language  of  menace,  that  if  seventeen  thousand  men 
cannot,  fifty  thousand  shall  enforce  obedience.  So  powerful  an  army 
may  ravage  the  country,  and  waste  and  destroy  as  they  march;  but  in 
the  progress  of  seventeen  hundred  miles,  can  they  occupy  the  places 
that  they  have  passed?  Will  not  a  country  which  can  produce  three 
millions  of  people,  wronged  and  insulted  as  they  are,  start  up  like  hydras 
in  every  corner,  and  gather  fresh  strength  from  fresh  opposition?'"*  In 
this  situation  and  prospect,  he  proposed  that  a  petition  should  be  present- 
ed to  his  majesty  to  recall  the  army  from  Boston,  as  the  present  position 

•  See  parliamentary  debates,  January  20, 17T5. 


340  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIV.-177v 

[His  plan  of  conciliation.] 

of  the  troops  rendered  them  and  the  Americans  continually  liable  to 
events  whicli  wouKi  prevent  the  possibility  of  re-establishing  concord. 
This  well-timed  mark  of  aftection  and  good  will  on  our  side,  would  re- 
move all  jealousy  and  apprehension  on  the  other,  and  produce  the  hap- 
piest eflects  to  botlu  If  we  consulted  either  our  interest  or  our  dignity, 
the  first  advance.^  to  peace  should  come  from  Britain.  "  If  the  minis- 
ters, on  the  contrary,  persevere  m  their  present  measures,  1  will  not 
(said  he)  assert  that,  the  king  is  betrayed,  but  I  will  pronounce  that  the 
<^ingdom  is  undone.  I  have  crawled  to  tell  you  my  opinion;  I  think  it 
my  duty  to  give  the  whole  of  my  experience  and  counsel  to  my  country 
at  all  tunes,  but  more  particularly  when  it  so  much  needs  political  guid- 
ance. Having  thus  entered  on  the  threshold  of  this  business,  I  will 
knock  at  your  gates  for  justice,  and  never  stop,  unless  infirmities  should 
nail  me  to  my  bed,  until  I  have  at  least  employed  every  means  in  my 
poaer  to  heal  those  unhappy  divisions.  Every  motive  of  equity  and  of 
policy,  of  dignity  and  of  prudence,  urges  you  to  allay  the  ferment  in 
America,  by  ihe  removal  of  your  troops  from  Boston,  by  a  repeal  ot 
your  acts  of  parliament,  and  by  a  demonstration  of  amicable  dispositions 
to .vard  your  colonies.  On  the  other  hand,  every  danger  impends  to  de- 
ter you  from  perseverance  in  your  present  ruinous  measures.  Foreign 
war  hangs  over  your  heads  by  a  slight  and  brittle  thread;  France  and 
Spain  no  watching  your  conduct,  and  waiting  for  the  maturity  of  your 
errors."  His  present  motion,  lord  Chatham  said,  he  had  formed  for  a 
solid,  honourable,  and  lasting  settlement  between  Britain  and  America. 
This  first  speech  of  his  lordship  on  the  ministerial  project  of  America, 
dictated  by  comprehensive  wisdom,  operating  on  accurate  and  extensive 
political  knowledge,  made  little  impression  on  the  majority  of  the  house. 
The  peers  who  supported  administration  expressed  themselves  in  high 
and  decisive  language,  they  severely  reprobated  the  conduct  of  the  Ame- 
ricans, and  asserted  that  all  conciliatory  means  had  proved  ineflectual : 
it  was  high  time  (they  said)  for  the  mother  country  to  assert  her  autho- 
rity;  concession  in  the  present  case  would  defeat  its  own  object:  the 
navigation  act,  and  all  other  laws  that  form  the  great  basis  on  which 
those  advantages  rest,  and  the  true  interests  of  both  countries  depend, 
would  fall  a  victim  to  the  interested  and  ambitious  views  of  America.  In 
a  word,  it  was  declared  that  the  mother  country  should  never  relax  till 
America  confessed  our  supremacy;  and  it  was  avowed  to  be  the  ministe- 
rial resolution  to  enforce  obedience  by  arms. 

The  motion  was  negatived  by  a  great  majority;  but  lord  Chatham, 
not  discouraged  by  the  rejection  of  his  introductory  motion,  perse- 
vered in  prosecuting  his  scheme  of  conciliation:  for  which  purpose 
he  laid  before  the  house  the  outlines  of  a  bill,  under  the  title  of  "  A 
provincial  act  for  settling  the  troubles  in  America,  and  for  asserting 
the  supreme  legislative  authority  and  superintending  power  of  Great 
Britain  over  the  colonies,"  It  proposed  to  repeal  all  the  statutes 
which  had  been  passed  in  the  former  session  relative  to  America ;  in 
•which  were  included  the  Quebec  act,  and  another  law  that  regulated 
the  quartering  of  soldiers  :  also  to  rescind  eight  acts  of  parliament,  pass- 
ed in  the  present  reign  from  the  fourth  year  to  the  twelfth.  It  pro- 
posed to  restrain  the  powers  of  the  admiralty  and  vice-admiralty  courts 
in  America  within  their  ancient  limits,  and  to  establish  the  trial  by 
jury  in  all  such  civil  cases  in  which  it  had  been  lately  abolished;  the 
judges  to  hold  their  offices  and  salaries  as  in  England,  guamdiu  se  dene 


1  rrs.— Chap.  X[V.  liEIGN  OF  GEOllGE  III.  34 1 

[Opposition  to  the  plan.     It  is  rejected  by  a  great  majority.] 

gesserint.  It  declared  the  colonies  in  America  to  be  justly  entitled 
to  the  privileges,  franchises,  and  immunities  granted  by  tlieir  seve- 
ral charters  or  constitutions;  and  that  such  charters  ouglit  not  to  be 
invaded  or  resumed,  unless  for  some  legal  grounds  of  forfeiture.  IJut 
"while  his  bill  took  these  steps  to  satisfy  the  colonies,  it  .vindicated  the 
supremacy  of  Great  Britain :  expressed  the  dependence  of  America 
on  the  parent  country  ;*  asserted,  as  an  undoubted  prerogative,  tlie 
king's  right  to  send  any  part  of  the  legal  army  to  whalever  station  in 
his  dominions  he  judged  expedient  for  the  public  good,  and  con- 
demned a  passage  in  the  petition  of  the  general  congress  which  ques- 
tioned that  right ;  on  the  other  ni^nd  it  declared,  that  no  miiitiiry  force, 
however  legally  raised  and  kept,  can  ever  be  constitutionally  employ- 
ed to  violate  and  destroy  the  jubt  .ight  of  the  people.  His  lordship, 
aware  of  the  many  and  complicated  ixtaterials  of  his  bill,  requested 
the  assistance  of  the  house  to  digest  and  reduce  them  to  the  form  best 
suited  to  the  dignity  and  importance  of  the  suljjcct.  He  deprecated 
the  effects  of  party  or  prejudice,  factious  spleen,  or  blind  predi- 
lection. Though  a  superficial  view  might  rcpiesent  this  as  a  bill  of 
concession  solely,  just  and  accurate  examination  would  discover  it 
to  be  also  a  bill  of  assertion.  This  proposiiion  underwent  a  great 
diversity  of  discussion;  the  variety  and  multiplicity  of  important  ob- 
jects comprised  in  it  were  alleged  to  be  much  too  numerous  for 
being  the  subject  of  one  act;  each  of  the  objects  deserved  a 
separate  consideration,  and  ought  to  be  investigated  with  the  most; 
scrutinizing  accuracy.  The  ministerial  lords  were  indeed  extreme- 
ly violent  in  opposing  the  bill ;  they  asserted,  that  it  granted  to  the 
Americans  whatever  they  wanted,  without  securing  the  rights  of  the 
British  legislature.  The  colonists  had  manifested  a  rebellious  and 
hostile  disposition,  and  it  would  be  grossly  impolitic  to  make  conces- 
sions to  subjects  who  had  shown  a  resolution  to  revolt.  In  their  stric- 
tures on  the  bill,  some  ministerial  lords,  without  regarding  the  cha- 
racter, age,  and  services  of  its  illustrious  author,  indulged  themselves 
in  petulant  personalities,  which  answered  no  other  purpose  than  to 
rouse  the  generous  indignation  merited  by  that  folly  which  wantonly 
provokes  superior  power.  He  again  predicted,  that  so  violent  a  sys- 
tem would  drive  America  to  a  total  separation  from  Great  Britain  : 
foreign  rivals  were  regarding  the  proceedings  of  the  British  govern- 
ment with  the  most  vigilant  attention,  and  entertaining  sanguine  hopes 
of  the  reduction  of  our  power,  and  the  dismemberment  of  our  empire, 

•  The  colonies  of  America,  it  set  forth,  have  been,  are,  and  ofriglit  ought  to  be 
dependent  upon  the  imperial  crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  subordmate  to  the 
British  parliament;  and  that  tl^e  king's  most  excellent  majesty,  by  and  with  thr 
advice  and  consent  of  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  commons  in  parlia- 
ment assembled,  had,  have,  and  of  right  ought  to  have  full  power  and  authority  to 
make  laws  and  statutes  of  sufficient  force  and  validity  to  bind  the  people  of  die 
British  colonies  in  America,  in  all  matters  touching  tlie  general  weal  of  the  whole 
dominions  of  the  imperial  crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  beyond  the  competen- 
cy of  the  local  representatives  of  a  distinct  colony ;  and  most  especially,  an  in- 
dubitable and  indispensable  right  to  make  andlord'ain  laws  for  regulating  naviga- 
tion and  trade  throughout  the  complicated  system  of  British  commerce  ;  the  deep 
poUcy  of  such  precedent  acts  upholding  the  guardian  navy  of  the  whole  British 
empire ;  and  that  all  subjects  in  the  colonies  are  bound,  in  duty  and  allegiance,  du- 
ly to  recognize  and  obey  (and  they  are  hereby  required  so  to  do)  the  supreme  le 
gislative  authority  and  superintending  power  of  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain 


342  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XFV.— 1775. 

[Opinions  of  ministry  respecling  America.     Observations  of  Mr.  Fox.) 

through  the  incapacity  and  infatuation  of  our  ministers;  though  cau- 
tiously forbearing  interference,  until  by  perseverance  in  our  ruinous 
plan,  the  colonics  were  completely  sepuraied  from  the  mother  coun- 
try. Such  were  the  conclusions  and  predictions  of  consummate  wis- 
dom ;  but  they  were  disregarded,  and  the  propositions  for  terminat- 
ing the  dissensions  between  Britain  and  America  were  rejected  by  a 
great  niiijority. 

The  house  of  commons  breathed  a  spirit  of  coercion  no  less  vehe- 
ment than  that  of  the  house  ot  peers.  On  the  3d  of  February,  the  mi- 
nister moved  an  address  to  the  king,  declaring  Massachusetts  Bay  to 
be  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and  detailing  the  acts  from  which  he  at- 
tempted to  justify  his  assertion  :  they  had  been  countenanced  and  en- 
couraged by  unlawful  combinations  in  other  colonies,  to  the  injury 
and  oppression  of  many  of  their  innocent  fellow-subjects  resident 
within  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  the  rest  of  his  majesty's  do- 
minions ;  and  their  conduct  was  more  inexcusable,  as  the  parliament 
of  Britain  had  conducted  itself  with  such  moderation  toward  the  Ame- 
ricans ;  but  though  ready  to  redress  real  grievances,  dutifully  and 
constitutionally  submitted  to  parliament,  they  would  not  relinquish 
the  sovereign  authority  which  the  legislature  possessed  over  the  co- 
lonies. The  address  besought  his  majesty  to  take  the  most  effectual 
measures  to  enforce  obedience  ;  and  assured  him  of  the  fixed  resolu- 
tion of  the  addressers,  at  the  hazard  ot  their  lives  and  properties,  to 
stand  by  his  majesty,  against  all  rebellious  attempts,  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  his  rights  and  those  of  the  two  houses  of  parliament.  This 
was  a  very  momentous  motion,  the  fate  of  which,  it  was  foreseen,  must 
in  a  great  measure  determine  whether  there  would  or  would  not  be  a 
civil  war ;  for  were  the  provincials  declared  to  be  rebels,  it  was  very 
probable  that  they  would  be  hurried  to  actual  revolt.  The  address 
met  with  strong  opposition  ;  Mr.  Dunning  endeavoured  to  prove  that 
the  Americans  were  not  in  rebellion,  and  supported  his  assertion  by 
an  appeal  to  legal  definitions,  which,  he  contended,  did  not  apply  to 
any  of  the  acts  in  Massachusetts.  The  address  to  the  sovereign 
contained  a  charge  against  fellow-subjects  that  was  not  true,  and 
asked  him  to  prosecute  a  crime  which  had  not  been  committed.  Mr. 
Thurlow,  the  ailorney-general,  affirmed,  that  the  Americans  were 
traitors  and  rebels,  but  did  not  prove  his  position  from  a  com- 
parison cf  their  conduct  v/ith  the  treason  laws.  Ministerial  mem- 
bers endeavoured  to  show  that  they  were  both  rebels  and  cow- 
ards ,  colonel  Grant,  in  particular,  told  the  house,  that  he  had  often 
ac<ed  in  the  same  service  with  the  Americans  ;  he  knew  them  well, 
and  from  that  knowledge  would  venture  to  predict,  that  they  would 
nevei  dare  to  face  an  English  army,  as  being  destitute  of  every  requi- 
site to  constitute  good  soldiers ;  by  their  laziness,  uncleanliness,  or 
radical  defect  of  constitution,  they  were  incapable  of  going  through 
the  service  of  a  carnpaign,  and  would  melt  away  with  sickness  before 
they  could  face  an  enemy  ;  so  that  a  very  slight  force  would  be  more 
than  sufficient  for  their  complete  reduction.  Many  ludicrous  stories 
were  lold  of  their  cowardice,  greatly  to  the  entertainment  of  the  mi- 
nisterial members,  who  were  all  confident  that  America  would  make 
a  short  and  feeble  resistance.  Mr.  Fox  most  eminently  distinguish- 
ed himself,  not  only  by  the  force  of  his  reasoning  and  eloquence,  but 


l7r5.~CHAP.  XIV.  RKIGN  OF  GEORGE  lU.  343 

[Massachusetts  Bay  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  rebellion.] 

by  the  depth  of  his  sagacity,  which  with  a  prophetic  accuracy  mark- 
ed the  consequences  of  ihe  proposed  measure.  It  would  create  the 
rebellion,  which  now,  without  grounds,  was  declared  to  exist.  The 
ministerial  inferences  respecting  the  cowardire  of  the  Americans 
were  founded  upon  false  and  futile  premises,  and  rested  on  the  reports 
of  officers  who  had  served  with  them  in  the  war  against  the  French. 
The  provincials  had  cciiainly  not  behaved  with  that  uniform  valouv 
Avhich  was  displayed  l)y  the  regular  troops,  but  then  they  considered 
themselves  as  auxiliaries,  not  as  principals.  The  military  operations 
were  to  promote  the  success  of  the  British  empire  ;  whereas,  if  now 
driven  to  war,  they  were  to  fight,  accoiding  to  their  conception,  for 
their  own  liberty  and  property,  against  usurpation  and  tyranny.  Those 
persons  must  have  attended  little  to  the  passions,  and  the  history  of 
human  conduct,  who  concluded,  that  because  men  were  not  always 
disposed  to  fight  valiantly  for  others,  they  therefore  would  not  fight 
valiantly  for  themselves.  "  Peruse  (baid  Mr.  Fox)  the  history  of  con- 
tests for  freedom  ;  you  will  find  that  every  people  inspired  with  man- 
ly virtue  enough  to  value  and  desire  liberty,  has  always  displayed  en- 
ergy and  courage  in  asserting  their  right  to  so  inestimable  a  blessing  : 
the  Americans  will  fight  when  inspired  by  so  powerful  a  motive.*' 
He  concluded  with  moving  an  amendment,  to  leave  out  all  but  the 
preliminaay  words  of  the  address,  and  to  substitute  after  them  the  fol- 
lowing: "But  deploring  that  the  information  which  they  (the  papers 
laid  before  the  house)  had  afforded,  served  only  to  convince  the  house 
that  the  measures  taken  by  his  majesty's  servants  tended  rather  to 
•widen  than  to  heal  the  unhappy  differences  between  Great  Britain  and 
America."  The  arguments  and  exertions  of  that  extraordinary  sena- 
tor were  of  little  avail ;  the  proposed  address  was  carried  by  a  great 
majority,  and  was  equally  successful  in  the  house  of  peers,  liighteen 
lords  entered  into  a  protest  against  a  measure,  which  they  affu'med  to 
amount  to  a  declaration  of  war  :  the  hostile  manifesto  was  not,  they 
asserted,  justified  by  evidence;  the  acts  of  parliament  affecting  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay  were  real  grievances  ;  and  those  continuing  unrepeal- 
ed, the  Americans  had  no  reason  to  confide  in  general  assurances  of 
redress;  we' had  refused  to  listen. to  their  petitions  ;  we  v/ould  receive 
no  information  but  from  one  side  ;  we  punished  without  inquiry,  and 
branded  with  the  name  of  rebels  those  who  remonstrated  against  such 
unjust  and  illegal  punishment.  The  dissentients  further  objected  to 
the  address,  that  the  means  of  enforcing  the  authority  of  the  British 
legislature  was  confined  to  persons  whose  capacity  for  that  purpose 
was  doubtful,  and  who  had  hitherto  employed  no  effectual  measures 
for  conciliating  or  reducing  the  opposers  of  that  authority.  This  pro- 
test, which  is,  in  fact,  a  deprecation  of  the  war  from  which  Britain  has 
since  suffered  so  much  calamity,  concluded  with  the  following  words  : 
"  Parliament  has  never  refused  any  of  their  [the  ministers]  proposals, 
and  yet  our  affairs  have  proceeded  daily  from  bad  to  worse,  until  we 
have  been  brought,  step  by  step,  to  that  stale  of  confusion,  and  even 
civil  violence,  which  was  the  natural  result  of  such  desperaie  mea- 
sures. We  therefore  protest  against  an  address  amounting  to  a  de- 
claration of  iuar,\\ \\\ch.  is  founded  on  no  proper  parliamentary  informa- 
tion, which  was  introduced  by  refusing  to  suffer  the  presentation  oi 
petitions  against  it  (although  it  be  the  undoubted  right  of  the  subject 
to  present  the  same,)  which  followed  the  rejection,  of  every  mode  of 
conciliation,  which  holds  out  no  substantial  offer  of  redress  of  griev- 


344  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIT.— 1775. 

[Message  of  the  king.    Bill  restraining  the  commerce  of  the  colonies.] 

anccs,  and  which  promises  support  to  those  ministers  who  have  in- 
flamed America,  and  grossly  misconducted  the  affairs  of  Great  Bri- 
tain."* 

In  consequence  of  this  address,  his  majesty  sent  a  message  to  the 
house  of  commons,  intimating  his  resolution,  in  compliance  with  the 
wishes  of  his  parliament,  to  take  the  most  speedy  and  effectual  mea- 
sures for  supporting  the  just  rights  of  the  crown  and  legislature,  and 
that  some  augmcnialion  of  his  forces  by  sea  and  land  would  be  neces- 
sary for  this  purpose.  Accordingly,  an  increase  both  of  the  army  and 
navy  was  voted  :  and  reascn  was  given  to  expect,  that  a  greater  num- 
ber would  be  required  in  the  course  of  the  session.  Opposition  in- 
sisted, that  the  ministerial  mode  of  sending  small  bodies  to  America 
was  totally  inadequate  to  the  purposes  of  the  coercion  which  they  so 
madly  sought;  their  violent  counsels  would  drive  the  Americans  to 
revolt,  while  their  feeble  and  tardy  preparations  would  be  ineffectual 
to  the  suppression  of  the  disturbances.  Ministers,  in  discussing  this 
as  well  as  other  questions,  formed  their  conclusions  on  a  presumption 
that  the  Americans  were  cowards  ;  and  continued  to  express  the  cer- 
tainty of  reducing  all  the  other  colonies  to  obedience,  by  merely  com- 
mencing military  operations  in  Massachusetts  Bay.  While  ministers 
were  proceeding  in  preparing  to  compel  obedience  by  means  of  a 
military  force,  they  endeavoured  to  promote  the  same  by  other  means. 
With  this  view  it  was  resolved,  until  they  should  become  submissive, 
to  withhold  from  them  one  of  their  chief  sources  of  subsistence. 

The  northern  provinces  had  derived  essential  benefits  from  the 
Newfoundland  fisheries.  In  a  country  not  very  productive  in  corn,  a 
great  part  of  the  livelihood  of  the  poor  was  drawn  from  the  ocean  ; 
numbers  of  the  inhabitants  were  fishermen,  and  had  no  other  means 
of  purchasing  flour  and  other  necessaries  of  life,  but  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  that  occupation.  Their  fisheries  were,  moreover,  the  means 
of  sustaining  a  race  of  seamen  ;  they  were  allowed  to  carry  their  car- 
goes to  any  port  south  of  cape  Finisterre,  and  were  accustomed  to 
supply  Spain  and  Portugal  with  fish  during  the  season  of  Lent.  The 
minister  thought  that,  by  debarring  them  from  seeking  so  material  an 
article  of  their  food  where  it  was  most  likely  to  be  found,  he  should 
at  length  bring  them  to  that  compliance  which  his  other  schemes  had 
successively  failed  to  produce.  He  therefore,  on  the  10th  of  Febru- 
ary, moved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  restrain  the  trade  and  com- 
merce of  the  provinces  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New-Hampshire, 
the  colonies  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  and  Providence  Plan- 
tation, in  North  America,  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  British 
•Islands  in  the  West  Indies ;  and  to  prohibit  such  provinces  and  colo- 
nies from  carrying  on  any  fishery  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  or 
other  places  thereui  to  be  mentioned,  under  certain  conditions,  and 
for  a  limited  time.  In  support  of  the  proposed  bill,  plausible  argu- 
ments were  adduced  :  the  Americans  had  refused  to  trade  with  this 
kingdom,  it  was  therefore  just  that  we  should  not  suffer  them  to  trade 
r-aih  any  other  country  ;  the  restraints  of  the  act  of  navigation  were 
their  charter  ;  and  the  several  permissions  to  deviate  from  that  law, 
were  so  many  acts  of  grace  and  favour,  all  of  which,  when  they  ceased 
lobe  merited  by  the  colonies,  ought  to  be  revoked  by  the  legislature. 
The  fisheries  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  as  well  as  all  others  in 

•  D^brett's  Parliamentary  Papers,  vol.  iii.  p,  516— 518. 


irrs.—cuAP.  XIV.  ueign  ov  gf.ouge  hi  345 

[Petitions  against  the  bill.    Protest  of  the  peers.] 

North  America,  were  the  undoubted  right  of  Great  Britain,  and  she 
miglit  accordingly  dispose  of  them  as  she  pleased  ;  as  both  houses 
had  declared  Massachusetts  Bay  to  be  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  it  was 
but  just  and  reasonable  to  deprive  it  of  a  benefit  which  it  before  en- 
joyed only  by  indulgence.  The  bill,  its  framer  proposed,  should  be 
only  temporary  ;  and  particular  persons  might  be  excepted,  should 
they  obtain  certificates  from  the  governor  of  their  province  that  their 
behaviour  was  loyal  and  peaceable,  or  should  they  subscribe  a  test  ac- 
knowledging the  supremacy  of  parliament.  It  was  proper  to  include 
the  other  colonies  in  the  prohibitions  imposed  upon  Massachusetts; 
New-Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode-Island,  bordered  on  that 
province;  and,  unless  the  privation  extended  to  them,  the  purposes 
of  the  act  would  be  defeated :  besides,  though  the  people  had  not 
broken  out  in  actual  violence,  they  had  manifested  a  disposition  to 
assist  the  Bostonians.  The  bill  was  very  strongly  opposed :  its  prin- 
ciple was  alleged  to  involve  the  innocent  with  the  guilty;  to  impo- 
verish and  starve  four  provinces,  because  one  was  asserted  to  be  in  a 
state  of  rebellion.  Its  impugners  did  not  admit  the  doctrine  of  its  sup- 
porters, that  the  vicinity  of  one  province  to  another  actually  in  rebel- 
lion, is  a  just  reason  for  including  the  inhabitants  of  the  tranquil  pro- 
vince in  the  punishment.  It  was,  besides,  cruel  to  deprive  poor 
wretches  of  their  hard-earned  livelihood,  and  the  exception  of  those 
whom  the  governor  might  think  proper  to  favour,  would  only  intro- 
duce a  scandalous  partiality,  and  pernicious  monopoly  ;  but  the  plan 
was  inexpedient  as  well  as  unjust,  and  would  be  extremely  hurtful  to 
the  merchants  of  Britain.  New-England  owed  them  a  great  balance, 
and  had  no  other  means  of  discharging  the  debt  than  through  the  fish- 
ery, and  the  trade  which  it  circuitously  produced;  the  fisheries  would 
be  lost  to  us,  and  transferred  to  our  rivals  ;  the  inhabitants  of  the 
coasts,  to  prevent  themselves  from  starving,  must  have  recourse  to 
other  occupations,  and,  were  the  provinces  driven  to  war,  would  be- 
come soldiers.  Thus  we  provoked  rebellion  by  one  set  of  unjust  acts, 
and  recruited  the  rebellious  army  by  another.  Various  petitions  were 
presented  by  merchants  trading  to  America,  stating  the  evils  of  the 
bill  even  to  our  own  fisheries,  as  well  as  to  commerce  in  general. 
The  expostulations,  however,  produced  no  effect,  and  the  bill  was 
passed  by  a  great  majority  in  both  houses.*  A  protest  in  the  house 
of  peers,  after  detailing  the  various  objections  to  the  principles  and 
provisions  of  this  measure,  contains  the  following  very  striking  re- 
mark on  the  conduct  of  ministry  :  "  That  government  which  attempts 
to  preserve  its  authority  by  destroying  the  trade  of  its  subjects,  and  by- 
involving  the  innocent  and  the  guilty  in  one  common  ruin,  if  it  act 
from  a  choice  of  such  means,  confesses  itself  unworthy;  if  from  ina- 
bility to  find  any  other,  admits  itself  wholly  incompetent  to  the  end  of 
its  institution." 

Mr.  Fox 
is  talents. 


•  It  was  on  the  discussion  of  tliis  question,  Gibbon  informs  us,  that 

first  manifested  to  parliament  the  extraordinary  force  and  extent  of  hi.,  

"The  principal  men,  botli  days,  were  Fox  and  Wedderburne,  on  the  opposite 
sides  ;  the  latter  displayed  his  usual  talents  :  the  former,  taking  the  vast  compais 
of  the  question  before  us,  discovered  powers  for  regular  debate,  which  "":♦'-'-" 
his  friends  hoped,  nor  his  enemies  dreaded."    See  Gibbon's  letter  to  loi 


SK       ,  „ .........^ _._ ...._._„- 

neither 
.      .  _._.      lord  Shef- 

^eld,  1775. 

Vol.  VII.— 44 


346  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  \IV.-1775. 

[Plan  of  loril  North  for  conciliating  America.] 

While  administration  appeared  bent  on  pursuing  the  most  coercive 
measures,  lord  North  proposed  a  law,  which  being  professedly  con- 
ciliatory, astonished  not  only  opposition,  but  many  of  the  adherents  of 
ministers.  The  bill,  however,  was  founded  on  a  position  implied  in 
the  address,  "  that  there  was  a  great  wiint  of  unanimity  in  the  colo- 
nies." On  that  principle  it  had  been  declared,  that,  "  whenever  any 
of  the  colonies  shall  make  a  proper  application  to  us,  we  shall  be 
ready  to  afford  them  every  just  and  reasonable  indulgence."  He 
therefore  proposed,  that  when  any  of  the  colonies  should  proffer,  ac- 
cording to  their  abilities,  to  raise  their  due  proportion  towards  the 
common  defence  (the  assessment  to  be  raised  under  the  authority  of 
the  assembly  of  the  province,  and  to  be  disposable  by  parliament,)  and 
when  such  colony  should  also  engage  to  provide  for  the  support  of  its 
civil  government  and  the  administration  of  justice,  parliament  shoi^ld 
forbear  the  exaction  of  duties  or  taxes,  except  such  as  should  be*  ne- 
cessary for  the  regulation  of  trade.  It  was  frequently  the  fate  of  lord 
North's  measures,  both  deliberative  and  executive,  to  be  proposed  too 
late  for  answering  an  end  which  they  might  have  attained  had  they 
been  sooner  proposed.  It  has  been  already  remarked,  that  during 
many  years  there  was  a  great  diversity  of  sentiment  in  the  several  co- 
lonies concerning  principles  of  government,  and  other  subjects  con- 
nected with  their  relation  to  the  mother  country ;  and  that  it  might 
have  been  easy  for  the  minister,  by  attending  minutely  to  their  differ- 
ent views  and  opinions,  to  have  so  effectually  kept  their  interests  se- 
parate, as  to  prevent  any  coalition.  But  the  plans  wljich  he  had  lately 
pursued,  had  served  to  unite  in  one  mass  materials  before  discordant : 
from  diversity,  government  had  driven  them  to  uniformity  of  views. 
This  scheme  of  compromise  might,  and  probably  would,  have  been 
received  by  the  middle  and  southern  colonies,  from  lord  North,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  administration,  and  its  reception  by  them  must  have 
compelled  the  northern  republicans  at  length  to  accede  :  but  the 
season  was  past.  The  minister,  on  introducing  his  motion,  made  a 
speech,  in  which  he  demonstrated  that  he  considered  his  present  plan 
as  a  deviation  from  the  high  system  of  coercion  which  he  had  before 
inculcated.  He  quoted  a  variety  of  instances  from  the  history  of  this 
country,  of  ministers  and  parliaments  altering  their  opinions  in  a 
change  of  circimisianccs :  the  present  system,  he  urged,  would  be  a 
touchstone  to  try  the  sincerity  of  the  Americans  ;  if  their  opposition 
was  founded  on  the  principles  which  they  pretended,  they  would  com- 
ply with  the  terms;  if  they  should  refuse  them,  they  must  have  been 
actuated  by  different  motives  from  those  which  they  professed.  "We 
(said  he)  shall  then  be  prepared,  and  know  how  to  act  ;  after  having 
shown  our  wisdom,  our  justice,  and  our  humanity,  by  giving  them  an 
opportunity  of  redeeming  their  past  faults,  and  holding  out  to  them 
fitting  terms  of  accommodation,  if  they  reject  them,  we  shall  be  jus- 
tified in  taking  the  most  coercive  measures,  and  they  must  be  an- 
swerable to  God  and  man  for  the  consequences."  This  measure  ap- 
peared a  concession  to  the  colonics,  and  met  with  its  first  opposition 
from  gentlemen  who  usually  supported  government.  It  was  by  some 
ministerial  members  opposed,  us  contrary  to  the  principles  both  of  the 
late  address  and  other  acts  of  government.  These  objections  were 
pressed  with  the  greatest  ardour  by  Mr.  Dundas,  and  also  the  p.uli- 
sans  of  the  Bedford  interest}  the  former,  in  whatever  he  undertook 


1775.— Chap.  XIV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  347 

[Arguments  of  opposition.    Mr.  Fox  displays  its  inconsistency.] 

preferred  firmness  and  decision,  and  disliked  the  present  plan  as  wa- 
vering; and  indecisive  ;  the  latter,  who  had  uniformly  been  the  abet- 
tors of  coercion,  reprobated  every  indication  of  a  conciliatory  spirit. 
The  disapprobation  of  persons  on  whose  coincidence  he  had  relied, 
embarrassed  and  distressed  the  minister,  and  he  repeatedly  endea- 
voured to  explain  himself,  but  without  giving  satisfaction.  At  length, 
sir  Gilbert  Elliott  professed  to  reconcile  the  apparent  deviation,  and 
for  that  purpose  observed  that  the  address  contained  two  correspon- 
dent* lines  of  conduct ;  on  the  one  hand,  to  repress  rebellion,  protect 
loyalty,  and  enforce  the  laws  ;  on  the  other,  to  grant  indulgence  to  co- 
lonists who  should  return  to  their  duty.  For  the  first  of  these  pur- 
poses, the  forces  had  been  augmented,  and  the  prohibitory  system 
adopted :  for  the  last,  the  present  plan  was  proposed,  and  without  it 
the  restrictory  act  would  have  been  defective  and  unjust.  By  this 
proposition,  parliament  would  not  lose  the  right  of  imposing  taxes  ; 
that  was  a  power  which  it  expressly  reserved,  neither  did  it  suspend 
its  exercise  ;  it  manifested  the  firm  resolution  of  the  legislature  to 
compel  America  to  provide  what  we  (not  they)  thought  just  and  rea- 
sonable for  the  support  of  the  empire.  Their  compliance  was  the 
only  ground  of  their  hope  to  be  reconciled  to  this  country.  Revenue 
WAS  THE  SUBJECT  OF  DISPUTE  :  if  the  Americans  offered  a  satisfac- 
tory contribution,  their  past  offences  would  be  pardoned,  and  if  they 
did  not,  we  should  compel  them  to  do  us  justice.  Members  who  had 
disliked  this  motion,  under  the  idea  that  it  was  not  coercive,  now  be- 
came more  favourable.  The  opponents  of  ministry  contended,  that  the 
measure  was  invidious  :  "  It  carries  (said  they)  two  faces  on  its  very  first 
appearance  :  to  the  Americans,  and  to  those  who  are  unwilling  to  pro- 
ceed in  the  extremes  of  violence  against  them,  the  minister  holds  out 
negotiation  and  amity  :  to  those  who  have  joined  him,  on  condition 
(said  Mr.  Foxf)  that  he  will  support  the  supremacy  of  this  country, 
the  proposition  holds  out  a  determination  to  persevere  in  pursuit  of 
that  object.  But  his  friends  see  that  he  is  relaxing,  and  the  committee 
sees  that  they  are  all  ready  to  withdraw  from  under  his  standard.  No 
one  in  this  country,  who  is  sincerely  the  advocate  of  peace,  will  trust 
the  speciousness  of  his  expressions,  and  the  Americans  will  reject 
them  with  disdain.  This  proposition,  so  far  from  tending  to  disunite, 
would  unite  the  Americans  more  closely  :  they  would  guard  against 
artifice,  as  well  as  defend  themselves  against  force.  The  minister  is 
contradictory  to  himself  in  his  professions  of  conciliation,  and  very 
short-sighted  in  conceiving  that  they  would  impose  on  the  Americans.'* 
The  plan  was  evidently  only  a  change  of  the  mode,  not  a  renun- 
ciation of  the  right,  of  levying  taxes;  it  was  a  half  measure,  an  at- 

•  This  refined  distinction  did  not  prevent  discerning  supporters  of  lord  North's 
administration  from  regarding  sucli  very  opposite  measures  in  the  true  light,  as 
the  reader  may  observe  in  the  foUovviiig  extract  from  Gibbon,  written  upon  this 
occasion.  "  We  go  on  with  regard  to  America,  if  we  can  be  said  to  go  on  ;  for  last 
Monday  a  conciliatory  motion  of  allowing  the  colonies  to  tax  themselves,  was  in- 
troduced by  lord  North,  in  the  midst  of  hves  and  fortunes,  war  and  famine.  We 
went  into  the  house  in  confusion,  every  moment  expecting  that  the  Bedfords 
would  fly  into  rebellion  against  those  measures.  Lord  North  rose  six  times  to  ap- 
pease the  storm,  but  all  in  vain  ;  till  at  length  sir  Gilbert  declared  for  administra- 
tion, and  the  troops  all  rallied  under  their  proper  standard."  Gibbon's  letter  to 
lord  Sheffield,  Feb.  25th,  1775. 

t  Spe  parliamentary  debates,  February  20th,  1775. 


348  HISTOKY  OV  THE  Cha*.  XIV.— 1775. 

[Wavering  policy  of  lord  Norlli.     Propositions  of  Mr.  Burke] 

tempt  to  compromise  the  difTerence,  when  it  was  plain,  from  the  very 
bct^inning,  that  there  was  no  medium  between  coercion  and  abundon- 
mcnt.  If  the  ministry  were  l)efore  right,  they  conceded  by  far  too 
much,  if  wrong  by  far  too  little.  Lord  North  was  too  anxious  to 
please  one  party,  without  much  displeasing  the  other;  there  was  a 
fluctuation  of  counsels,  a  mixture  of  soothing  and  irritating  measures, 
which  reciprocally  defeated  the  efVect  of  each  other.  With  abilities 
that  fitted  him  for  being  a  leader,  from  want  of  firmness  lie  was  too 
often  a  follower  of  men  who  were  much  inferior  to  himself.  While 
this  bill  was  the  subject  of  discussion,  he  displayed  more  dexterity  in 
retreating,  than  boldness  in-  maintaining  his  post.  His  conciliatory 
jilan  having  undergone  such  modifications  as  made  a  considerable 
change  in  its  principle  and  tendency,  passed  the  house  by  a  majority 
not  altogether  so  great  a»  those  which  had  voted  for  other  proposi- 
tions of  ministers. 

Mr.  Burke,  having  devoted  a  great  part  of  his  time  and  attention 
to  inquiries  into  the  state  of  America,  and  having  concluded  that  an 
attempt  to  subjugate  the  colonists  would  be  impracticable,  persisted 
in  recommending  conciliation.  On  the  28th  of  March,  1775,  he  pro- 
posed to  the  house  a  plan  for  the  re-establishment  of  concord.  He 
forbore  entering  into  the  question  of  right,  but  confined  himself  to 
the  consideration  of  expediency ;  and  proceeded  upon  a  principle  ad- 
mitted by  the  wisest  legislators,  that  government  must  be  adapted  to 
the  nature  and  situation  of  the  people  for  whose  benefit  it  is  exercised. 
He  therefore  investigated  the  circumstances,  modes  of  thinking,  dis- 
positions and  principles  of  action,  of  those  men  in  particular,  the  treat- 
ment of  whom  was  the  object  of  deliberation.  To  ascertain  the  pro- 
priety of  concession,  he  examined  and  explained  the  internal  and 
external  state,  with  the  natural  and  accidental  circumstances  of  the 
colonies.  He  considered  them  with  respect  to  situation  and  resources, 
extent,  numbers,  amazing  growth  of  population,  rapid  increase  of 
commerce,  fisheries  and  agriculture ;  from  which  he  evinced  their 
strength  and  importance.  He  then  inquired  into  that  unconquerable 
spirit  of  freedom  by  which  the  Americans  are  distinguished.  This 
violent  passion  for  liberty,  he  traced  from  the  sources  of  descent, 
education,  manners,  religious  principles,  and  forms  of  government. 
He  described  the  prosperity  of  America,  so  rapidly  increased  in  the 
course  of  the  century,  and  deduced  from  its  advances,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  benefits  which  had  accrued,  and  would  accrue  in  a  still 
greater  degree  to  this  couritry,  if  our  ancient  amity  were  restored; 
on  the  other,  their  power  of  resistance,  if  we  should  persevere  in  our 
determination  to  employ  force.  The  American  spirit  of  liberty  (he 
said)  so  predominating  from  a  variety  of  causes,  must  be  treated  in 
one  of  three  ways.  It  nmst  either  be  changed,  as  inconvenient;  pro- 
secuted, as  criminal ;  or  complied  witli,  as  necessary.  One  means  of 
changing  the  spirit  was,  by  taking  measures  to  stop  that  spreading 
population,  so  alarming  to  the  country  ;  but  attempts  of  this  sort  would 
be  totally  impracticable,  and  even  if  they  were  not,  would  diminish 
the  benefit  which  rendered  the  colonics  valuable  to  the  mother  coun- 
try. To  empoverish  the  colonies  in  general,  and  especially  to  arrest 
the  noble  course  of  their  maritime  enterprises,  was  a  project  that 
might  be  compassed;  but  we  had  colonid's  for  no  other  purpose  than 
to  be  serviceable  to  us ;  it  seemed  therefore  preposterous  to  reader 


1775.-CUAP.  XIV.  KEIGN  OF  GEOllGE  III.  349 

[Foundation  of  his  propositions.     Tliey  are  rejected  by  the  house.] 

Ihcni  unserviceable,  in  order  to  keep  them  obedient.  The  second 
mode  of  breaking  the  stubborn  spirit  of  the  Americans,  by  prose- 
cuting it  as  criminal,  was  impossible  in  the  execution,  and  conse- 
quently absurd  in  the  attempt.  Perseverance  in  the  endeavour  to 
subjugate  a  numerous  and  powerful  people,  fighting  for  what  they 
conceived  to  be  their  liberty,  would  diminish  our  trade,  exhaust  our 
resources,  and  impair  our  strength,  without  making  any  effectual  im- 
pression upon  America.  From  the  contest  with  the  colonies,  there 
would  also  ensue  a  rupture  with  European  powers,  and  a  general 
war.  After  endeavouring  to  demonstrate  the  policy  of  concession, 
he  proceeded  to  the  principle  on  which  he  proposed  that  the  conces- 
sion should  be  made.  His  propositions  (he  said)  were  founded  on 
the  ancient  constitutional  policy  of  this  kingdom  respecting  repre- 
sentation ;  they  merely  followed  the  guidance  of  experience.  In  the 
cases  of  Wales,  the  county  palatine,  Chester,  and  Durham,  their  uti- 
lity to  this  country  was  coeval  with  their  admission  to  a  participation 
of  the  British  constitution :  our  constitutional  treatment  of  America 
had  caused  the  benefits  which  we  had  derived  from  that  country. 
Before  1763,  we  had  walked  with  security,  advantage  and  honour; 
since  that  time,  discontent  and  trouble  had  prevailed.  "  I  do  not 
(said  he)  examine  the  abstract  question  of  right ;  I  do  not  inquire 
whether  you  have  a  right  to  render  your  people  miserable  ;  but,  whe- 
ther it  is  not  your  interest  to  make  them  happy.  It  is  not  what  a 
lawyer  tells  me,  I  may  do;  but  what  humanity,  reason,  and  justice, 
tell  me,  that  I  ought  to  do.  By  your  old  mode  of  treating  the  colo- 
nies, they  were  well  affected  to  you,  and  you  derived  from  them  im- 
mense and  rapidly  increasing  advantage  ;  by  your  new  mode,  they  are 
ill  affected  to  you,  and  you  have  obstructed  and  prevented  the  emolu- 
ment. I  recommend  to  you  to  return  from  the  measures  by  which 
you  now  lose,  to  those  by  which  you  formerly  gained."  From  these 
arguments  Mr.   Burke  formed  his  pacific  propositions  :*   that  the 

•  He  moved  thirteen  resolutions;  of  which  the  six  first  contained  his  general 
principles  and  plan  :  1st,  He  moved,  That  the  colonies  and  plantations  of  Great 
Ijrltaln  in  North  America,  consisting-  of  fourteen  separate  govci-nments,  and  con- 
taining two  millions  and  upwards  of  free  inhabitants,  have  not  had  the  liberty  and 
privilege  of  electing  and  sending  any  knights  and  burgesses  or  others,  to  repre- 
sent them  in  tiie  high  court  of  parliament.  2dly,  'I'hat  the  said  colonies  and 
plantations  had  been  made  liable  to,  and  bounded  by,  several  subsidies,  pay- 
ments, rates,  and  taxes,  given  and  granted  by  parliament,  though  the  said  colo- 
nies and  plantations  have  not  their  knights  and  burgesses  in  the  said  hlgli  court 
of  parliament  of  tlieir  own  election,  to  represent  the  condition  of  their  country; 
by  lack  whereof,  they  had  been  touched  and  gi'ieved  by  subsidies  given,  granted, 
and  assented  to  in  the  said  court,  in  a  manner  prejudicial  to  the  commonwealth, 
quietness,  rest,  and  peace,  of  the  subjects  inhabiting  within  the  same,  odly, 
I'liat  from  the  distance  of  tlie  said  colonies,  and  from  other  circurtistances,  no 
method  hath  hitherto  been  devised  i'or  procuring  a  representation  in  j)arliamont 
for  the  said  colonies.  4thly,  That  each  of  the  said  colonies  hath  within  itself  a 
body  chosen,  in  part  or  in  whole,  by  the  freemen,  freeholders,  or  other  free  in- 
habitants thereof,  commonly  called  the  general  assembly,  or  general  court,  with 
powers  legally  to  raise,  levy,  and  assess,  according  to  the  several  usages  of  such 
colonies,  duties  and  taxes  tcjwards  defraying  all  sorts  of  public  services.  5thly, 
That  the  said  general  assemblies,  general  courts,  or  other  bodies  legally  qualified 
as  aforesaid,  have  at  sundry  times  freely  granted  several  large  subsidies  and  pub- 
lic aids  for  his  majesty's  service,  according  to  their  abilities,  when  required  thereto 
by  letter  from  one  of  his  majesty's  principal  secretaries  of  slate  ;  and  that  their 
right  to  grant  the  same,  and  their  checrl'ulac&s  and  sufhciency  in  the  said  grants. 


350  IIISTOUY  OF  TIIK  Caxr.  XIV. —1775. 

[Extension  of  the  prohibitory  system.    Loyalty  of  New -York.] 

Americans  should  tax  themselves  by  their  own  representatives,  in 
their  own  assemblies,  agreeable  to  the  former  usage,  and  to  the  ana- 
logy of  the  British  constitution;  and  that  all  acts  imposing  duties 
should  be  repealed.  Though  a  speech  more  replete  with  Wisdom 
■was,  perhaps,  never  spoken  in  that  or  any  other  assembly,  yet  wisdom 
•was  unavailing,  and  the  conciliatory  plan  was  rejected  by  men  deter- 
mined on  compulsory  measures. 

Mr.  Hartley  soon  after  proposed  a  scheme  of  reconcilement,  in- 
tended as  a  medium  between  the  systems  of  lord  North  and  Mr. 
Burke.  His  plan  was,  that,  at  the  desire  of  parliament,  the  secretary 
of  state  should  require  the  several  colonics  to  contribute  to  the  gene- 
ral expense  of  the  empire,  but  leave  the  amount  and  application  to 
the  contributors  themselves.  Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  requisition  of 
revenue  would  originate  with  parliament:  on  the  other,  colonists 
would  not  be  taxed  without  their  own  consent.  The  arguments  so 
often  repeated  in  favour  of  conciliation  and  of  coercion,  were  employed 
by  opposition  and  ministry ;  and,  as  before,  reason  was  overborne  by 
numbers. 

The  minister  now  introduced  a  second  restraining  bill,  for  extend- 
ing the  prohibitions  of  the  first  to  all  the  remaining  colonies,  except 
New-York  ;  which,  after  undergoing  a  similar  discussion  as  the  other, 
was  passed  into  a  law.  Various  petitions  were  presented  to  his  ma- 
jesty, praying  for  the  adoption  of  new  measures  respecting  America; 
but  of  these,  the  most  remarkable  was  the  petition  of  the  city  of 
London,  presented  to  the  king  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wilkes  the  lord- 
mayor.  In  the  usual  style  of  the  addresses  of  the  city  for  several 
years,  this  paper  was  rather  a  remonstrance  than  a  petition:  it  justi- 
fied the  resistance  of  America,  as  founded  upon  constitutional  prin- 
ciples; asserted  that  the  colonies  were  driven  to  it  by  the  corruption 
and  tyranny  of  the  British  government;  that  the  conduct  of  Britain 
towards  America  was  totally  opposite  to  the  principles  which  had 
produced  the  revolution,  and  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Bruns- 
wick; and  that  it  would  be  fatal  to  the  commerce,  prosperity,  peace, 
and  welfare  of  this  country.  His  majesty  expressed  particular  re- 
sentment at  both  the  matter  and  the  manner  of  this  expostulation.  A 
petition  was  about  the  same  time  presented  to  the  house  of  peers 
from  the  British  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  Quebec,  praying  the 
favourable  interposition  of  their  lordships,  as  the  hereditary  guardians 
of  the  rights  of  the  people,  that  the  act  might  be  repealed  or  amended, 
and  that  the  petitioners  might  enjoy  their  constitutional  rights,  privi- 
leges, and  franchises.  Lord  Camden  moved  a  repeal  of  the  act,  on 
the  same  grounds  that  it  had  been  opposed  in  the  former  year;  but 
the  motion  was  negatived :  and  a  similar  petition  presented  to  the 
house  of  commons,  met  with  a  similar  fate. 

The  province  of  New-York  was  very  opposite  in  habits  and  senti- 
ments to  its  neighbours  of  New-England  :  as  distinguished  for  love 
of  gaiety  and  pleasure,  as  the  New-Englanders  were  for  austerity  and 

have  been  at  sundry  times  acknowledf^ed  by  parliament.  6thly,  T!)at  it  hath  been 
found  by  experience,  that  the  manner  of  granting'  the  said  supphes  and  aids  by 
the  said  general  assemblies,  iiath  been  more  afjreeable  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
said  colonies,  and  more  beneficial  and  conducive  to  the  public  service,  than  the 
mode  of  giving  anrl  granting  aids  and  subsidies,  in  parliament,  to  be  raised  and 
naid  in  the  said  colonics. 


irrs.-CHiF.  XIV.  kkign  or  geokoe  m.  351 

[Representation  to  parliament.     Supplies.     Session  closes  ] 

puritanical  zeal ;  and  as  much  attached  to  monarchy,  as  the  others 
were  devoted  to  republicanism.    They  had  been  uniformly  more  mo- 
derate than  any  of  either  the  middle  or  southern  colonies ;  in  their 
provincial  assembly,  they  refused  to  acknowledge  the  congress,  and 
declared  their  resolution  of  continuing  united  to  Great  Britain ;  they 
did  not,  however,  profess  unconstitutional  submission,  but  stated  the 
grounds  on  wliich  they  were  willing  to  continue  in  allegiance.     In 
their  statement,  they  included  various  grievances;  drew  up  a  repre- 
sentation of  their  sentiments  and  wishes,  comprehending  an  entreaty 
for  the  redress  of  the  evils  which  they  alleged  to  exist,  and  trans- 
mitted it  to  their  agent  Mr.  Burke,  de'siring  him  to  present  it  to  the 
house  of  commons.     In  introducing  this  paper  to  the  house,  Mr. 
Burke  expatiated  on   the  favourable  disposition  of  the   province  of 
New- York.     In  the  midst  of  all  the  violence  which  overspread  the 
continent,  that  colony  had  preserved  her  legislature  and  government 
entire;  and  when  every  thing  elsewhere  was  tending  to  a  civil  war, 
she  dutifully  submitted  her  complaints  to  the  justice  and  clemency 
of  the  mother  country.     Their  direct  application   to  the  house  af- 
forded a  fair  opportunity  for  terminating  ditferences.    New-York  was 
a  centrical  province,  which  could  break  the  communication  between 
the  northern  and   southern  colonies,  and,  by  having  that  country  in 
our  favour,  we   might   be   able   to  coerce   the  rest.     He   proposed, 
therefore,   that  the   remonstrance   should   be   read.     Ministers  con- 
tended, that  the  form  of  the  address  rendered  its  admission  incon- 
sistent with  the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  British  parliament;  for  it 
avoided  the  name  of  a  petition,  lest  it  should  imply  obedience  to  the 
legislature:  the  representation  was  therefore  dismissed  unheard. 

Parliament  this  session  came  to  a  resolution  of  settling  Bucking- 
ham-house on  the  queen,  instead  of  Somerset-house,  and  vesting  the 
latter  building  in  his  majesty  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  certain  pub- 
lic offices.  The  last  business  which  occupied  the  session  of  1775  was 
finance.  The  amount  of  the  supplies  for  the  year  was  4,307,450/. 
and  a  million  of  three  per  cent,  annuities  was  paid  off  at  88  per  cent.  ; 
1,205,000/.  exchequer  bills  were  discharged,  and  new  ones  to  an  equal 
amount  issued.  When  the  money  bills  received  the  royal  assent,  the 
speaker  addressed  his  majesty,  adverting  to  the  heaviness  of  the 
grants,  which  nothing  but  the  particular  exigencies  of  the  times  could 
justify  in  a  season  of  peace  :  but,  assuring  the  king,  that  if  the  Ame- 
ricans persisted  in  their  resistance,  the  commons  will  use  every  effort 
to  maintain  and  support  the  supremacy  of  the  legislature.  On  the 
26lh  of  May,  his  majesty  closed  the  session  with  his  speech,  in  which 
he  expressed  the  greatest  satisfaction  with  their  conduct.  He  declar- 
ed his  conviction,  that  the  conciliatory  propositions  would  have  the 
desired  effect  in  bringing  back  the  Americans  to  a  sense  of  their  du- 
ty ;  he  informed  parliament,  that  he  had  received  satisfactory  assur- 
ances from  the  neighbouring  powers,  of  their  amicable  dispositions; 
and  particularly  thanked  the  houses  for  the  mark  of  their  attachment 
lately  shown  to  the  queen.  Thus  closed  a  session  of  parliament,  in 
which,  notwithstanding  the  ablest  efforts  to  effect  conciliation,  a  great 
majority,  bent  upon  coercion,  adopted  such  measures  as  rendered  a 
war  unavoidable  between  Britain  and  her  colonies. 

While  the  American  contest  occupied  the  chief  attention  of  parlia- 
ment, it  was  also  the  principal  subject  of  political  literature.     Three 


352  IIISTOHY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIV.— 1775. 

[Part  taken  by  literary  men.    Burke,  Johnson,  Tucker.] 

systems  of  conduct  were  proposed  by  writers  on  our  disputes  with  the 
colonies  :  conciliation,  supported  by  many  able  authors,  at  the  head  of 
whom  was  Mr.  Burke  ;  coercion,  supported  by  a  great  number  of  wri- 
ters, with  a  smaller  aggregate  of  ability,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  a 
man  of  no  less  eminent  talents,  doctor  Samuel  Johnson  ;  the  third  sys- 
tem was  that  of  Dean  Tucker,  who  proposed  entirely  to  relinquish 
America,  in  which  that  gentleman  stood  alone.  His  scheme  was  ri- 
diculed at  the  time  by  both  parties  ;  but  it  now  appears  that  even  a  to- 
tal separation  would  have  been  more  fortunate  for  us  without  hostili- 
ties, than  a  plan  of  coercion,  which,  after  a  long  and  expensive  war, 
was  to  end  with  that  separaiioti :  the  event  has  justified  the  anticipa- 
tion of  Dean  Tucker's  sagacity.  The  productions  of  Mr.  Burke  on 
these  subjects  exhibit  to  the  historical  reader,  a  clear  and  complete 
view  of  what  had  been  our  policy  towards  .America,  and  what  had  been 
the  consequences;  what  then  was  our  policy, and  what  then  were  the 
actual  and  probable  consequences.  They  also  present  to  the  political 
philosopher,  perspicuous  and  forcible  reasoning  upon  the  system 
which  government  had  adopted.  Doctor  Johnson's  essay,  manifestly 
as  it  demonstrated  the  metaphysical  ingenuity  of  its  author,  afforded 
little  light  on  the  merits  of  the  question.  It  is  a  chain  of  reasoning  upon 
an  assumption  :  the  first  position  asserts  as  an  axiom, the  very  principle 
to  l)e  ])roved,  the  supremacy  of  parliament;  it  attempts  to  dazzle  the 
understanding,  by  representing  analogies  between  subjects  totally  dis- 
similar.* In  politics,  indeed,  its  author  adhered  too  much  to  generali- 
ties to  be  practically  beneficial ;  and  with  the  most  powerful  mind, 
habituated  to  abstraction,  he,  on  the  question  of  taxation  reasoned  ra- 
ther as  an  acute  schoolman,  than  as  an  able  statesman.  He  did  not 
enter  into  that  particular  consideration  of  the  actual  cases,  which  he 
employed  with  such  powerful  and  happy  effect  in  his  critical  and  mo- 
ral writings.  \VhiIe  Mr.  Burke  and  other  authors  supported  the 
cause  of  the  Americans  on  constitutional  principles,  and  the  wisdom 
of  doctor  Johnson  could  not  prevent  his  peculiar  prejudices  from  op- 
crating  in  impugning  the  claims  of  the  Americans  on  very  high  tory 
principles  ;  literary  advocates  arose  in  their  favour,  who  fell  into  the 
opposite  extreme.  Doctors  Priestley  and  Price,  dissenting  ministers 
of  very  great  ability  and  eminence,  refining  on  the  speculations  of  the 

•  In  order  to  ridicule  tlic  resistance  of  America,  Johnson  supposes  Cornwall  to 
resolve  to  separate  ilseH'fVom  llie  rest  of  England,  and  to  refuse  to  submit  to  an 
English  parliament:  lioliling  a  congress  at 'I'ruro,  and  puhlisliing  resolutions  simi- 
lar to  those  of^the  Americans-  "Would  not  (lie  says)  sucli  a  declaration  appear 
to  proceed  from  insanity  ?" — The  cases  are  not  analogous :  Cornwall  is  fully  re- 
presented in  parliament;  consequently,  could  not  have  the  same  reason  for  re- 
sisting our  legislature:  but  ii' we  were  to  suppose  parliament  absurd  and  wicked 
ciiougli  to  make  laws  depriving  Cornwall,  without  any  demerit,  of  the  most  valua- 
ble privileges  of  Urilons,  llie  CJornishmeii  would  have  a  riglit  to  resist  that  act,  be- 
cause oppressive,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust.  As  to  the  expediency  of  exerting 
the  right  of  resistance,  the  case  would  be  very  different  between  Cornwall  and 
America ;  Cornwall  being  both  nuicli  weaker  and  much  nearer  than  the  colonies. 
It  is  difTicult  to  eonceive  that  the  wisdom  f)f  Johnson  could  have  intended  the  ex- 
hibition  of  this  fanciful  analogy  to  impress  reasoning  men.  In  the  whole  of  the 
work,  however,  he  shows,  that  he  considered  the  subjugation  of  America,  if  it 
jiersevered  in  resistance,  as  certain.  With  many  estimable  and  admirable  quali- 
ties, by  no  means  as  a  max  entertaining  a  just  value  for  freedom,  he  did  not  as  u 
rnii-osopiiKii  ascribe  lo  it  its  rc;d  cflccts;  he  did  not  reflect  on  die  energetic  spirit 
which  inspires  men  fighting  for  what  either  is,  or  they  lliink  to  be,  their  liberties. 


1775.- Chap.  XIV.  IIEIGN  OF  GEORGK  III.  353 

[Visionary  doctrines  of  Priestley  and  others.] 

illustrious  Locke,  formed  theories  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  total- 
ly incapable  of  being  reduced  to  practice  in  any  society  of  human  be- 
ings, as  far  as  experience  ascertains  to  us  the  qualities  and  capacities 
of  man;  and  tending,  by  holding  up  fanciful  models  of  polity,  to  ren- 
der the  votaries  of  these  writers  dissatisfied  with  the  existing  estab- 
lishments. Thus  the  opposition  to  the  plans  respecting  America, 
though  hitherto  defensible  on  constitutional  grounds,  gave  rise  to  dis- 
cussions productive  of  visionary  and  dangerous doctrincsj  which  even- 
tually promoted  very  unconstitutional  conduct. 


Vol.  VII.— 45 


354  IIISTOltY  OF  THK  Coap.  XV.— 1775. 


CHAP.  XV. 


Critical  state  of  afTairs  in  America — general  cntluisiasm  guided  by  prudence. — 
The  provincials  learn  the  reception  of  their  petitions,  and  the  measures  of 
the  ncxv  parliament. — Warlike  preparations — general  Cage  attempts  to  seize 
stores — detacliment  sent  to  Concord — to  Lexington — first  hostile  conflict  be- 
tween Uritain  and  the  colonies — British  retire — an  American  army  raised — 
second  meeting  of  congress — spirit  of  republicanism — New- York  accedes  to  the 
confederacy. — War — attempt  on  Ticondcroga — tlie  Americans  invest  Uoston — 
battle  of  IJunker's  hill — Americans  not  cowards,  as  represented — provincials 
elated  with  the  event — block  up  Huston — project  an  expedition  into  Canada — 
political  and  milUary  reasons. — Washington  commander-in-chief. — Montgomery 
heads  the  army  sent  to  Canada — progress  on  tlie  lakes — neglected  stale  of  the 
JJritisli  forts — enters  Canada — captures  Montreal — march  of  Arnold  across  the 
cf)untry — arrives  opposite  to  Quebec — ^junction  with  Montgomery — .siege  of 
Quebec. — General  Carleton's  dispositions  for  its  defence — attempts  to  storm 
it — Montgomery  killed — siege  raised. — Proceedings  in  the  south — of  lord  iJun- 
more  in  Virginia."-Scheme  for  exciting  negroes  to  massacre  their  masters- 
Connelly's  project.- -Mary  land— Carohnas.— Farther  proceedings  of  congress.— 
Result  of  1775. 

In  .Vmcrica,  afHiir.s  were  becoming  every  day  more  critical :  provincial 
difibrence.s  were  giving  way  to  common  confederation,  the  resolutions  of 
the  congress  became  the  political  creed,  and  the  people  were  preparing  to 
net  arcordiiig  to  the  directions  of  that  body,  and  zeal  and  unanimity  were 
generally  prevalent  among  the  coloni.sts.  Town  and  provincial  meetings, 
colonial  assemblies,  grand  juries,  judges,  and  even  private  parties,  all 
spoke  the  same  language,  and  breathed  the  same  spirit :  "  we  will  not  be 
taxed,  but  by  our 'own  consent;  we  will  not  receive  the  merchandise  of 
that  country  which  proposes  such  injustice ;  we  will  combine  in  defend- 
ing our  property,  and  resisting  oppression."  Accustomed  to  the  gratifi- 
cations derived  from  imported  luxuries,  the  inhabitants  of  this  rich  and 
great  commercial  country  resolutely  relinquished  all  those  indulgences : 
the  pleasures  of  the  table,  elegance  of  dress,  splendour  of  furniture,  pub- 
lic diversions,  the  conveniences,  ornaments,  and  rela.xations  of  life,  were 
sacrificed  to  one  general  .sympathy  ;  all  ranks  were  inspired  with  an  en- 
thusiasm, which,  from  whatever  cause  it  arises,  and  to  whatever  objects 
itis  directed,  never  fails  to  be  most  ])owerful  in  its  operation,  and  im- 
portant in  its  plfects.  The  merchant  resigned  the  advantages  of  com- 
morce  ;  the  farmer  gave  up  the  sale  of  his  productions  and  the  benefits 
of  his  industry  ;  the  mechanic,  the  manufacturer,  the  sailor,  submitted  to 
the  privation  of  their  usual  means  of  subsistence,  and  trusted  for  a  hveli- 
liood  to  the  donations  of  the  0|>ulent,  which,  from  the  same  sympathetic 
feelings,  and  confornuty  of  opinions  and  determinations,  were  Uiost  libe- 
rally Itestowed.  It  was  not  temperance  that  rryected'luxiuy  ;  it  was  not 
infh)lence  that  precluded  conunercial  enterpri.se  and  professional  eflbrt ; 
it  was  not  generosity  which  madi;  the  rich  munificent ;  or  idleness  or  ser- 
vility which  m.ide  the  poor  seek  .<ul>sistence  iVom  thegift^  of  the  wealthy. 
AH  ordinary  .springs  of  action  were  absorbed  by  the  love  of  liberty  ;  aud 


irr5.— Chap.  XV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  355 

[Effects  of  tlic  parliamentary  proceedings  in  America.] 

llie  enthusiastic  ardour  of  the  coloni.sts  was  regulated  and  guided  by  pru- 
dence and  firmness.  Wliile  in  most  of  the  provinces  they  made  prepara- 
tions for  hostility,  should  Britain  persevere  in  coercive  measures,  they 
abstained  from  actual  violence.  It  was  hoped  by  many,  that  the  petition 
of  congress  to  the  throne  would  be  attended  with  success  ;  and  also,  that 
the  address  to  the  people  of  England  would  be  productive  of  useful  ef- 
fects, and  influence  the  deliberations  of  the  new  parliament.  They  did 
not,  however,  intermit  their  attention  to  warlike  affairs ;  they  exercised 
and  trained  the  militia ;  and,  as  soon  as  advice  was  received  of  the  pro- 
clamation issued  in  England  to  prevent  the  exportation  of  arms  and  am- 
munition to  America,  measures  were  speedily  taken  to  remedy  the  de- 
fect. For  this  purpose,  and  to  render  themselves  as  independent  as  pos- 
sible on  foreigners  for  the  supply  of  these  essential  articles,  mills  were 
erected,  and  manufactories  formed,  both  at  Philadelphia  and  Virginia,* 
for  making  gunpowder,  and  encouragement  was  given  in  all  the  colonies 
to  the  fabrication  of  arms.  It  was  in  the  northern  provinces  that  hostili- 
ties commenced  :  when  the  proclamation  concerning  warlike  stores  was 
known  in  Rhode-Island,  the  populace  rising,  seized  on  all  the  ordnance 
belonging  to  the  crown  in  that  province,  amounting  to  forty  pieces  of 
cannon,  which  had  been  placed  on  batteries  for  defending  the  harbour, 
and  these  they  removed  into  the  country.  Inquiry  having  been  made  by 
the  governor  concerning  this  procedure,  the  provincials  did  not  hesitate 
to  avow  that  their  object  was  to  prevent  the  cannon  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  his  majesty's  forces,  and  that  they  intended  to  employ  them 
against  any  power  which  should  attempt  molestation.  The  assembly  of 
the  province  also  passed  resolutions  for  procuring  arms  and  military 
stores,  by  every  means  and  from  every  quarter  in  which  they  could  be 
obtained,  as  well  as  for  training  and  arming  the  inhabitants.  In  New- 
Hampshire,  hitherto  moderate,  the  proclamation  caused  an  insurrection  ; 
a  great  number  of  armed  men  assembled,  and,  surprising  a  small  fort 
called  William  and  Mary,  took  possession  of  the  ordnance  and  other  mi- 
litary stores.  Bleanwhile  the  colonies  anxiously  waited  for  the  king's 
speech,  and  the  addresses  of  the  new  parliament;  the  tenour  of  which 
would  in  a  great  degree  determine  whether  the  British  government  meant 
coercion  or  conciliation.  On  the  arrival  of  those  papers,  they  produced 
the  very  effect  which  opposition  had  predicted.  Instead  of  intimidating 
the  Americans,  they  impelled  them  to  greater  firmness,  to  a  more  close 
and  general  union.  In  proportion  as  government  manifested  itself  earnest 
to  force  them  to  submission,  the  more  resolved  were  they  to  resist  that 
force  :  they  considered  Britain  as  attacking  their  rights  and  liberties,  and 
these  they  determined  to  defend.  The  provincial  conventions  of  the 
southern  provinces  now  imitated  those  of  the  north,  in  passing  resolu- 
tions for  warlike  preparations  ;  which,  before  the  arrival  of  the  speech 
and  addresses,  had  not  been  proposed  by  any  of  the  middle  or  southern 
assembhes,  but  had  been  left  to  individuals.  The  provincial  convention 
of  Pennsylvania  passed  a  resolution  of  the  nature  of  a  hostile  manifesto  ; 
declaring  their  wish  to  see  harmony  restored  between  Britain  and  the  co- 
lonies, but  that  if  the  humble  and  loyal  petition  of  the  congress  to  his 
majesty  should  be  disregarded,  and  the  British  adn)ini.stration,  instead  of 
redressing  grievances,  were  delcruiincd  by  force  to  eflcct  u  submission 

*  See  Stedmun. 


356  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XV.— 1775. 

[Warlike  preparations.   Expedition  to  Concord.] 

to  the  late  arbitrary  acts  of  parliament,  in  such  a  situation  they  held  it 
their  indispensable  duty  to  resist  that  force,  and  at  every  hazard  to  defend 
the  dearest  privileges  of  America.  Preparations  were  now  making  through- 
out the  colonies  for  holding  a  general  congress  in  the  month  of  May ; 
while  in  the  intern)ediatc  time  the  provincial  conventions  continued  to 
meet,  in  order  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  congress,  direct  and  hasten 
military  preparations,  and  encourage  the  spirit  of  resistance  in  the  people. 

But,  as  the  republican  spirit  of  Massachusetts  had  from  the  beginning 
carried  opposition  to  a  much  greater  length  than  in  the  other  colonies,  so 
in  this  province  actual  hostilities  first  commenced.  The  provincial  con- 
gress having  met  in  February  1775,  directed  its  chief  attention  to  the  acr 
quisition  of  arms  and  warlike  stores,  by  purchase,  seizure,  or  any  other 
means.  Contributions  were  levied  for  defraying  the  expense  of  warlii^e 
preparations.  The  most  violent  of  the  Bostonians  had  removed  into  the 
country,  to  join  the  other  colonists  ;  but  those  who  remained  in  the  town, 
though  less  outrageous,  w'ere  equally  hostile  :  they  greatly  co-operated 
with  their  friends  in  the  country,  by  communicating  whatever  they  could 
discover  of  the  intentions  of  the  British  governor,  and  by  this  means  be- 
came more  instrumental  in  defeating  his  plans. 

General  Gage  having  received  intelligence  that  some  ordnance  was 
deposited  at  Salem,  on  the  26th  of  February  sent  a  detachment  to  bring 
the  stores  to  Boston.  The  troops  embarked  on  board  a  transport,  and 
landing  at  Marblehead,  proceeded  to  Salem  ;  but  the  Americans  having 
received  information  of  the  design,  had  removed  the  cannon.  The  com- 
mander of  the  detachment  marched  farther  into  the  country,  in  hopes  of 
overtaking  the  stores  ;  but  was  stopt  by  a  small  river,  over  which  there 
had  been  a  drawbridge  :  this  had  been  taken  up  by  a  multitude  of  people 
on  the  opposite  shore,  who  alleged  that  it  was  private  property,  over 
which  they  had  no  right  to  pass  without  the  consent  of  the  owner.  The 
officer,  seeing  a  boat,  resolved  to  make  use  of  it  for  transporting  his  men  ; 
but  a  party  of  peasants  jumped  into  the  boat  with  axes,  and  cut  holes 
through  the  bottom.  A  scuffle  arose  between  them  and  the  soldiers 
about  the  boat :  a  clergyman  who  had  seen  the  whole  transaction,  inter- 
posed, and  having  convinced  the  people  that  the  pursuit  of  the  cannon 
was  now  too  late  to  be  successful,  prevailed  on  them  to  let  down  the 
bridge.  The  British  troops  passed :  and,  finding  their  object  unattainable, 
returned  to  Boston. 

During  the  spring,  the  provincial  agents  had  collected  a  great  quantity 
of  stores,  which  were  deposited  at  Concord,  a  town  situated  twenty  miles 
from  Boston.  Informed  of  the  magazine,  general  Gage  sent  a  body  of 
troops,  late  in  the  night  of  the  19th  of  April,  to  destroy  these  stores. 
The  detachment  consisted  of  the  grenadiers  and  light  infantry  of  his  ar- 
my, and  the  marines,  under  the  command  of  lieutenant-colonel  Smith 
and  major  Pitcairn,  amounting  to  about  nine  hundred  men.  The  troops 
took  every  pracaution  to  prevent  the  provincials  from  being  informed  of 
their  march  ;  but  they  had  not  advanced  many  miles,  before  it  was  per- 
ceived, by  the  firing  of  guns  and  the  ringing  of  bells,  that  the  country 
was  alarmed.  Colonel  Smith,  finding  that  their  destination  was  suspect- 
ed, if  not  discovered,  ordered  the  light  infantry  to  march  with  all  possible 
despatch  to  secure  the  bridges,  and  different  roads  beyond  Concord;  and 
to  intercept  the  stores,  should  they  be  attempted  to  be  moved.  These 
companies  about  five  in  the  morning  reached  Lexington,  fifteen  miles 


1775.— Chap.  XV.  IIEIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  357 

[Battle  of  Lexington.] 

from  Boston,  where  they  saw  a  body  of  provincial  militia  assembled  on  a 
green  near  the  road.  The  Americans  before  this  time  had  disclaimed  all 
design  of  attacking  the  king's  troops,  professed  to  take  up  arms  only  for 
the  purpose  of  self-defence,  and  avoided  skirmishes  with  the  British  sol- 
diers ;  but  on  this  day  hostilities  actually  commenced,  and  here  the  first 
blood  was  shed  in  the  contest  between  Britain  and  America.  When  the 
British  troops  approached,  the  Americans  were  (luestioned  for  what  pur- 
pose they  had  met,  and  ordered  to  disperse ;  on  which  the  colonists  im- 
mediately retired  in  confusion.  Several  guns  were  then  fired  upon  the 
king's  soldiers  from  a  stone  wall,  and  also  from  the  meeting-house  and 
other  buildings,  by  which  one  man  was  wounded,  and  a  horse  shot  under 
major  Pitcairn.  Our  soldiers  returned  the  fire,  killed  some  of  the  provin- 
cials, wounded  others,  and  dispersed  the  rest.  The  Americans  asserted 
that  the  fire  began  on  our  side  ;  and,  besides  endeavouring  to  establish 
the  assertion  by  testimony,  argued  from  probability  ;  our  light  infantry 
consisted  of  six  companies;  the  militia  assembled  at  Lexington,  of  only 
one  company ;  was  it  probable  (they  asked)  that  an  inferior  number  of 
militia  would  attack  a  superior  number  of  regular  troops?  To  tliis  the 
obvious  answer  is,  the  indiscretion  of  an  alleged  act  is  not  a  proof  that  it 
was  not  committed,  nor  is  it  sufficient  to  overturn  positive  evidence.  The 
British  oflicers  who  were  present,  gave  the  account  which  general  Gage 
reported  in  his  letters  to  government,*  that  the  Americans  fired  first ; 
and  on  the  testimony  of  several  respectable  gentlemen  of  unimpeached 
character,  this  assertion  rests. 

The  Americans  being  routed,  the  light  infantry,  who  were  now  over- 
taken by  the  grenadiers,  marched  forward  to  Concord.  A  body  of  pro- 
vincial militia  being  assembled  upon  a  hill  near  the  entrance  of  the  town, 
the  light  infantry  were  ordered  to  drive  them  from  that  position,  when  the 
provincials  were  accordingly  dislodged,  and  pursued  to  a  bridge  beyond 
the  town  ;  but  rallying  on  the  other  side,  a  sharp  action  ensued,  in  which 
several  of  both  parties  were  killed  and  wounded.  Meanwhile  the  grena- 
diers destroyed  the  stores  at  Concord  ;  and  the  purpose  of  the  expedition 
being  accomplished,  the  light  infantry  were  ordered  to  retire,  and  the 
whole  detachment  to  march  back  to  Boston.  The  provincials  being  by 
this  time  alarmed,  assembled  from  all  quarters,  and  posting  themselves 
in  ambuscade,  among  trees,  in  houses,  and  behind  walls,  harassed  the 
British  troops  on  the  flank  and  rear.  On  their  arrival  at  Lexington,  the 
king's  soldiers  met  lord  Percy,  who  was  advancing  with  a  second  de- 
tachment to  support  the  first.  The  corps  which  had  been  at  Concord 
was  so  overcome  with  fatigue,  that  they  were  obliged  to  lie  down  for  rest 
on  the  ground,  while  lord  Percy  formed  his  fresh  troops  into  a  square, 
which  enclosed  colonel  Smith's  party.  The  troops  being  refreshed,  they 
proceeded  on  their  march  to  Boston,  still  very  much  harassed  by  the 
Americans,  whose  fire  they  could  not  return,  as  it  issued  from  concealed 
situations,  which  they  left  as  soon  as  their  muskets  had  been  discharged. 
They  arrived  at  Boston  late  in  the  evening,  quite  exhausted ;  the  loss 
on  each  side  amounted  to  about  sixty  killed  and  wounded.  This  first 
engagement  demonstrated,  that  the  Americans,  though  not  inured  to 
military  discipline,  possessed  both  courage  and  activity  ;  and,  being  well 
acquainted  with  the  country,  had  skill  to  avail  themselves  of  that  advan- 

*  London  Gazette  of  June  lOlli,  1775. 


358  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  Xy.—1775. 

[American  army.    Second  meeting  of  the  general  congress.] 

tage.  The  conflict  also  illustrated  the  species  of  warfare  by  which  they 
could  most  successfully  annoy  the  British  soldiers.  In  open  field  they 
could  not,  till  better  disciplined,  meet  us  without  certain  loss ;  but  by 
ambuscade,  harassing  our  marches  and  straitening  our  quarters,  they 
were  able  to  compensate  their  deficiency  in  a  regular  battle.  Their  own 
military  state,  and  the  nature  of  the  country,  dictated  irregular  operations, 
and  the  occurrences  of  this  day  exemplified  the  expediency  of  a  cujsory 
mode.  The  British  troojjs,  though  consisting  in  all  of  two  thousand 
men,  being  so  pressed  by  those  desultory  assailants,  farther  proved,  that 
the  Americans  were  not  altogether  such  contemptible  warriors  as  the  in- 
formers of  government  had  represented,  and  the  credulity  of  ministers 
and  their  supporters  believed. 

The  Americans  represented  this  march  of  the  British  troops  back  to 
Boston  as  a  retreat,  and  themselves  as  having  gained  a  victory  ;  at  the 
same  time  they  declared  hostilities  to  have  been  begun  by  the  king's 
forces.  Irritated  by  this  conceived  aggression,  and  by  the  reductioii 
of  their  stores,  and  elated  by  their  supposed  success,  their  countrymen 
imagined  that  they  could  drive  the  royal  army  from  Boston  :  they  were 
farther  inflamed  by  a  report,  that  one  object  of  the  expedition  to  Concord 
was  to  seize  John  Hancock,  already  mentioned,  and  Samuel  Adams,  two 
leading  characters  in  the  provincial  convention,  and  the  latter  a  delegate 
to  the  general  congress.  The  militia  poured  in  from  every  quarter  of  the 
province,  and  formed  a  considerable  army,  with  which  they  invested  Bos- 
ton. Tiie  army  being  in  the  field,  the  provincial  congress  passed  regu- 
lations for  arraying  it,  fixing  the  pay  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  levying 
money,  and  establishing  a  paper  currency  to  defray  expenses,  pledging 
at  the  same  time  the  faith  of  the  provinces  for  the  payment  of  its  notes. 
The  congress  farther  resolved,  that  general  Gage,  by  1ms  late  conduct, 
had  utterly  disqualified  himself  from  acting  in  the  province  as  governor, 
or  in  any  other  capacity,  and  that  no  obedience  was  due  to  him  ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  that  he  was  to  be  considered  as  an  inveterate  enemy. 
Thus  they  assumed  both  the  legislative  and  executive  authority :  mean- 
while they  attempted  to  justify  their  conduct  in  an  address  to  the  people 
of  Great  Britain  ;  to  whom  they  presented  their  statement  of  the  actions 
at  Lexington  and  Concord.  They  still  made  great  professions  of  loyalty, 
but  would  not  (they  said)  tamely  submit  to  persecution  and  tyranny ;  ap- 
pealed to  heaven  for  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  declared,  that  they 
were  determined  either  to  be  free,  or  die.  Their  account  of  the  contest 
at  Lexington  being  rapidly  spread  through  the  other  colonies,  was  re- 
ceived with  unhesitating  belief,  and  produced  throughout  the  continent 
nearly  the  same  effect  as  in  tiieir  own  province ;  stimulating  resentment 
to  hostility,  and  encouraging  hopes  of  success.  Similar  resolutions  were 
adopted  by  the  otlior  provinces,  concerning  the  array  of  an  army,  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  revenue,  and  the  civil  administration  of  afl'airs.  Lord 
North's  conciliatory  plan  now  arriving,  was  every  where  rejected,  and 
increased  their  indignation.  It  was  (they  said)  a  weak  attempt  to  disu- 
nite the  colonies,  and,  by  detaching  a  part  from  the  defence  of  their 
rights,  to  reduce  the  whole  to  such  terms,  as  the  British  government 
thought  proper  to  impose :  they  execrated  the  intention  as  tyrannical, 
but  de.-!|)ised  the  design  as  iuefllcacious.  . 

Sucli  was  the  American  disposition  of  mind  wlien  the  general  congress 
jsscmblcd   on  the  appointed  day  at   Pliila<l(;lpliia  :    and   the   measures 


1775.— CnAP.  XV.  UEIGN  Or  GEOUGE  III.  359 

[Spirit  of  republicanism.     Capture  of  Ticondcroga.] 

which  thoy  adopted,  confirmed  the  provincial  meetings  in  their  resolu- 
tions and  conduct.  The  influence  of  the  sentiments  and  principles  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  had  been  growing  stronger  in  the  other  colonies, 
ever  since  the  Boston  port  bill :  in  that  province  originated  the  general 
continental  assembly,  the  confederacy  of  the  association,  the  several  ad- 
dresses, and,  in  short,  the  chief  resolutions  of  the  congress  of  1774. 
In  the  present  session  their  first  step  was,  to  appoint  Mr—Hancock,  the 
most  active  instigator  of  Massachusetts,  president.  Their  next  mea- 
sure was,  to  raise  an  army,  and  establish  a  paper  currency,  according  to 
the  model  of  Massachusetts.  On  these  notes  was  inscribed.  The  United 
Colonies,  as  the  security  for  realising  the  nominal  value  of  this  currency. 
To  retaliate  upon  Britain  for  the  proliibitory  act,  they  strictly  prohibited 
the  colonies  from  supplying  the  British  fisheries  with  any  kind  of  provi- 
sion ;  and,  to  render  this  order  the  more  effectual,  stopped  all  exporta- 
tion to  those  settlements  which  still  retained  their  obedience.  They 
voted,  that  the  compact  between  the  crown  and  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  was  dissolved  by  the  violation  of  the  charter  of  William  and 
Mary  ;  and  therefore  recommended  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  province, 
to  proceed  to  the  establishment  of  a  new  government,  by  electing  a  go- 
vernor, assistants,  and  a  house  of  assembly,  according  to  the  powers 
contained  in  their  original  charter.  Thoy  passed  another  resolution,  that 
no  order  for  money  written  by  any  ofiicer  of  the  British  army  or  navy, 
their  agents  or  contractors,  should  be  received  or  negotiated,  or  supplies 
of  any  kind  afforded  either  to  land  or  sea  forces  in  British  service  :  tliey 
also  erected  a  general  post-office  at  Philadelphia,  to  extend  through  the 
united  colonies.  Thus  did  the  general  congress  assume  all  the  powers 
of  sovereign  authority ;  they  agreed  on  articles  of  perpetual  union,  by 
which  they  formed  themselves  into  a  federal  republic  for  common  de- 
fence, for  the  security  of  liberty  and  property,  the  safety  of  persons  and 
families,  and  mutual  and  general  welfare.  Each  colony  was  to  regulate 
its  constitution  within  its  own  limits,  according  to  the  determination  of 
its  convention ;  but  whatever  regarded  federal  security,  welfare,  and 
prosperity,  was  to  depend  on  the  congress.  This  body  was  also  to  have 
the  determination  of  peace  and  war,  alliances,  and  arrangements  for 
general  commerce  or  currency.  The  congress  was  to  appoint,  for  the 
executive  government  of  the  United  States,  a  council  of  twelve  from 
their  own  body,  to  hold  ofiices  for  a  limited  time  ;  and  any  of  the  colo- 
nies of  North  America,  which  had  not  joined  the  association,  might  be- 
come members  of  the  confederacy,  on  agreeing  to  the  conditions. 

These  were  the  leading  institutions  of  a  combination,  which  formed  its 
system  on  principles  evidently  not  monarchical.  Several  colonies  had 
been  loyal,  and  attached  to  kingly  government,  though  others  wore 
originally  democratic  ;  but  now  the  measures  of  the  British  administration 
had  amalgamated  all  their  provincial  ditrerences  into  one  mass  of  repub- 
licanism. The  province  of  New- York,  disgusted  at  the  disregard  shown 
to  their  application  to  both  houses  of  parliament,  now  entered  into  the 
colonial  views  with  as  much  eagerness  as  their  most  ardent  neighbours. 
Georgia  also  in  a  few  weeks  joined  the  confederacy  ;  and  thus  from  Nova 
Scotia  to  Florida  there  was  one  general  determination  to  resist  the  claims 
of  Great  Britain. 

In  this  month  some  private  persons  belonging  to  the  back  settlements 
of  New-York  and  Massachusictts,  without  any  public  command  or  even 


360  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XV.— 1775. 

[Siege  of  Boston.    Americans  take  possession  of  Bunker's  hill.] 

suggestion,  undertook  an  expedition  to  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point. 
The  leader  of  this  enterprise  was  an  active  adventurer,  named  Ethan 
Allen :  this  partisan,  having  been  frequently  at  Ticonderoga,  had  ob- 
served a  great  want  of  discipline  in  the  garrison,  from  which  he  inferred 
that  it  would  be  easy  to  take  it  by  surprise.  Having  proceeded  with  se- 
crecy and  despatch,  he  captured  the  fort  without  any  resistance,  and  im- 
mediately after  made  himself  master  of  Crown  Point.  These  fortresses, 
by  commanding  lakes  George  and  Champlain,  and  forming  one  of  the 
gates  of  Canada,  were  of  signal  importance  ;  but  ministers  having  been 
so  completely  misinformed  as  to  expect  no  military  exertions  from  the 
Americans,  had  not  thought  it  necessary  to  guard  against  their  enter- 
prises. 

The  provincial  forces  now  blockaded  Boston  by  land  ;  and  the  neigh- 
bouring countries  refusing  to  supply  the  British  with  fresh  provisions  and 
vegetables  by  sea,  they  began  to  experience  the  inconveniences  of  a  com- 
plete investment.  These  were  increased  by  the  number  of  inhabitants 
who  still  remained  in  the  town,  and  whom  the  governor  thought  it  expe- 
dient to  retain  as  hostages.  On  the  25th  of  May,  a  considerable  re-en- 
forcement arrived  from  Britain,  under  generals  Howe,  Burgoyne,  and 
Clinton.  Gage,  who  since  the  formation  of  the  American  army  had  con- 
fined himself  to  defence,  now  judged  his  force  sufficiently  strong  for 
ofiensive  measures.  As  a  preliminary  step  to  the  commencement  of  his 
movements,  on  the  12th  of  June  he  issued  a  proclamation,  offering  in 
his  majesty's  name  a  free  pardon  to  those  who  should  forthwith  lay  down 
their  arms  (John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  only  excepted),  and  threat- 
ening with  punishment  all  who  delayed  to  avail  themselves  of  the  prof- 
fered mercy.  By  the  same  edict,  martial  law  was  declared  to  be  in 
force  in  the  province,  until  peace  and  order  should  be  so  far  restored, 
that  justice  might  be  again  administered  in  the  civil  courts.  This  pro- 
clamation was  not  only  disregarded  by  the  provincials,  but  considered  as 
the  prelude  to  immediate  action ;  dispositions  were  therefore  made  for 
hostilities. 

The  town  of  Boston  is  situated  upon  a  neck  of  land,  projecting  north- 
east into  the  ocean,  and  joined  to  the  continent  by  a  narrow  isth- 
mus, formed  by  the  sea  on  the  south,  and  Charles  river  on  the  north. 
Across  the  mouth  of  the  river,  north-west  from  Boston,  is  another  neck 
of  land,  at  the  ea.stern  extremity  of  which  is  situated  Charlestown,  some- 
what more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  over  the  frith  from  Boston.  This  is 
a  spacious  and  well  built  town,  and  an  advantageous  post  for  either  the 
attack  or  defence  of  the  neighbouring  city;  it  had  hitherto  been  neglect- 
ed, however,  by  both  parties.  General  Gage,  perceiving  hostilities 
inevitable,  prepared  to  fortify  this  post.  Informed  of  the  governor's 
intention,  the  provincials  resolved,  if  possible,  to  prevent  its  execution, 
by  occupying  it  themselves.  Between  the  isthmus  and  town  of  Charles- 
town,  there  is  a  rising  ground  called  Bunker's  hill,  of  gradual  ascent 
from  the  country,  but  very  steep  on  the  side  of  the  town,  and  near 
enough  to  Boston  to  be  within  cannon  shot.  This  position  the  provin- 
cials resolved  to  seize  and  fortify ;  and  to  execute  the  design,  a  strong 
detachment  marched  from  the  camp  at  Cambridge,  about  nine  in  the 
evening  of  the  16th  of  June,  which,  passing  silently  to  Charlestown-neck, 
reached  the  top  of  Bunker's  hill  without  being  discovered.  Having  pre- 
viously provided  tools  for  inUenchmcnt,  they  spent  the  night  in  throw- 


1775.— Cbap.  XV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  35^ 

[Battle  of  Bunker's  hill] 

ing  up  works  in  front;  and  with  such  activity  and  despatch  did  they  pro- 
ceed, that  before  tlic  morning  their  fortifications  in  many  places  were 
cannon  proof.  At  break  of  day  the  alarm  was  given  at  ^Boston,  and  a 
cannonade  began  from  a  battery,  the  town,  and  the  ships  of  war  in  the 
harbour.  The  provincials,  nevertheless,  went  on  with  their  works,  and 
bore  the  fire  with  great  firmness.  About  noon,  general  Gage  sent  a  de- 
tachment over  to  the  peninsula  of  Charlestown,  under  the  command  of 
major-general  Howe  and  brigadier-general  Pigot,  with  orders  to  drive 
the  provincials  from  their  works.  The  troops  formed  without  opposi- 
tion, as  soon  as  they  landed;  but  the  generals  perceiving  the  colonists  to 
be  strongly  posted  on  tlic  heights,  already  numerous,  and  additional 
troops  pouring  in  to  their  aid,  determined  to  send  over  for  a  re-enforce- 
ment. A  fresh  detachment  soon  arriving,  the  whole  body,  consisting 
of  more  than  two  thousand  men,  moved  on  in  two  lines  towards  the  ene- 
my, having  tlie  light  infantry  on  the  right,  and  the  grenadiers  on  the  left. 
The  Americans  had  their  right  wing  near  Charlestovvn,  and  were  covered 
by  a  body  of  troops  posted  in  that  town,  as  well  as  by  a  redoubt  which 
they  had  raised  in  the  morning.  The  battle  was  begun  by  the  British 
artillery,  and  soon  became  general.  The  British  left  wing  was  much 
annoyed  by  firing  from  the  houses  of  Charlestown,  and  a  very  severe 
conflict  took  place  in  that  town.  The  main  body  of  the  provincials 
meanwhile  received  general  Howe's  division  with  great  vigour,  and  kept 
up  a  close  fire,  which  it  required  the  utmost  eflbrts  of  the  regulars  to 
withstand,  and  they  could  not  avoid  being  <hrown  into  some  disorder; 
but  rallying,  and  being  encouraged  by  their  officers,  they  returned  to  the 
charge  with  impetuosity,  climbed  up  the  steep  hill  in  the  face  of  the  ene- 
my's fire,  and  forced  the  intrenchments  with  fixed  bayonets.  General 
Pigot,  after  experiencing  a  gallant  resistance,  the  town  of  Charlestown 
having  been  set  on  fire,  succeeded  in  driving  the  enemy  from  their  re- 
doubt; and  in  the  retreat  the  provincials  sustained  considerable  loss  from 
the  cannonade  of  floating  batteries  and  ships  of  war  in  Boston  harbour. 

Though  in  this  engagement  the  Britisli  carried  their  point,  they  suc- 
ceeded at  a  great  expense,  having  lost  more  than  half  the  detachment; 
two  hundred  and  twenty -six  were  killed,  and  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  wounded;  nineteen  commissioned  officers  being  included  in  the 
former,  and  seventy  in  the  latter.  Among  the  killed  were,  lieutenant 
colonel  Abercrombie  and  major  Pitcairn,  officers  of  eminent  respecta- 
bility, and  extremely  lamented.  The  loss  of  the  Americans,  according 
to  their  own  account,  did  not  exceed  four  hundred  and  fifty.  The  plan 
of  attack  by  the  British  has  been  blamed  by  some  military  critics,  who 
have  declared  that  the  generals  ought  to  have  gone*  round  to  Cam- 
bridge, and  commenced  their  attack  from  the  western  side  of  the  hill, 
where  it  was  easy  of  ascent;  and  that  tlius  the  Americans  would  not 
have  been  defended  by  their  woiks,  w liicli  were  only  raised  opposite  to 
Boston,  and  not  round  the  whole  hill;  besides  which,  they  might  have 
cut  oft'  the  retreat  of  the  provincials,  and  compelled  them  to  surrender 
at  discretion.  It  was  replied  to  these  strictures,  that  the  British  them- 
selves, by  the  proposed  movement  would  have  been  exposed  to  the 
main  army  of  their  antagonists,  and  hemmed  in  between  that  force  and 
the  detachment  at  Bunker's  hill.  ,  The  British  were  also  blaured  for  not 
pursuing  the  retreating  xYmericans,  and  defended  on  the  same  grounds 

*  Slcdmaii,  vol.  i.  p.  12. 
Vol.  Vn.— 4G 


362  HIS  lORY  OP  THE  Chap.  XY.—mS. 

[Manifesto  of  congress.    AVatihington  appointed  commander  in  chief.] 

a^  from  the  censure  of  the  attacks:  they  might  thus  have  exposed  them- 
selves to  a  numerous  body  of  fresh  enemies.  The  battle  of  Bunker's 
hill  was  anew  instance  of  the  valour  of  British  troops;  but  in  that  respect 
proved  no  more  than  what  had  been  uniformly  experienced,  and  was 
therefore  to  be  confidently  expected.  On  the  other  hand,  it  evinced 
the  valour  of  the  Americans,  who  thouj^h  rough  undisciplined  peasants, 
had  made  so  bold  and  obstinate  a  stand  against  regular  troops,  and 
demonstrated  how  inaccurately  ministry  had  been  informed,  or  hovif 
weaklv  they  had  reasoned,  when  they  concluded  that  the  colonists  would 
not  fight.  '  The  provincials,  after  the  battle  of  Bunker's  hill,  fortified 
another  hill  opposite  to  it,  and  without  the  isthmus;  and  thus  enclosed 
the  king's  troops  in  the  peninsula  of  C^harlestown  as  well  as  Boston.  The 
British  claimed  the  honour  of  the  victory,  because  they  had  driven  the 
enemy  from  the  field;  the  Americans  asserted  that  they  were  really 
successful,  because,  though  dislodged  from  one  post,  they  had  blocked, 
up  the  regulars,  and  bv  keeping  them  from  offensive  operations,  frus- 
trated the  purpose  for  which  tney  had  been  sent.  The  royal  arms  (they 
said)  had  been  sent  there  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  this  province,  in- 
stead of  effecting  which  they  were  debarred  by  the  provincials  from 
every  offensive  operation. 

The  general  congress  still  continued  to  sit;  and  having  received 
Gage's  proclamation,  considering  it  as  a  hostile  manifesto,  they  resolved 
to  answer  it  by  a  counter  manifesto,  setting  forth  the  causes  and  necessity 
of  taking  arms.  This  was  a  very  masterly  paper,  and  in  point  of  abili- 
ty equal  to  any  public  declaration  recorded  in  diplomatic  history.  It 
enumerated  with  clearness  and  plausibility,  the  alleged  causes  of  the 
war,  deduced  the  history  of  the  American  colonies  from  their  first 
establishment,  marked  the  principlesoftlieir  settlements,  anddescribed 
their  conduct  to  have  been  such  as  their  principles  required.  It  also 
sketched  the  policy  of  Britain  in  former  times,  and  in  the  present;  the 
beneficial  consequences  which  accrued  to  both  parties  from  the  one,  and 
the  baneful  effects  from  the  other;  repeated  the  grievances  before  stated ; 
and  added  new  subjects  of  complaint,  in  the  redress  and  hearing  re- 
fused, and  in  the  measures  for  subjugation  adopted.  After  detailing 
those  acts  and  counsels,  as  being,  together  with  antecedent  proceedings, 
the  causes  of  the  war,  and  appealing  to  God  and  man  for  its  justice,  they 
specified  the  resources  b}'^  which  they  should  be  able  to  carry  it  on  with 
force  and  effect.  They  still  professed  to  deprecate  the  continuance  of 
hostilities;  and  during  this  session,  they  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  king, 
praying  that  he  would  prevent  the  farther  effusion  of  blood,  and  adopt 
some  means  for  a  change  of  measures  respecting  America.  They  also 
appealed  in  addresses  to  the  people  ofGreatBritain  and  Ireland, 

vVhatever  might  be  their  desire  for  peace,  they  were  not  only  pre- 
paring for  defensive  war,  but  forming  plans  of  offensive  operations 
rhey  appointed  George  Washington,  esq.  (a  gentleman  of  independent 
fortune  in  Virginia,  who  had  acquired  considerable  experience  and 
character  during  the  preceding  war,)  commander  in  chief  of  the  Ameri- 
can forces,  and  nominated  Artemiis  Ward,  Charles  Lee,  Philip  Schuy- 
ler, and  Israel  Pitcairn,esqrs.  to  be  major-generals;  and  Horatio  Gates, 
esq.  adjutant-general.  Of  these  general  officers,  Lee  and  Gates  were 
English  gentlemen,  who  had  acfiuired  honour  in  the  last  war,  and  who, 
from  disgust  or  principle,  now  joined  the  Americans;  Ward  and  Pit- 
cairn  were  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  Schuyler  of  New  York.  The  con- 
gress also  fixed  and  assigned  the  pay  of  Wth  officers  and  soldiers;  the 


1775.— Chap.  XV.  UEIGN  OF  GEOllGE  I».  363 

[Project  of  an  expedition  to  Canada.     Political  and  military  reasons.] 

latter  of  whom  were  much  better  provided  for,  than  those  upon  our  es- 
tablishment. In  July  1775,  general  Wasiiington  arrived  at  the  camp 
before  Boston,  and  all  ranks  vied  in  testifying  attachment  and  respect 
for  their  new  cimimander.  The  military  spirit  was  very  high  through- 
out the  continent;  persons  of  family  and  fortune,  who  were  not  appoint- 
ed officers,  entered  chee.  fully  as  privates,  and  served  with  alaciity; 
even  many  of  the  younger  quakers,  forgetting  their  passive  principles  of 
forbearance  and  non-resistance,  took  up  arms,  formed  themselves  into 
companies  at  Philadelphia,  and  applied  with  the  greatest  labour  and  as- 
siduity to  acquire  prohciency  in  the  military  exercise  and  discipline. 

Boston  continued  to  be  blocked  up  during  the  whole  year,  and  the 
British  troops  were  greatly  reduced  by  disease,  and  various  evils  inci- 
dent to  such  a  situation.  The  governiiient  had  declared  a  resolution 
to  subjugate  the  Americans  if  they  did  not  submit,  and  the  colonies  not 
having  yielded,  government  had  made  the  attempt,  proclaiming  its  as- 
surance of  success.  The  event  was,  that  our  troops,  instead  of  making 
any  progress  in  reducing  the  enemy,  were  shut  up  in  a  corner,  and  forced 
to  remain  in  a  state  of  inaction.  Such  was  the  result  of  the  first  cam- 
paign of  Britain  against  Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  congress  began  now  to  turn  their  eyes  towards  Canada.  In  that 
province,  they  knew  the  late  acts  were  very  unpopular,  not  only  among 
the  British  settlers,  but  the  French  Canadians  themselves,  who  having 
experienced  the  diHerence  between  a  French  and  British  constitution, 
gave  the  preference  to  the  latter;  and  besides,  having  formed  connex- 
ions with  their  fellow  subjects,  many  of  them  adopted  their  sentiments. 
The  Canadians  were  displeased  with  the  neglect  of  the  petition  present- 
ed against  an  oifensive  law,  and  therefore  the  more  readily  disposed  to 
favour  associations  against  odious  acts.  The  extraordinary  powers  pla- 
ced in  the  hands  of  general  C^arleton,  governor  of  Canada,  by  a  late  com- 
mission, were  new  and  alarming,  and  appeared  to  the  inhabitants  evi- 
dently to  demonstrate  the  ])urpases  for  w  liich  they  were  gi'anted.  By 
these  he  was  autliori/.ed  to  embody  and  arm  the  Canadians,  to  march 
them  out  of  the  country  for  the  subjugation  of  the  other  colonies,  and  to 
proceed  even  to  capital  punisliment  in  all  places  against  those  whom 
he  should  deem  rebels  and  opposers  of  the  laws.  As  soon  as  British 
troops  should  arrive  sufficient  in  number  to  enable  them  to  act  offensive- 
ly, the  colonists  did  not  doubt  that  they  would  march  down  from  behind 
upon  the  resisting  provinces.  He  had  also  engaged  a  number  of  Indians, 
as  the  provincials  supposed,  with  the  same  intent.  To  co-operate  with 
the  disaftected  in  Canada,  and  to  anticipate  the  probable  and  sus- 
pected designs  of  general  Carleton,  they  formed  the  bold  project  of  in- 
vading his  province.  The  scheme  being  adopted,  its  successful  execu- 
tion depended  chiefly  on  the  celerity  of  movement;  while  the  British 
troops  were  cooped  up  at  Boston,  and  before  re-enforcements  could  ar- 
rive from  England.  The  advantages  gained  by  Ethan  Allen  greatly 
facilitated  the  success  of  the  enterprise.  In  August,  three  thousand 
men,  commanded  by  generals  Schuylei-  and  Montgomery,  marched  to 
lake  Champlaiii;  which  crossing  in  ilat-bottomed  boats,  they  proceeded 
to  St.  John's.  Schuyler  now  falling  sick,  the  command  devolved  up- 
on general  Montgomery.  This  gentleman,  by  birth  an  Irisliman,  and 
of  a  good  family,  had  served  in  the  seven  years  war  with  great  reputa- 
tion in  America;  after  the  peace,  he  had  settled  in  that  couiitry,  pur- 
ckased  an  estate  in  New-York,  married  a  lady  of  that  province,  and 


364  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XV.— 1775. 

[Expedition  to  Canada  under  Montgomery.] 

from  tliat  time  considered  himself  as  an  American.  He  was  a  great 
lover  of  liberty;  and  conceiving  the  Americans  to  be  oppressed  and 
driven  to  resistance,  he  was  induced  by  principle  to  quit  the  sweets  of 
an  easy  fortune,  and  the  enjoyment  of  a  loved  philosophical  rural  life, 
Avith  the  hia;liest  domestic  felicitv,  and  to  take  an  active  share  in  all  the 
dangers  of  var.  Besides  his  skill  in  military  affairs,  he  possessed  in  a 
high  degree  the  important  power  of  conciliating  the  affections  of  men: 
thus  he  easily  recruited  his  troops,  and  rendered  them  ardent  in  the 
execution  of  his  designs.  He  detached  the  Indians  from  general  Carle- 
ton's  service,  and  having  received  some  re-enforcements  from  the  artil- 
lery, prepared  to  besiege  Fort  St.  John's,  which  was  garrisoned  by  the 
•seventh  and  twenty-si\th  regiments,  being  nearly  all  tlie  British  troops 
in  C'aiiada.'  The  popularity  of  the  cause  and  of  the  general,  procured 
the  Americans  supplies  of  provisions,  and  every  other  assistance  which 
the  Canadians  could  contribute  to  the  advancement  of  tlie  siege.  The 
progress  of  Montgomery,  however,  was  retarded  by  want  of  ammunition, 
and  to  supply  this  defect,  he  proposed  to  make  himself  master  of  Fort 
Champlain,  a  small  garrison,  five  miles  from  the  scene  of  his  operations, 
in  which  he  understood  a  considerable  (juantity  of  ammunition  was 
deposited.  In  the  fort  there  were  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  men, 
commanded  by  major  Stopford.  Montgomery  sent  against  the  place 
tliree  hundred  men,  with  oidy  two  six  pounders,  and  hardly  any  am- 
munition; they  formed  no  regular  battery,  which  would,  indeed,  have 
been  useless  to  a  force  so  scantily  provided  with  artillery.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  the  garrison  would  liave  been  able  to  hold  out  against  such 
a  siege,  but  it  surrendered  the  Sd  of  November,  on  condition  that  they 
Siiould  be  allowed  to  go  out  with  the  honours  of  war.  It  was  much  re- 
gretted, that  the  English  commander  had  not  destroyed  the  ammunition; 
as,  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  it  enabled  them  to  proceed 
with  more  important  operations.  Meanwhile,  Ethan  Allen,  understand- 
ing that  Montreal  was  in  a  very  defenceless  state,  attempted  to  add 
this  important  place  to  his  former  conquests;  and  with  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  he  crossed  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  about  three  miles 
below  Montreal;  but  tlie  towns-people,  being  better  disposed  towards 
p^ngland  than  many  of  the  other  Canadians,  joined  the  garrison,  which 
did  not  exceed  thirty-six  men,  and  under  major  Campbell  attacked 
and  defeated  Ethan  Allen's  detachment,  and  took  the  colonel  himself 
prisoner. 

Colonel  Maclaine,  a  brave  and  experienced  officer,  a  Scotch  highland- 
er  by  birth,  prepared  to  raise  a  regiment  of  his  countrymen,  who  had 
emi,r3-ated  from  the  Western  Isles  to  America,  and  had  not  obtained 
the  settlements  which  tliey  expected.  Having  collected  about  three 
hundred,  he  gave  tliem  the  title  of  the  Royal  Highland  Emigrants,  and 
proceeded  with  them  to  Montreal,  expecting  to  be  joined  by  general 
Carleton,  who  intentled  to  cioss  the  river  at  that  place,  and  march  to 
the  relief  of  St.  Joiin's.  The  general  arriving,  found  liis  whole  force, 
inclufling  the  party  by  which  lie  was  there  joined,  not  to  exceed  a  thou- 
sand men,  and  chieffy  irregulars.  Witli  these  iiaving  attempted  to  land 
on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  he  Avas  encountered  by  a  party  of  the 
provincials,  who  easily  repulsed  liis  forces,  still  more  undisciplined  tJian 
themselves,  and  disconcerted  his  whole  project.  The  capture  of  Fort 
Champlain  on  the  20th  of  October  greatly  facilitated  the  siege  of  St. 

•  Stcdman,  vol.  i.  p-  133. 


17r5.— Chap.  XV.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  365 

[Capture  of  Montreal.    March  of  Arnold  across  the  country.] 

John's,  now  deprived  of  all  hopes  of  assistance  from  the  governor  of 
Canada.  The  American  general  having  obtained  plenty  of  ammunition, 
proceeded  with  such  vigour,  tliat  in  ten  d.ays  he  compelled  the  fort  to 
surrender  at  discretion  on  the  2d  of  November.  Montgomery  lost  no 
time  in  improving  his  advantage,  but,  crossing  St.  Lawrence,  proceeded 
to  Montreal,  which  being  inculpable  of  defence  against  the  American 
force,  the  general  evacuated  it,  and  retired  to  Quebec.  The  Americans, 
finding  Montreal  defenceless,  when  the  inhabitants  offered  to  capitu- 
late, answered,  that  from  their  situation  they  could  not,  as  enemies, 
have  any  title  to  expect  a  capitulation;  that,  however,  the  Americans 
had  not  come  to  Canada  as  enemies,  but  as  friends;  on  that  ground,  he 
pledged  himelf  to  protect  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights,  conform- 
ably to  the  British  constitution  before  its  violation  by  the  Cana<la  act, 
and  promised  to  burthen  them  as  little  as  possible.  Montgomery's  mo- 
derate proceedings  increased  his  popularity  among  the  Canadians.  Hav- 
ing taken  possession  of  Montreal,  he  made  dispositions  for  advancing 
to  besiege  the  capital  of  Canada,  and  there  were  several  circumstances 
favourable  to  his  hopes  of  success.  The  works  of  the  town  had  been 
greatly  neglected  from  the  time  of  the  peace,  as,  by  the  cessions  of 
France,  no  enemy  was  conceived  to  be  in  the  vicinity.  The  garrison 
did  not  consist  of  above  eleven  hundred  men,  of  which  very  few  were 
regulars;  and  the  greater  number  of  the  inhabitants  were  ill  affected  to 
the  framers  of  their  new  constitution.  General  Carleton,  though  of  high 
military  reputation,  was  by  no  means  conciliating  in  his  manners;  his 
social  attention  was  almost  solely  bestowed  on  the  Canadian  noblesse, 
without  extending  to  the  iniuch  more  numerous  and  more  truly  import- 
ant class  of  commoners,  and  he  was  considered  as  the  principal  instiga- 
tor of  the  ministry  to  the  measures  which  they  had  proposed  for  govern- 
ing that  province. 

While  the  British  governor,  with  these  disadvantages,  undertook  to 
defend  Quebec  against  Montgomery,  an  attempt  was  made  from  an- 
other quarter,  to  take  that  city  by  surprise.  Col.  Arnold,  having  a 
command  under  Washington  before  Boston,  submitted  to  the  general  a 
plan  of  attacking  Quebec,  by  a  route  hitherto  untried,  and  deemed  im- 

f»racticable.  The  river  Kennebec  reaches  from  the  sea  as  far  as  the 
ake  of  St.  Peter,  at  no  great  distance  from  Quebec.  The  colonel 
proposed  to  proceed  by  sea  to  the  mouth  of  this  river  in  New-Hampshire, 
with  one  thousand  five  hundred  men:  to  sail  up  the  river,  which  is  na- 
vigable to  near  its  source;  and  penetrating  through  the  forests  and  hills 
which  constitute  the  frontier  of  New-England  and  Canada,  to  come  up- 
on Quebec,  on  a  side  on  whicli  it  could  not  possibly  expect  to  be  attack- 
ed. Washington  approving  of  the  plan,  Arnold  speedily  set  sail  with 
his  troops,  'fheir  difliculties  in  tne  river,  which  is  full  of  rocks  and 
shoals,  were  extremely  great,  but  their  fortitude  and  perseverance  were 
still  greater.  In  some  places  the  navigation  was  so  hazardous,  that  they 
were  obliged  to  come  on  shore,  and  carry  their  boats  and  rafts  on  their 
backs.  Having  by  their  intrepidity  and  perseverance,  notwithstandinjj 
these  obstacles,  arrived  at  the  end  of  the  watercourse,  thev  had  still 
other  difficulties  to  surmcmnt  by  land.  The  forests  which  tlioy  had  to 
traverse,  were  filled  with  swamps;  the  hills  wliich  they  must  cross, 
were  steep  and  rugged;  their  provisions  began  to  fail;  wiiich,  togetlier 
with  the  fiitigucthat  they  had  endured,  produced  distomjicrs.  *  A  third 
part  of  the  detachment  deserted,  with  a  colonel  at  its  head;  but  Arnold, 

'Stedman'b  History,  vol.  i.  p.  138. 


36G  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  Xy.—1775. 

Junction  with  Montgomery.     Siege  of  Quebec] 

neither  dispirited  bv  this  desertion,  nor  by  the  distempers  under  which 
the  remainder  of  the  troops  hiboured,  left  the  sick  behind,  marched  on, 
and  on  the  9th  of  November,  six  weeks  after  his  departure  from  Boston, 
arrived  on  tlie  banks  of  St.  Lawrence  opposite  to  Quebec,  and  there 
pitched  his  camp  on  a  spot  called  Point  Levy.  The  Canadians  receiv- 
ed the  Americans  here  with  the  same  t^ood  will  that  Montgomery's  corps 
had  experienced  in  the  neighbourliood  of  Montreal;  they  supplied  them 
liberally  with  provisions  and  necessaries,  and  rendered  them  every 
other  assistance  in  their  power.  Arnold  immediately  published  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people,  signed  by  general  Washington,  of  the  same  nature 
with  that  which  had  been  before  issued  by  Scltuyler  and  Montgomery. 
Fortunately,  when  Arnold  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  the  boats 
had  been  removed,  so  that  he  could  not  immediately  cross;  and  thus 
was  he  prevented  from  accomplishing  his  purpose  of  taking  the  place 
by  surprise.  Before  he^  had  time  to  provide  boats  and  rafts,  the  city 
was  alarmed,  and  this  delay  saved  Quebec.  Having  no  artillery,  Ar- 
nold was  not  prepared  for  a  siege;  he,  however,  attacked  one  of  the 
gates,  and  was  repulsed  with  great  slaughter.  Seeing  the  impracticabi- 
lity of  taking  the  town  without  cannon,  he  crossed  the  river  and  occupi- 
ed his  former  position,  determined  to  remain  there,  where  he  could  in- 
tercept supplies  and  communication,  until  Montgomery  should  arrive 
from  Alontreal.  Montgomery,  after  the  capture  of  that  place,  employ- 
ed himself  in  constructing  flat  boats;  and  the  British  armament,  consist- 
ing of  eleven  armed  vessels,  on  board  of  wiiich  were  general  Present, 
and  some  other  oflicers  of  rank,  together  with  a  large  quantity  of  mili- 
tary stores,  was  obliged  to  surrender  to  his  victorious  arms. 

The  American  general  having  on  the  5th  of  December  joined  Ar- 
nold, appeared  before  Quebec,  and  immediately  sent  a  summons  toCarle- 
ton  to  surrender.  The  British  general  treated  this  demand  with  con- 
tempt, and  refused  to  hold  any  correspondence  with  a  rebel.  The 
American  commanders,  who  were  still  very  slenderly  provided  with 
artillery,  rested  their  chief  hopes  of  intimidating  the  garrison  by  the 
appearance  of  their  united  forces,  and  on  the  co-operation  of  the  dis- 
affected inhabitants.  Li  both  these  expectations,  however,  they  found 
themselves  disappointed:  the  garrison  resolved  to  defend  itself  to  the 
last  extremity,  and  the  most  powerful  inhabitants  having  a  large  pro- 
perty in  the  city,  however  ill  attected  towards  Britain,  seeing  that  by 
the  admission  of  the  colonists  their  effects  would  be  in  danger,  and  that 
therefore  it  was  their  interest  to  defend  the  city^  -were  no  less  anxious 
than  the  most  loyal  friends  of  government  to  prevent  it  from  being  ta- 
ken, and  to  stimulate  the  ell'orts  of  the  rest  of  the  citizens,  with  whom, 
from  their  situation,  their  influence  was  great.  Between  the  British 
troops  and  the  inlialutants  ol" Quebec,  ill  disposed  as  they  reciprocally 
were,  and  difli-rent  as  were  tlieir  motives,  there  prevailed  as  perfect  and 
effective  an  unanimity  of  counsels  and  exertions,  as  if  they  had  been  ac- 
tuated by  the  same  spirit.  The  American  commander,  unprepared  for 
a  regular  siege,  at  a  season  of  the  year  so  inimical  to  encampments  in 
those  cold  and  temjiestuous  regions,  had  no  alternative,  but  either  to 
desist  from  the  attempt,  or  to  take  the  city  by  storm.  To  tarnish  by 
retreat  the  brilliancy  of  the  first  campaign,  hitherto  so  auspicious,  mili- 
tary glory  forbade;  policy  dictated,  that  nothing  should  be  left  undone 
to  maintain  the  public  ardour,  at  present  glowing  from  success;  and 
many  of  the  troops  threatened  to  leave  the  general,  if  he  did  not  try  to 


1775.— Chap.  XV.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  3^37 

[Attempt  to  storm  the  place.     Death  and  character  of  Montgomery.] 

accomplish  the  chief  object  of  the  expedition.  All  these  reasons  tieter- 
mined  Mont<romery  to  make  the  attack,  though  he  was  fully  aware  of 
the  difficulties.  The  measure  was  no  doubt  adventurous:  but  it  was 
probably  one  of  those  ha/.ards  which  must  be  incurred,  in  situations  in 
which  defeat,  after  an  arduous  struggle,  is  immediately  less  dishonour- 
able, and  ultimately  less  prejudicial,  than  the  abandonment  of  an  object 
without  contest.  Whatever  may  be  tiiought  of  the  general's  determi- 
nation to  attempt  a  storm,  there  was  but  one  opinion  concerning  the 
dispositions  which  he  made  for  attack;  these  were  by  all  military  judges 
allowed  to  be  skilful  and  masterly.  The  plan  was,  to  make  four  as- 
saults: two  false,  by  Cape  Diamond  and  John's  Gate;  and  two  real, 
under  Cape  Diamond,  by  Drummond's  wharf  and  the  Potash.  These 
operations  were  to  be  begun  on  the  31st  of  December,  at  break  of  day; 
but  by  some  mistake,  an  alarm  was  given  before  the  real  attacks  com- 
menced, so  that  the  false  assaults  did  not  produce  the  intended  diver- 
sion. Montgomery  headed  one  of  the  real  attacks,  and  Arnold  the 
other.  Montgomery,  with  nine  hundred  men,  had  to  pass  through  a  nar- 
row defile  between  two  fires;  ,he  led  his  men,  however,  with  the  greatest 
coolness  and  intrepidity;  he  passed  the  first  barrier  attended  by  a  few 
of  his  bravest  oflicers  and  men,  and  marched  boldly  at  the  head  of  the  de- 
tachment to  attack  the  second:  this barricado  was  much  stronger  than  the 
first;  several  cannon  were  there  planted,  loaded  with  grape  shot,  ac- 
companied with  a  well  supported  discharge  of  musketry.  From  one 
of  these  an  end  was  put  to  the  hopes  of  America  in  the  gallant  Mont- 
gomery. The  general  was  among  the  fii'st  that  fell,  and  with  him  his 
aid-de-camp  and  several  other  gallant  officers.  The  Americans,  depri- 
ved of  their  gallant  leader,  made  a  siiort  pause,  but  did  not  retreat. 
They  continued  the  attack  for  a  considerable  time  with  courage  and 
firmness;  but  finding  their  eftbrts  ineffectual,  they  retired.  Arnold, 
in  his  part  of.  the  attack,  was  at  first  successful;  he  took  possession  of 
the  lower  town,  but  being  wounded,  was  obliged  to  retire  from  battle. 
The  next  in  command  supplied  his  place  with  intrepidity  and  skill,  but 
the  garrison,  being  now  freed  from  the  other  part  of  the  assailants,  turn- 
ed their  whole  force  against  Arnold's  troops,  and,  after  an  obstinate 
resistance,  drove  them  away  from  the  town  with  great  loss. 

The  death  of  Montgomery  was  more  regretted  by  the  Americans, 
than  the  repulse  from  Quebec;  during  his  command,  he  had  displayed 
such  skill  and  abilities,  as  proved  him  to  be  fit  for  any  military  service 
in  which  he  might  be  employed.  Great  in  his  designs,  fertile  in  resour- 
ces, skilful  in  plans,  cool  and  intrepid  in  action,  he  commanded 
the  admiration  both  of  those  for  whom,  and  against  whom,  he  fought; 
an  engaging  disposition,  benevolent  alFection,  and  agreeable  conversa- 
tion rendered  him  at  once  beloved  and  esteemed  by  all  those  with  whom 
he  conversed;  and  even  those  who  considered  him  as  the  champion  of 
rebellion,  bore  testimony  of  his  virtues.  Colonel  Arnold,  being  thus 
disappointed  in  his  endeavours  against  Quebec,  resolved  nevertlieless 
to  continue  in  the  province,  and  encamped  on  the  heights  of  Abraham, 
where  he  fortified  himself,  and  put  his  troops  in  such  a  situation 
as  to  be  still  formidable.  Thus  closed  the  campaign  in  the  northern 
part  of  British  America,  in  which  the  colonists,  though  they  did  not 
obtain  the  whole  of  their  object,  yet  made  great  progress,  and  what  was 
of  still  greater  consequence,  displayed  such  courage,  enterprise,  and 
skill,  as  demonstrated  that  ministers,  in  concluding  tiiat  the  provincials 
would  be  easily  and  speedily  coerced,  had  formed  their  judgment  on 
very  erroneous  grounds. 


368  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XV.— 1775. 

[Proceedings  in  Virginia.    Lord  Dunmore.] 

In  the  BoutluMn  colonies,  thougli  regular  hostilities  did  not  begin  this 
year,  yet  there  v  as  tlie  strongest  evidence  that  they  were  fast  approach- 
ing.  In  Virginia,  a  long  course  of  jealousy,  distrust,  suspicion,  and  con- 
tention, betsveen  the  governor  and  the  governed,  terminated  in  open  vio- 
lence.    The  Virginians,  who  before  the  act  of  1774,   the  votaries  of 
monarchical  principles,  had  been  loyal,  and  much  attached  to  lord  Dun- 
njore  tlieir  governor,  were  now  become  as  forward  as  their  neighbours  in 
acts  of  combined  resistance.     There  were,  however,  many  loyalists  in 
tiie  province  :  and  it  mi^ht  have  been  easier,  through  their  means,  by 
soothing  the  disatlectcd  to  detach  A'irginia  from  the  provincial  concert, 
than  most  of  the   other  colonies.     Tlieir  governor,  however,  though  a 
valiant  soldier,  did  not  possess  all  the  qualities  requisite  in  such  delicate 
circumstances.     He  was  violent,  unaccommodating,  and  precipitate  :  he 
had  by  no  means  that  dexterity  of  address,  which,  by  placing  opposite 
parties  against  each  other,  could  mould  both  to  his  own  purposes.  Bold 
and  active  in  e.xertion,  he  was  impolitically  open  in  the  means  which  he 
einploved  :  by  abstaining  from  extremities,  he  might  have  amused  the 
votaries  of  resistance,  until  he  had  established  concert  among  the  nume- 
rous loyalists.     Pie  certainly  took  the  most  direct,  but  not  the  easiest 
and  safest  road,  and  did  not  arrive  at  the  destined  end.    Lord  Dunmore, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  disturbances,  had  transmitted  to  the  British  go- 
vernment an  account  of  the  condition  of  this  province.     This  statement 
represented  the  planters' as  encumbered  with  debts,  for  the  extrication 
from  which  they  were  desirous  of  rebellion.     This  account,  having  by 
some  means  become  known,  added  particular  resentment  against  the  go- 
vernor, to  the  general  causes  which  induced  the  people  to  oppose  the 
government.  Public  meetings  and  military  associations  were  universally 
encouraged,  and  the  first  were  very  prevalent.     Ilis  lordship  now  re- 
ceived the  conciliatory  propositions  from  England,  which  he  laid  before 
the  council  of  Virginia  :  that  body  acceded  to  those  offers  ;  but  the  as- 
sembly unanimously  refused  their  concurrence,  and  increased  the  military 
establishment.     The  governor  removed  from  the  public  magazine  at 
"Williamsburgh,  a  large  (quantity  of  gunpowder ;  and  an  armed  force, 
commanded  by  Mr.  Henry,  a  popular  leader,  attempted  to  compel  a  res- 
titution of  the  powder  to  its  former  place  :  but  they  were  quieted  for  a 
time  by  the  agreement  of  the  receiver-general  to  be  responsible  for  the 
re-payment.  Meanwhile  intelligence  was  conveyed  to  the  governor,  that 
BOme  of  the  enraged  planters  had  formed  a  design  on  his  life  ;  and,  on 
receiving  this  information,  Dunmore  retired  with  his  family  on  board  one 
of  his  majesty's  ships.     Application  was  made  by  the  assembly  for  his 
return,  to  give  his  assent  to  several  bills,  to  replace  the  gunpowder 
which  he  had  removed  from  the  magazine,  and  deposit  an  additional 
quantity  of  rnihtary  stores  for  the  use  of  the  colony.     He  answered,  that 
he  could  not  return  unless  they  dissolved  all  illegal  meetings,  refrained 
from  illegal  acts,  and  accepted  the  terms  proposed  by  parliament.     The 
assembly,  receiving  tliis  determination,  entered  the  following  resolution 
on  their  journals  :  that  tiieir  rights  and  privileges  had  been  invaded;  that 
the  constitution  of  the  colony  was  endangered  ;  and  that  preparations 
ought  to  be  made  accordingly.     The  assembly  having  broken  up,  and 
the  members  retired  to  their  country  seats,  the  governor  ventured  to 
come  on  shore,  to  a  farm  belonjring  to  him  on  the  river  near  Williams- 
burgh, where  he  received  intelligence  that  a  party  of  riflemen  were  on 


1775— Chap.  XV.  IIEIGN  OF  GKOUGE   III.  359 

[His  scheme  to  excite  the  slaves  to  revolt.     Projccl  of  Conntll} .] 

their  marcli  to  seize  his  person  ;  he  therofore  immediately  retreated  to 
boats  that  waited  for  him  by  the  bank.  The  ])rovincial  party  fired  seve- 
ral shot,  but  at  too  great  a  distance  to  do  any  material  injury.  Lord 
Dunmore,  concluding  that  moderate  measures  would  not  answer  the 
purposes  of  government,  resolved  to  employ  very  different  counsels.  The 
convention  of  the  colony  having  met,  took  into  consideration  the  arms, 
discipline,  and  pay  of  the  soldiers,  and  adopted  various  resolutions,  on 
the  model  that  had  been  framed  by  Massachusetts  Bay  and  the  congress. 
Finding  his  province  in  what  he  thought  a  state  of  rebellion,  his  lordship 
determined  to  act  with  more  rigorous  severity  :  he  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, declaring  martial  law  to  be  in  force  throughout  the  colony  :  and 
erected  the  royal  standard,  to  which  he  commanded  his  majesty's  sub- 
jects to  repair.  More  zealous  in  his  intention  to  promote  the  interests 
of  his  country,  than  discriminating  and  moderate  in  his  policy,  he  pro- 
jected a  scheme  of  very  questionable  wisdorn  : — to  allure,  by  the  offer  of 
freedom,  negro  slaves,  of  whom  there  were  great  numbers  in  the  south- 
ern colonies,  to  embrace  the  royal  cause,  by  rising  against  their  mas- 
ters. Even  well-wishers  to  British  government  censured  this  proposi- 
tion, as  tending  to  loosen  the  bands  of  society,  to  destroy  domestic  se- 
curity, and  instigate  savages  to  the  most  atrocious  barbarities.  By 
putting  arms  into  such  hands,  the  friends  as  well  as  the  enemies  of  go- 
vernment would  suffer;  the  negroes  neither  would  nor  could  distinguish 
between  the  well  and  ill  affected,  and  would  involve  all  the  whites  within 
their  power  in  a  promiscuous  massacre.  The  Virginians,  when  this  pro- 
clamation was  issued,  were  driven  to  the  most  furious  resentment,  and 
thenceforward  set  no  bounds  to  their  enmity.  The  project  had  the  same 
fate  with  many  of  the  compulsory  schemes  of  government,  causing  vio- 
lent irritation,  without  affording  adequate  benefit.  He  had  already  se- 
sured  the  possession  of  all  the  country  situated  between  Norfolk  and 
the  sea;  when  the  provincial  meeting,  in  order  to  prevent  the  desertion 
of  the  slaves,  and  to  arrest  the  career  of  the  British  governor,  resolved 
to  send  against  him  a  considerable  force.  About  the  beginning  of  No- 
vember, a  detachment,  consisting  of  one  thousand  loyalists,  was  despatch- 
ed from  the  western  side  of  Vircinia  to  Norfolk,  in  the  neishbourhood 
of  which  they  arrived  early  in  December.  The  river  Elizabeth  divided 
them  from  the  town  ;  they  attempted  to  pass  it,  but  were  repressed  by 
a  strong  body  of  provincials,  who  were  posted  on  the  opposite  side. 
More  bold  than  prudent,  Dunmore  attempted  to  dislodge  them  from 
their  intrenchmenfs,  but  v/as  repulsed  :  the  EngKsh  abandoned  their 
position,  and  their  commander,  with  the  loyalists,  retired  on  board  the 
ships. 

In  the  back  settlement,  many  of  the  Americans,  knowing  little  of  the 
proceedings  on  the  coasts,  were  strongly  attached  to  the  British  govern- 
ment. Mr.  Connelly,  a  native  of  the  interior  part  of  Pennsylvania,  pro- 
posed to  lord  Dunmore  to  invade  Virginia,  and  other  southern  colonies, 
with  parties  of  loyalists  from  the  inland  country,  that  he  might  acquire 
the  co-operation  of  the  Indians,  and  of  (he  slaves  stimulated  against  their 
masters.  His  lordship  approved  of  the  design  ;  hut  Mr.  Connelly,  having 
set  out  to  carry  it  into  execution,  was  seized  on  his  way  ;  and  his  papers 
being  read,  the  whole  scheme  was  discovered  and  overthrown,  and  Mr. 
Connelly  sent  prisoner  to  Philadelphia. 

Mr.   Martin  and  lord  ^Villiam  Campbell,  resp€ctively  governors  of 

Vol.  V1I.--47 


370  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XV.— 1775. 

[Prochmation  of  the  king,  and  counter  manifesto  of  congoess.     Result  of  1775.] 

North  and  South  CaroUna  liaving  adopted  similar  plans  of  exciting  the 
negroes  to  insurrection,  and  calling  down  the  back  settlers,  were  obliged 
to  leave  their  governments,  and  retire  on  board  ships  of  war. 

His  majesty  having,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Bunker's  hill,  published  a 
proclamation  tor  suppressing  rebellion,  and  prohibiting  correspondence 
between  his  British  subjects  and  American  rebels,  the  congress,  in  a 
counter  manifesto,  denied  the  charges,  and  declared  in  the  name  of  the 
people  of  the  united  colonies,  that  punishment  inflicted  by  their  enemies 
upon  any  person,  for  t'avouring,  aiding,  or  abetting  the  cause  of  Ameri- 
can liberty,  should  be  retaliated  in  the  same  kind  and  degree  on  the  fa- 
vourers and  supporters  of  ministerial  oppression  ;  thus  congress,  advan- 
cing progressively  in  assumption  of  authority,  now  professed  to  treat  the 
government  of  Great  Britain  on  a  footing  of  equality.  So  far  were  the 
prcdu'tions  of  ministers  from  being  fullilled,  and  tl)cir  objects  effected 
ihroiigliout  America,  by  the  civil  and  military  operations  of  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  scvcntyrfive! 


1775.— Chap.  XVL  UKtf'.N  OF  f;KORf;P.  HF.  37I 


CHAP.  XVI, 


Britain. — Majority  favourable  to  the  ministerial  system. — Minister's  dexterity  ift 
maiiaginff  ])ai-liamc-nt. — Tlie  wisest  opposers  of  «'arwave  the  question  of  right, 
and  argue  from  expediency. — Not  a  war  of  ministers  or  parliament  ordy,  but  of 
the  peojile. — Appreiiension  of  Mr.  Sayre  for  id^'b  treason — inconsistent  and 
defective  evidence — tlie  accused  is  discbar.^;ed — Meeting  of  parbament. — I'he 
king's  speech. — Genei-al  view  of  ministerial  and  opposition  reasonings,  motives, 
and  proceedings. — Employment  <jf  Hanoverian  troops  in  IJritisb  garrisons. — 
Inquiry  into  tlie  last  cainpaign. —  Military  niemhei-s  of  opposition  declare  the 
force  inadequate.— Militia  bill — ^Examination  of  Mr.  {-"enn,  respecting  the  dis- 
positions  and  force  of  the  Americans — Ilis  testimony  disregai'ded  by  the  ma- 
jority in  parliament. — Mr  Burke's  conciliatory  billj  on  the  constitutional  prin- 
ciple of  granting  taxes  oidy  by  the  people  or  their  representatives — lejected. — 
Lord  North's  prohibitory  bill — passed  into  a  law. —  Different  departments  of 
Messrs.  Burke  and  Fox  in  opposition.— Petition  from  No\  a  Scotia.— Discussion 

of  the  employment  of  Irish  troops  for  the  service  of  the   king  in   America 

Mr.  Fox's  proposed  inquiry  into  the  ill  success  of  his  ni.ijesty's  arms---reject- 
ed.— Lord  js^orth,  desirous  of  pleasing  both  parties,  satisfies  neither—Supposed 

rot  entirely  to  approve  the  coercive  system.— Subsidy  to   (lerman  princes 

Last  effort  of  the  duke  of  Grafton  for  conciliation. ---Ministers  assure  parliament 
that  another  campaign  will  crush  the  revolt.— Supplies.— AVa} 3  and  means.-— 
Scotch  militia  bill---rejected. — Session  closes. 

In  Britain  there  wa.s  a  great  majority  favottrable  to  the  ministerial  sys- 
tem, who  deemed  the  American.s  rebels  against  lawful  iuithority,  traitors^ 
and  cowards  ;  and  that  coercion,  therefore,  was  both  just  and  e.xpedient ; 
those  who  vindicated  their  resistance  were  termed  levellers,  Cromwel-< 
Hans,  republicans,  and  enemies  to  their  king  and  country.*  Many  per- 
sons conceived,  as  formerly,  that  the  chief  object  of  government  was  to 
raise  a  revenue  from  America,  which  would  reduce  the  land-tax.  In 
their  estimate  they  overlooked  the  probable  expense  of  the  contest,  and 
the  likelihood  that,  on  a  balance  of  accounts,  there  wotdd  be  a  great  de- 
duction from,  the  revenue  to  be  thus  acquired.  The  loss  of  the  American 
commerce  was  not  immediately  felt  to  nearly  the  full  extent ;  considera- 
ble remittances  had  been  received  before  the  ports  were  shut  up,  espe- 
cially in  corn,  which,  there  being  at  this  season  a  scarcity  in  Britain, 
was  a  very  valuable  article.  The  peace  between  Ru.^sia  and  Turkey 
occasioned  an  unusual  demand  for  goods,  so  that  in  some  quarters  trade 
was  brisker  than  in  former  years.  The  diminution  of  the  American  com-* 
merce  had  not  yet  generally  produced  its  effects,  and  great  numbers  of 
merchants  were  not  hindered  in  joining  in  commendation  of  the  minis- 
terial system. 

Whatever  might  be  the  wisdom  which  lord  North  exerted  in  adminis- 
tering the  important  concerns  of  the  kingdom,  he  employed  great  dexte- 
rity in  managing  parliament.  He  was  peculiarly  skilful  in  addressing 
himself  to  the  opinions,  prejudices,  and  passions  of  the  country  gentle- 
men. Their  approbation  of  the  plan  for  taxing  America  had  proceeded 
from  self-interest  overlooking  the  means  of  its  own  promotion  ;  they  ap- 

•  In  tlie  ministerial  newspapers  and  pamphlets,  passha. 


372  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVI.— 1775. 

[Distinction  of  whi„^  and  tury  revived.  Majonty  of  the  nation  In  favour  of  ministry.} 

proved  of  coercing  the  colonics,  in  order  to  acquire  revenue  ;  and  in  their 
eagerness  for  that  object,  forgot  the  probable  cost :  many  other  men  of 
property  were  amused  with  the  same  idea  ;  by  compelling  the  provincials 
to  submit,  tiie  public  burthens  would,  they  thought,  be  lightened,  and 
%1'ar  witli  America  diminish  taxes.  It  was  indeed  a  war  not  of  the  minister 
only,  nor  even  of  the  parliament,  but  of  the  nation.  Addresses  poured 
in  from  all  quarters,  e.\pressing  abhorrence  of  the  impious  and  unnatural 
rebellion,  and  the  obstmacy  and  wickedness  of  the  coloni.sts.  If  there 
were  abliorrers,  however,  there  were  petitioners  also :  certain  merchants 
felt  the  discontinuance  of  intercourse  very  severely,  in  the  reduction  of 
their  trade,  and  the  interruption  of  their  payments ;  and  various  ad- 
dresses were  presented  to  his  majesty  from  commercial  and  manufac- 
turing town.s  and  bodies  :  some  of  these  were  expressed  in  very  strong 
terms,  but  the  remonstrance  of  the  city  of  London  far  exceeded  others 
in  severity.  The  discussion  of  the  American  contest  revived  the  dis- 
tinction of  whigs  and  tories ;  some,  professing  themselves  of  the  former 
clas.s,  exclaimed  again.st  the  opposers  of  parliamentary  authority,  as  a 
deviation  from  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  whigs ;  who,  inimical  to  the 
extension  of  kingly  prerogative,  were  the  supporters  of  parliamentary  ^ 
privilege.  Others  replied,  tliat  the  essence  of  whig  principles  consisted 
in  resisting  arbitrary  measures,  and  in  supporting  the  rights  of  the  people, 
whether  they  were  attacked  by  one  or  many.  If  (said  they)  parliaments 
destroy  the  liberty  of  subjects  in  America,  they  can  no  longer  be  sup- 
ported by  whigs ;  by  seizing  their  property  without  their  own  consent, 
and  depriving  them  of  trial  by  their  peers,  they  take  from  the  colonists 
the  most  valuable  blessings  of  liberty.  Polemical  discussion  as  usual 
ran  to  extremes  ;  the  reasoning  of  the  tories  favoured  despotic  power  ; 
the  arguments  of  the  whigs  verged  to  republicanism.  On  viewing  the 
reasonings  for  and  against  the  right  of  taxation,  as  they  are  contained  in 
the  parliamentary  debates  and  political  treatises  of  the  times,  a  reader 
may  perceive  a  very  striking  ditlbrence.  The  supporters  chiefly  argued 
from  alleged  instances,  the  opponents  from  general  principles.  The 
promoters  pointed  out  certain  cases  in  which  British  subjects  were  taxed 
without  their  own  con.«cnt ;  whereas  their  adversaries  contended  it  was 
a  fundamental  rule  of  the  British  constitution,  that  no  supply  should  be 
granted,  but  by  the  people  or  their  delegates  ;  that  the  exceptions  con- 
firmed the  principle  ;  and  that  if  certain  individuals  or  classes  submitted 
to  be  under  the  exception,  others  were  under  no  obligation  to  follow 
their  example.  The  Americans,  said  mini.-ters  and  their  advocates,  are 
as  much  represented  as  the  many  inhabitants  of  Britain  who  have  no 
vote  at  the  election  of  members  of  parliament.  To  this  argument  two 
answers  were  returned  ;  first,  tliat  every  Briton  is  virtually  represented  ; 
Bince  the  laws  that  bind  him,  bind  also  the  legislators  :  secondly,  the 
premises  were  admitted,  that  representation  is  partial  and  imperfect  in 
Britain,  but  not  the  conclusion,  that  because  within  this  realm  many 
without  being  represented  paid  taxes,  therefore  the  Americans  were 
bound  to  do  the  same.  The  wisest  and  ablest  of  the  anti-ministerialists 
dwelt  less  upon  the  abstract  question  of  taxation  by  themselves  or  their 
representatives  essential  to  constitute  a  free  people  ;  they  insisted  chiefly 
on  expediency  :  we  had  gained  much,  and  might  gain  more,  from  the  in- 
creasing prosperity  of  the  Americans,  without  taxation  ;  we  were  losing 
much,  and  likely  to  lose  a  great  deal  more,  by  the  attempt  to  extort  a  rfe- 


1775— Chap. XVI.  IlEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  373 

[Apprehension  of  Sayre  for  high  treason.    Parliament.     Speech  of  the  king.] 

venue  ;  it  was  our  interest  to  return  to  the  policy  which  produced  gain, 
and  abandon  the  counsel  which  produced  loss.  Whatever  were  the 
arguments  against  coercive  measures,  the  balance  of  numbers  was  greatly 
on  the  side  of  ministry ;  and  as  far  as  a  government  is  justified  in  its 
measures  by  a  conformity  to  the  inclinations  of  the  majority  of  the  go- 
verned, so  far  were  ministry  justified  in  their  coercive  system  :  the  people 
might  have  been  misinformed  and  deluded  ;  acts  might  have  been  used 
by  ministerial  agents  to  misrepresent  the  enemy,  and  the  purposes  of 
hostility ;  but,  if  afterwards,  taught  by  experience,  the  people  should 
change  their  opinion,  and  censure  those  who  allured  them  to  the  war, 
ministers  could  fixirjy  answer,  "  It  is  your  act :  why  do  you  blame  us  for 
going  on  with  what  your  addresses  and  encouragement  induced  us  to 
begin." 

While  the  nation  was  generally  favourable  to  ministerial  measures, 
and  inimical  to  the  Americans,  an  incident  happened,  which  concerned 
a  personage  dear  to  every  worthy  Briton  of  all  parties,  and  alarmed  both 
the  supporters  and  opponents  of  government.  There  was  in  London  a 
banker  of  the  name  of  Sayre,  an  American  by  birth,  and  commercially 
connected  with  the  colonies.  A  gazette  announced,  that  this  gentleman 
was  committed  to  the  Tower  for  high  treason  ;  and  the  grounds  being 
unknown,  the  notification  produced  a  great  number  of  reports,  which 
were  eagerly  swallowed  and  spread  by  public  credulity.  It  was  said 
that  Mr.  Sayre  had  formed  a  design  of  seizing  the  king  at  noon-day  on 
his  way  to  the  house,  removing  him  out  of  the  kingdom,  taking  pos- 
session of  the  Tower  of  London,  and  overturning  the  present  govern- 
ment. To  effect  these  purposes,  he  had  bribed  two  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  guards,  who  each  engaged  to  gain  a  file  of  privates.  This  party 
was  to  carry  their  schemes  into  effect,  in  the  face  of  all  the  other  soldiers 
who  had  not  been  bribed.  The  evidence  for  the  charge  was  Mr.  Ri- 
chardson, adjutant  in  the  guards,  who  declared  on  oath  that  ]Mr.  Sayre 
had  signified  to  him  such  intentions.  Mr.  Sayre  admitted  that  he  had 
conversed  with  this  man  very  freely  concerning  the  destructive  contest 
between  Great  Britain  and  America,  and  affirmed  that  there  was  not 
spirit  in  the  country  to  effect  a  change  of  men  and  measures,  but  denied 
that  he  ever  had  thought  of  such  a  plan,  or  expressed  himself  to  the  pur- 
port averred  by  Mr.  Richardson;  that  if  there  had  been  any  such  plot, 
the  informer  should  have  waited  until  it  was  farther  advanced  ;  since  if 
real,  he  must  have  been  furnished  with  many  corroborating  circumstances. 
It  was  answered  on  the  part  of  lord  Rochford,  who  had  committed  him, 
that  the  folly  of  an  imputed  design,  or  of'the  conduct  of  its  discoverer, 
is  not  sufficient  to  disprove  positive  evidence  ;  and  that  whatever  degree 
of  credit  he  gave  it  in  his  private  opinion,  in  an  official  capacity  he  was 
obliged  to  proceed  upon  the  oath  of  a  man  whose  character  had  not  been 
impeached.  Mr.  Sayre  was  closely  confined  for  five  days ;  but  being 
brought  before  lord  Mansfield  at  the  end  of  that  time,  the  chief  justice 
saw  the  inconsistency  of  the  charge,  and  admitted  him- to  bail,  on  very 
slight  security  to  a  man  of  fortune  charged  with  a  capital  offence ;  the 
accused  was  bound  for  500/.  and  two  sureties  for  250/.  each.  No  pro- 
secution was  attempted  ;  the  bail  was  discharged.  Mr.  Sayre  sued  lord 
Rochford  for  illegal  imprisonment,  and  recovered  a  thousand  pounds. 

On  the  25th  of  October  parliament  met  for  the  despatch  of  business. 
His  majesty's  speech,  which  was  of  considerable  length,  turned  chiefly 


374  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XYI.—1775. 

[Debate  upon  the  address.] 

upon  American  affairs.  He  had  called  the  houses  together  to  deliberate 
concerning  the  colonists.  Those  who  had  endeavoured  to  inflame  the 
Americans  by  misrepresentation,  and  by  diffusing  sentiments  repugnant 
to  their  constkutional  dependence,  had  at  length  succeeded  in  exciting 
them  to  revolt  and  hostility,  which  manifested  themselves  not  only  in  pre- 
parations for  war,  b<it  in  actual  rebellion.  The  authors  of  this  desperate 
conspiracy  had  totally  different  intentions  from  the  crown  and  parliament, 
from  which  they  had  hitherto  derived  signal  advantage.  The  former 
designed  to  amuse  this  country  with  general  professions  of  loyalty  and 
attachment,  while  they  had  really  nothing  in  view  but  the  establishment 
of  an  independent  empire.  We  proposed  rather  to  undeceive,  than  to 
punish  ;  therefore  only  small  forces  were  sent,  and  propositions  of  a  con- 
ciliatory nature  accompanied  the  measures  that  were  employed  to  enforce 
authority.  The  rebellious  war  was  now  become  general ;  the  object  was 
too  important,  the  spirit  of  the  British  nation  too  high,  and  the  resources 
with  which  God  had  blessed  her  too  numerous,  to  give  up  so  many  co- 
lonies, which  she  had  planted  with  industry,  nursed  with  tenderness,  en- 
couraged by  many  commercial  advantages,  and  protected  and  defended 
at  much  expense  of  blood  and  treasure.  Wisdom,  and  ultimately  mercy, 
directed  us  to  employ  these  resources,  for  vindicating  our  rights  and 
honour.  He  had  greatly  augmented  the  army,  and  increased  the  navyj 
he  had  also  assurance  of  succour  from  some  foreign  powers,  and  of  ge- 
neral tranquillity  from  all.  His  majesty  concluded  his  speech  with  de- 
claring that  he  should  appoint  commissioners  to  grant  pardons  to  such 
individuals  or  colonies  as  would  return  to  their  allegiance. 

An  address  was  moved,  conformable  to  the  speech,  in  both  houses. 
Ministers  insisted,  that  the  proposed  system  and  measures  only  could  be 
embraced  with  safety  and  honour  to  the  British  nation.  If  America  should 
become  independent,  she  would  interfere  with  us  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  in  our  trade,*  and  in  every  other  interest.  The  preservation  of  the 
blessings  which  were  now  enjoyed  required  us  to  keep  America  depen- 
dent on  the  mother  country.  The  reduction  of  America  might  be  diflncult, 
but  our  resources  were  great  ;  we  had  conquered  in  many  more  arduous 
wars  :  the  spirit  of  the  British  nation  when  roused,  became  proportionate 
to  the  difliiculties  and  danger  :  shall  we  then  be  told  (said  the  minister) 
that  this  people  of  yesterday,  whose  strength  is  the  work  of  our  own 
hands,  can  resist  the  powerful  efforts  of  this  nation.  Coercion  being,  in 
the  declared  opinion  of  ministers,  absolutely  necessary  to  our  glory  and 
interest,  our  efforts,  according  to  their  predictions,  were  to  be  irresistible. 
In  the  commons,  an  amendment  was  proposed,  expressing  concern  that 
the  means  used  to  allay  and  suppress  the  disorders  in  the  colonies,  had 
tended  to  increase,  instead  of  diminishing,  the  disturbances ;  thence  it 
was  inferred,  that  tlicy  were  ill  ada[)ted  to  their  end.  Erroneous  coun- 
sels and  inefficacious  conduct,  manifested  in  the  event,  had  resulted 

•  Dr.  Adam  Smith  was  at  this  time  of  so  very  different  an  opinion,  that  he 
thoiiplit  Enjrland  would  j^ain  much  more  by  repealing  the  navigation  act,  which 
estal)lished  the  commercial  dependence  of  America,  than  by  retaining  that  mo- 
nopoly. The  event  has  justified  the  reasonings  of  that  great  philosopher:  now  that 
our  monopoly  is  over,  and  ihat  in  the  American  market  our  sole  irnsl  is  in  thesn- 
periority  of  our  commodities,  our  trade  bears  a  greater  proportion  to  the  popula- 
tion and  riches  of  America  than  that  which  we  enjoyed  when  she  was  fettered  by 
the  navigation  act. 


1775.— Chap.  XVI.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  375 

[General  view  of  ministers  and  opposition.] 

from  the  want  of  full  and  perfect  information  of  the  true  state  and  condi- 
tion of  the  colonies.   Parliament  ought  to  obtain  the  most  thorough  know- 
ledge of  facts,  and,  after  considering  these,  to  employ  the  maturest  deli- 
beration that  they  might  discover  effectual  means  for  restoring  order  and 
tranquillity  to  the  British  empire.     By  an  induction  of  facts,  they   esta- 
blished their  positions,  that  ministers  had  either  been  wrongly  informed 
themselves,  or  made  false  reports  to  parliament.    Thus  they  were  either 
weak  in  adopting  momentous  measures   on  inadequate   information,  or 
wicked  in  concealing  that  which  they  possessed.    Mr.  Fox  contended, 
that  affairs  were  not  in  the  condition  ministers  represented,  and  that  jus- 
tified the  predictions  of  opposition.    With  his  usual  power  of  simplifica- 
tion, he  brought  the  question  to  three  heads.    First,  What  ought  to  have 
been  done  :  on  which  proposition,  he  compressed  the  principal  argu- 
ments that  had  been  used  by  the  opponents  of  government  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  contest.    Secondly,  What  ministers  said  would  be 
done :  under  which  division,  he  refreshed  their  memories  with  an  ac- 
count of  their  high-toned  professions  and  various  promises  during  the 
same  period.    Under  the  third  head,  What  was  done  :  he  exhibited  a  very 
clear  and  concise  history  of  ministerial  measures,  and  the  actual  opera- 
tions in  the  transactions  of  the  last  two  years.    The  erroneous  informa- 
tion on  which  ministers,  in  spite  of  experience,  had  relied  and  acted, 
were  the  false,  partial,  and  illiberal  representations  of  artful,  designing, 
and  interested  men,  who  had  held  public  offices  in  America.    These  had 
proposed  to  increase  their  own  influence,  emoluments,  and  authority,  as 
well  as  to  find  the  means  of  gratifying  their  petty  prejudices  and  resent- 
ments, by  extending  the  power  of  the  crown  to  the  injury  of  the  people  ; 
and  became  at  last  so  soured  by  opposition  and  the  consequent  disap- 
pointment of  their  schemes,  that  their  sentiments  were  dictated  only  by 
malice  and  revenge.    This  uniform  confidence  in  the  testimony  which 
they  had  so  strong  reasons  to  distrust,  was  totally  inconsistent  with  just 
reasoning  and  policy.   The  assertion  in  the  speech,  that  the  colonies  had 
aimed  at  independence,  was  strongly  controverted  from  the  whole  and 
every  part  of  their  conduct.    It  has  ever  been  our  inclination  to  maintain 
that  state  of  harmony  with  the  parent  country,  which  has  continued  from 
our  first  establishment  to  the  present  time.    It  is  our  interest  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  British  empire,  as  long  as  we  are  allowed  the  privileges  of 
other  subjects.   Taxation  without  our  own  consent  is  a  violation  of  these  ; 
therefore  we  will  not  be  taxed  without  our  own  consent.    The  Ameri- 
cans had  not  aimed  at  independence  ;  they  had,  after  long  deprecating, 
at  last  resisted  unconstitutional  usurpation.    Opposition,  aware  of  the 
motives  by  which  many  of  the  country  gentlemen  were  induced  to  sup- 
port the  measures  of  government,  exhorted  them  to  consider  the  conse- 
quences before  they  supported  it  farther.    They  expected  that  their  con- 
tributions were  to  be  reduced  by  war  with  America,  without  adverting  to 
the  enormous  expenses  which  ministerial  plans  would  cause  during  the 
very  first  campaign.    Had  ministers  laid  before  the  house  sufficient  in- 
formation to  justify  such  measures?    Had   they  not  been  themselves 
groping,  and  leading  others  in  the  dark?    Were  they  always  to  run  blind- 
folded into  every  destructive  measure  that  was  proposed  ?   Would  they, 
without  examination  and  inquiry,  still  follow  counsellors  by  whom  they 
had  been  already  so  completely  misled  and  deceived  ?   Had  they  consi- 
dered the  difficulties  attending  the  support  of  an  army  of  70,000  men  on 


376  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVI.— 1775. 

[Arguments  of"  opposition.   Probability  of  foreign  interference.] 

the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  ?    Had  they  calculated  how  many  thousand 
tons  of  shipping  would  be  necessary  for  their  conveyance,  and  for  their 
support ;  or  the  expense  of  supplying  these  with  fresh  provisions  from 
SmithHeld  market,  and  Mith  vegetables  and  all  other  necessaries  from 
London  and  its  neighbourhood?  The  land-tax  must  this  session  be  raised 
to  four  siiillings  in  the  pound,  and  the  most  sanguine  imagination  could 
not  fancy  tiiat  it  would  ever  again  be  lowered.     Even  if  we  should  suc- 
ceed, would  burnt  towns,  depopulated  provinces,  reduced  agriculture,  and 
destroyed  trade,  enable  the  colonies  to  indemnify  our  expenses  1  Were 
these  the  resources  that  were  to  pay  our  costs  ;  and  much  more  to  dimi- 
nish the  burthens  of  Britain?  "VVas  it  not  madness  to  fight  for  gain  of  one 
fund  even  if  attainable,  when  it  could  not  be  compassed  without  a  much 
greater  loss  ;  when  we  could  acquire  gain  of  another,  without  any  con- 
test or  expense  ?*    Such  were  the  strong  and  poignant  arguments  by 
which  provident  senators  demonstrated,  that  war  with  America  would  not 
diminish  taxes,  and  that  its  promoters,  as  a  financial  speculation,  would 
find  Britain  a  woful  loser,  on  the  balance  of  accounts.    But  was  success 
certain?    The  Americans  themselves  had  shown  valour,  skill,  and  una- 
nimity, which  rendered  the  event  of  the  contest  at  least  doubtful,  even 
through  the  efforts  of  the  colonies  alone.    Would  France  and  Spain  long 
continue  idle  spectators  of  the  contest?    The  ministers  talked  of  pacific 
assurances,  but  was  there  any  confidence  to  be  reposed  in  such  profess- 
ions.   Political  conduct  is  to  be  inferred,  not  from  the  minute  reports  of 
diplomatic  intrigue,  but  from  great  and  comprehensive  surveys  of  history, 
situation,  character,  policy,  and  pas.^^ion.f    By  considering  France  in  her 
relations  of  peace,  neutrality,  alliance,  and  war  with  diflerent  powers  of 
Europe,  it  was  evident  that  her  ruling  motive  was  ambition :  her  avidity 
was  in  proportion  to  the  obstacles  which  she  fo>md  to  her  projects  of  ag- 
gression and  usurpation  :   for  near  a  century  this  country  had  been  indi- 
rectly her  most  formidable  opponent  by  land,  and  directly  her  conqueror 
by  sea  :  Britain  was  the  seat  of  every  confederacy  that  repressed  her  am- 
bition, and,  in  the  preceding  war,  obtained  a  superiority  unprecedented  in 
former  contests.   France,  beholding  England  with  envy,  resentment,  and 
terror,  rejoiced  at  an  internal  contest  which  would  employ  great  part  of 
the  British  force,  and  enable  her  and  her  dependent,  Spain,  to  attack 
their  triumphant  rival  witli   con.-idcratjle  probability  of  success.     She 
would  wait  until  the  breach  was  irreparable  ;  but,  as  soon  as  she  saw  the 
complete  separation  effected,   to  which  the  counsels  of  the  British  go- 
vernment was  driving  the  colonies,  she  would  throw  off  the  mask.    The 
Spanish  king,  particularly  ill  disposed  towards  Britain,  indignant  at  the 
humiliation  of  bis  kingdom  by  her  power,  and  envious  of  her  prosperity, 
would  sacrifice  the  peculiar  interest  of  his  dominions  to  his  connexion 
with  France,  and  liis  own  personal  animosity  to  England.    Britain  would 
have  to  contend  with  her  colonies,  who  were  forced  to  revolt,  and  the 
combined  power  of  the  house  of  Bourbon. 

Thus  while  a  numerous  body  of  senators  supported  the  measures  of 
administration  for  subjugating  the  colonjes,  and  expressed  their  thorough 
conviction  of  the  wi.sdoin  and  ellicacy  of  the  ministerial  plans  and  mea- 
sures, a  smaller  number  endeavoured  to  prove  that  both  counsels  and 

•   Sec  parlinuicntary  df^bates  on  tlie  Address,  Oct.  25tb,  1775, 
f  See  speeches  of  Hurke  and  Fo.x. 


1775.— CiiAP.  XVI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  377 

[Employment  of  Hanoverian  troops.   Inquiry  into  the  late  campaign] 

conrluct  were  unwise,  and  would  be  incffeclual  and  ruinous.  The  histo- 
rian who,  from  tlie  monuments  of  facts  and  consequences,  would  leave  a 
lesson  to  posterity,  must,  in  rcc<nding  greiit  undertakings,  examine  and 
investigate,  not  only  the  views  and  counsels  of  their  proposers  and  sup- 
porters, but,  when  their  justice  or  expediency  is  controverted,  he  must 
canvass  the  grounds  on  which  such  opposition  rests.  If  measures,  in 
themselves  right  and  beneficial,  meet  with  powerful  obstructions,  the 
reader  will  be  able  to  see  either  wisdom  and  energy  e.xerted  in  surmount- 
ing the  obstacles,  or  folly  and  timidity  in  yielding  to  the  difficulties ;  but 
if  the  undertaking  be  wrong  and  pernicious,  though  our  opinion  of  its 
proposers  and  supporters  be  first  formed  from  the  project  itself,  yet  it 
must  be  materially  affected  by  the  means  which  have  been  employed  to 
undeceive  them  concerning  its  nature  and  tendency.  Whether  the  minis- 
terial design  and  measures  for  subjugating  America  were  wise  or  foolish, 
right  or  wrong,  beneficial  or  injurious,  the  admonitions  of  the  opposite 
party  have  a  considerable  sliarc  in  determining  their  character.  Lord 
Chatham,  Messrs.  Burke  and  Fox,  advised  government  rather  to  conci- 
liate, than  compel  the  colonists  ;  the  admonition  might  be  founded  in 
misinformation,  conjecture,  and  ignorance  of  the  American  character  and 
of  human  nature.  On  this  hypothesis,  the  more  splendid  the  eloquence 
of  such  opponents,  the  greater  praise  is  due  to  lords  North,  Sandvv'ich, 
and  Germaine,  for  totally  disregarding  their  counsels.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  exhortations  were  founded  in  knowledge,  experience,  wisdom,  or 
even  common  prudence,  the  strong  and  frequent  repetition  would  en- 
hance the  blame  of  those  to  whom  tliey  were  addressed  in  vain.  I  have 
therefore  thought  it  necessary  to  exhibit  this  part  of  parliamentary  his- 
tory more  fully  than  most  other  periods :  the  circumstances  called  for 
very  great  deliberative  wisdom  and  executorial  ability. 

Descending  from  the  general  survey  of  political  principles,  plans,  and 
situations,  which  usually  occupies  the  first  meeting  of  a  parliamentary 
session,  to  a  more  minute  and  detailed  consideration  of  particular  ques- 
tions, opposition  severely  censured  a  measure  alluded  to  in  his  majesty's 
speech,  the  introduction  of  Hanoverian  troops  into  the  garrisons  of  Mi- 
norca and  Gibraltar;  and  motions  were  made  in  both  houses,  declaring 
that  the  scheme  was  totally  inconsistent  with  the  British  constitution  and 
the  bill  of  rights  ;  that  there  was  no  standing  army  in  Britain,  but  an  an- 
nual force,  subject  to  the  mutiny  act,  which  operated  only  for  a  year,  and 
specified  the  number  to  be  employed.  Ministers  asserted,  that  the  bill 
of  rights  extended  its  prohibitions  only  to  troops  within  the  kingdom, 
and  therefore  did  not  apply  to  the  present  case ;  that  the  bill  of  rights 
made  no  difference  between  English  and  foreign  troops,  in  its  regulations 
for  the  direction  of  military  force  ;  and  that  the  measure  was  justified  on 
the  grounds  of  expediency  from  the  rebellious  state  of  America.  Many 
arguments  were  used,  and  precedents  quoted  in  both  houses  ;  but  the 
question  was  dismissed  by  the  usual  majority  in  favour  of  ministry. 

In  reviewing  the  events  of  the  late  campaign,  some  of  the  supporters 
of  ministers  declared  themselves  dissatisfied  with  the  operations  and  re- 
sult, and  lord  North  acknowledged  he  had  been  disappointed  in  his  ex- 
pectations. He  had  formed  his  plans  the  last  year,  in  the  belief  that  the 
resistance  would  only  be  partial,  and  without  apprehending  a  general 
concert  of  revolt.  A  great  force,  he  now  saw,  was  necessary,  and  such 
he  proposed  should  be  employed ;  and  accordingly,  very  early  in  the 

Vol.  Vn.— 48 


378  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVI.— 1775- 

[Militia  bill.     Uesignution  of  the  duke  oT  Grafton.] 

season,  he  introiluced  the  army  estimates  for  the  ensuing  year.     When 
these  were  laid  before  the  house,  opposition  contended  that  before  they 
could  judge  of  the  expediency  of  the  proposed  establishment,  they  should 
receive  accounts  concerning  the  number  and  state  of  the  troops  now  in 
America,  and  made  a  motion  to  that  effect.     To  this  proposition  minis- 
ters objected,  as  unprecedented  and  inexpedient;  it  would  expose  the 
condition  of  our  army,  when  the  enemy  might  turn  the  knowledge  of  it 
to  their  own  advantage,  and  our  detriment;   therefore  the  motion  was 
negatived,  and  the  house  proceeded  to  consider  the  estimates.     Thirty- 
eight  thousand  men  were  proposed  for  the  sea  service,  and  fifty-five 
thousand  for  the  land,  twenty-five  thousand  of  whom  were  to  be  employ- 
ed in  America.     Military  gentlemen  of  opposition*  insisted  that  the  sup- 
ply was  inadequate ;  and  that  if  they  must  go  to  war,  they  ought  to  send 
a  much   more  powerful   force.     Ministers   insisted,   that   the   destined 
army,  supported  by  such  a  fleet  as  they  were  sending,  would  be  sufficient 
for  the  purpose.     In  consequence  of  a  passage  in  the  king's  speech 
concerning  the  internal  defence  of  the  country,  a  bill  was  brought  into 
the  house,  by  which  his  majesty  was  to  have  the  power  of  calling  out 
the  militia,  in  case  of  a  rebellion  in  any  part  of  the  empire.     The  bill 
was  opposed,  as  changing  the  idea  of  a  constitutional  militia,  making  it 
dependent  on  the  crown,  and  converting  it  into  a  regular  army.     It  was 
represented  to  be  part  of  the  general  system  for  rendering  the  crown  to- 
tally independent  of  the   people.     Ministers  argued,  that  the  regular 
forces  beiug  sent  abroad  on  necessary  service,  the  employment  of  the 
militia  was  the  only  means  of  defending  the  country,  without  having  re- 
course to  foreign  troops.     The  king  could  not  more  unequivocally  dis- 
play the  confidence  he  had  in  the  zeal,  affection,  and  loyalty  of  his  peo- 
ple, than  by  trusting  the  guardianship  of  his  crown,  and  person,  and 
government,  to  the  militia  of  England.     By  contending  that  such  a 
power  might  be  abused,  the  gentlemen  of  opposition  had  only  stated  a 
possibility,  to  which  every  power  was  liable.     Should  the  servants  of 
the  crown  misemploy  the  force  so  intrusted  to  his  majesty,  there  were 
remedies   for  that  as  for  every   other  malversation.     The  law  which 
merely  empowered  the  king  in  times  of  emergency,  to  call  on  those  to 
defend  the  kingdom  who  are  most  interested  in  its  welfare,  was  in  itself 
reasonable  and  equitable  as  well  as  prudent,  and  it  imposed  the  duty  od 
those  who  had  the  strongest  motives  to  discharge  it  effectually. 

Among  the  opposers  of  the  ministerial  system  this  year,  was  the  duko 
of  Grafton,  who,  since  his  resignation  of  the  oflice  of  prime  minister,  had 
been  lord-privy  seal.  He  had,  he  said,  supported  the  measures  of  1774, 
from  misapprehension  of  the  real  state  of  America;  he  had  been  led  to 
believe,  by  false  information,  and  erroneous  opinions,  that  the  appear- 
ance of  coercive  measures  was  all  that  was  requisite  to  establish  a  re- 
conciliation. To  real  compulsion  he  had  always  been  inimical,  and  now 
that  he  found  it  was  intended  by  government,  he  could  no  longer  sup- 
port the  measures;  he  was  convinced  that  nothing  less  than  a  total  repeal 
of  the  laws  passed  since  1763,  would  restore  peace  and  happiness,  and 
prevent  the  most  destructive  consequences.  Resigning  his  oflice,  he 
was  succeeded  by  lord  Dartmouth,  who  quitted  the  American  secretary- 
ship, and  received  the  privy-seal.     The  American  department  was  now 

•  General  Conway,  and  colonel  Barrc. 


1775.— Chap,  XVI.  UKIC.N  OF  GEOIIGT:  III.  379 

[Examination  of  William  Penn.] 

intrusted  to  lord  George  Germaine.*  This  nobleman,  after  his  retire- 
ment I'rom  miliiary  life,  had  devoted  himself  to  political  affairs;  he  was 
an  acute  reasoner,  and  a  respectable  speaker,  distinguished  for  closeness 
of  argument,  precision,  and  neatness  of  language.  He  had  been  prin- 
cipally connected  with  3Ir.  Grenville,  supported  him  when  he  was  minis- 
ter, and  followed  him  into  opposition.  He  had  vindicated  the  supre- 
macy of  parliament,  voted  for  the  stamp  act,  and  against  its  repeal :  and 
had  shown  himself  extremely  inimical  to  the  Grafton  administration. 
From  that  circumstance,  together  with  his  reputed  abilities,  he  was  by 
many  deemed  the  author  of  Junius.  For  several  years  after  Mr.  Gren- 
ville's  death,  he  had  continued  in  opposition;  but  in  1773,  he  joined 
ministry  in  the  East  India  affairs,  and  took  a  decided  part  in  the  coer- 
cive measures  of  1774  and  1775.  Ijord  Rochford  resigning  about  the 
same  time,  was  succeeded  by  lord  Weymouth  in  the  southern  depart- 
ment. 

A  little  before  the  meeting  of  parliament,  the  celebrated  Mr.  Pcnn 
presented  to  his  majesty  the  petition  of  congress,  and  was  told  that  no 
answer  would  be  given.     This  affair  was  repeatedly  mentioned  in  both 
houses,  as  aflbrding  a  ground  for  conciliation,  if  properly  regarded,  and 
of  reproach  against  ministers  for  their  total  neglect  of  such  advances.  A 
copy  of  the  petition  having  been  laid  before  the  house,  the  duke  of  Rich- 
mond, on  the  7th  of  November,  moved  that  Mr.  Penn,  whom  he  saw 
below  the  bar,  should  be  examined,  in  order,  he  said,  that  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  petition  might  be  established  before  they  proceeded  to  con- 
sider its  contents.  The  ministerial  lords  were  aware,  that  his  grace's  ob- 
ject extended  far  beyond  the  authenticity  of  the  petition,  and  that  he  wish- 
ed to  lay  before  the  house  the  knowledge  which  Mr.  Penn  was  so  fully 
qualified  to  give.     It  was  carried  that  day,  that  he  should  not  be  exam- 
ined; but  his  grace  having,  on  the  10th,  pressed  it  in  a  different  form,  the 
lords  in  administration  consented,  on  condition  that  only  specified  ques- 
tions should  be  asked.     The  substance  of  this  famous  evidence  was, 
that  the  witness  did  not  believe  the  congress  had  formed  any  designs  of 
independence;  the  members  composing  that  body  had  been  fairly  elect- 
ed; were  men  of  character,  capable  of  conveying  the  sense  of  America; 
and  had  actually  conveyed  the  sense  of  their  constituents:  the  difTerent 
provinces  therefore  would  be  governed  by  their  decisions  in  all  events. 
The  war  was  begun,  and  carried  on  by  the  colonies,  merely  in  defence 
of  what  they  thought  their  liberties:  the  spirit  of  resistance  was  general, 
and  they  believed  themselves  able  to  defend  their  freedom  against  the 
arras  of  Britain.     Inquiries  of  a  more  particular  nature  respecting  Penn- 
sylvania, produced  answers  which  explained  the  force  of  that  province  to 
be  about  sixty  thousand  men  able  to  carry  arms,  of  whom  twenty  thou- 
sand served  as  volunteers,  and  that  these  consisted  of  men  of  property 
and  character;  they  were  furnished  with  the  means  of  casting  cannon  in 
great  abundance,  and  had  a  plentiful  supply  of  small  arms.     The  colo- 
nies were  dissatisfied  with  the  reception  of  their  former  petitions;  they 
trusted  greatly  to  the  petition  which  he  carried,  and  which  thoy  styled 
the  OLIVE  branch;  in  bearing  this  application,  he  was  considered  as  the 
messenger  of  peace.     Were  it  not  to  succeed,  they  would  become  des- 


to 


•  Formerly  Sackville  ;  be  changed  his  name  for  an  estate  that  was  bequeathed 
him. 


380  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVI— 1775. 

[His  teslimonies  disregarded  by  parliament] 

perate,  and  probably  form  connexions  with  foreign  powers  which  might 
not  easily  be  dissolved.  The  Americans  wished  for  reconciliation  with 
this  country,  and  would  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  Britain  in  every 
thing  except  in  exacting  taxes.  3Ir.  Penn  was  asked,  whether  the 
secretary  of  state  had  made  any  inquiries  concerning  America?  He  an- 
swered, that  none  had  been  made.* 

Mr.  Penn  havinjr  withdrawn,  a  motion  was  made  by  the  duke  of  Rich- 
mond, that  the  pel;.i<v>  frcn  ice  continental  congress  to  the  king,  was  a 
ground  for  a  conciliation  o;'  the  unhappy  differences  at  present  subsist- 
ing between  Great  Britain  and  America.  Besides  repeating  the  argu- 
ments which  had  been  so  often  discussed,  he  argued  that  here  was  a 
declaration  which  demonstrated  that  the  Americans  wished  for  recon- 
cilement, &nd  desired  no  concession  from  us  derogatory  to  the  honour  of 
the  motlier  country.  On  the  side  of  ministry  it  was  contended,  that  to 
treat  with  the  congress  would  be  to  acknowledge  the  legality  of  the  as- 
sembly and  its  proceedings;  that  the  petition  was  an  insidious  and  trai- 
torous attempt  to  impose  upon  the  king  and  parliament;  and  that,  while 
the  authors  held  out  smooth  language  and  false  professions,  they  were 
at  the  very  instant,  in  their  appeals  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  abusing  the  parliament,  denyingitfta  authority,  and  endeavouring 
to  involve  the  whole  empire  in  rebellion  and  bloodshed,  by  inducing  their 
fellow-subjects  in  these  kingdoms  to  make  one  common  cause  with  them, 
in  opposition  to  law  and  government;  the  evidence  before  the  house  was 
chargeable  with  partiality  and  prejudice,  and  deserved  no  regard.  After 
a  violent  debate,  the  duke  of  Richmond's  motion  was  negatived  by  a 
majority  of  eighty-six  to  thirty-three.  On  the  thirteenth  of  November, 
the  house  of  commons  having  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  supply, 
the  minister  expatiated  on  the  necessity  of  reducing  the  colonies,  and 
expressed  a  fear  th  '.  he  must  apply  for  the  assistance  of  the  landed  pro- 
prietors, in  an  additional  shilling  to  the  land  tax.  Opposition  observed, 
that  this  was  a  foretaste  to  the  country  gentlemen  of  the  advantages 
which  they  would  realize  from  the  scheme  of  taxing  America.  Lord 
North  now  advanced  a  position,  that  taxation  was  only  a  secondary  ob- 
ject, and  that  the  supremacy  of  Britain  was  the  principal  ground  of  war; 
on  which  remark  sopie  of  his  usual  supporters  began  to  express  dissatis- 
faction. The  dextei"0us  versatility  of  the  minister  explained  his  mean- 
ing to  be,  that  the  idea  of  taxation,  and  of  levying  a  productive  revenue 
from  America,  was  never  abandoned,  and  that  ministers  merely  intended 
its  .suspension.  The  dispute  at  present  was  of  a  much  higher  nature 
than  it  had  been  originally,  and  taxation  was  but  an  inferior  considera- 
tion when  the  supremacy  of  the  legislative  authority  of  this  country  was 
at  stake.  He  would  have  thern  therefore  perfectly  understand,  that 
whatever  general  terms  the  ministers  might  at  any  time  make  use  of, 
taxation  neither  is,  nor  ever  was,  out  of  their  view.  As  a  further  proof 
of  his  sincerity  upon  this  subject,  he  declared  that  there  were  no  means 
by  which  the  legislative  authority  and  commercial  control  of  this  country 
over  the  collies  could  be  ensured,  but  by  combining  them  with  taxa- 
tion: the  country  gentlemen  were  convinced,  and  the  motion  was  car- 
ried in  the  affirmative. 

•  Neglect  or  rejection  of  all  information  which  did  not  favour  their  own  views, 
was  oae  of  the  chief  and  most  uniform  cliaracteristics  of  Lord  North's  administra- 
tion. 


1775.— Chap.  XVI.  REIGN  OF  GEOKGE  III.  331 

[Conciliatory  motion  of  Burke.    Bill  prohibiting'  trade,  etc.  with  America.] 

On  the  16th  of  November,  Mr.  Burke  introduced  a  new  conciliatory 
bill,  in  which,  instead  of  expediency,  the  ground  of  his  arguments  in  tho 
two  preceding  se.5sions,  he  founded  his  motion  on  the  right  of  the  sub- 
jects of  this  realm  to  grant  or  withhold  all  ta.xes,  as  recognized  by  the 
great  financial  statute  passed  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First,  slahdiim 
de  iallagio  non  concechndo.  On  this  statute,  he  observed,  rested  the 
protection  of  property  from  arbitrary  invasion,  a  security  which  consti- 
tuted one  of  the  most  striking  differences  between  Britain  and  absolute 
governments.  He  demonstrated,  that,  on  account  of  the  immense,  dis- 
tance, it  was  impracticable  for  the  American  subjects  of  Britain  to  enjoy 
tliis  privilege  by  representation  in  parliament,  and  that  therefore,  to  be 
on  an  equal  footing  with  other  British  subjects,  they  should  be  taxed  by 
their  own  assemblies.  The  necessity  which  occasioned  Edward's  sta- 
tute to  be  framed,  was  similar  to  the  exigency  of  the  present  times  ;  it 
originated  in  a  dispute  between  that  monarch  and  his  people,  relative  to 
taxation.  The  latter  was  victorious,  and  obtained  this  important  privi- 
lege, that  no  taxes  should  be  imposed  on  them  without  the  consent  of 
the  parliament.  The  present  bill  was  intended  to  procure  a  similar  ad- 
vantage for  the  Americans  ;  on  this  account,  waving  the  consideration 
of  the  question  of  right,  it  renounced  the  exercise  of  taxation.  Great 
Britain,  however,  reserved  to  herself  the  power  of  levying  commercial 
duties,  which  were  to  be  applied  to  those  purposes  that  the  general  as- 
sembly of  each  province  should  deem  most  salutary  and  beneficial.  The 
mother  country  also  reserved  to  herself  the  power  of  assembling  the  co- 
lonies in  congress.  The  bill  then  proposed  to  repeal  all  the  laws  of 
which  the  colonists  complained,  and  to  pass  an  immediate  act  of  am- 
nesty. The  principal  objections  to  the  bill  were,  that  it  conceded  too 
much  for  Britain,  and  not  near  enough  to  .satisfy  the  Americans.  It  was 
also  contended  that,  as  a  plan  of  accommodation  had  been  already  chalk- 
ed out  in  the  speech  from  the  throne,  it  would  be  disrespectful  to  the 
king  to  adopt  any  other  plan,  until  that  had  been  tried.  The  discussion 
of  this  bill  brought  forward  the  most  distinguished  orators  on  both  sides: 
when,  on  a  division,  experiencing  the  usual  fate  of  anti-ministerial  propo- 
sitions, it  was  negatived  by  a  great  majority. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  lord  North  introduced  a  bill  for  prohibiting 
all  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  thirteen  colonies  of  America.  It  autho- 
rized the  commanders  of  his  majesty's  ships  of  war  to  make  prizes  of 
the  ships  or  goods  belonging  to  the  Americans,  whether  found  on  the 
high  seas  or  in  harbour,  and  vested  the  property  in  the  captors.  A  clause 
was  inserted,  by  which  all  Americans,  who  should  be  taken  on  board  the 
vessels  belonging  to  that  continent,  were  made  liable  to  serve  indiscri- 
minately, without  distinction  of  persons,  as  common  sailors  on  board  our 
ships  of  war,  at  the  discretion  of  the  commanding  officer.  Such  colo- 
nists were  to  be  entered  upon  the  ship's  books,  and  considered  as  volun- 
teers ;  and  being  so  entered,  Avere  to  be  set  on  shore  in  Great  Britain  or 
Ireland,  or  in  any  part  of  America  not  then  in  rebeUion,  and  there  to  be 
liberated.  As  this  prohibitory  bill  comprehended  every  species  of  the 
American  commerce  and  employment  upon  the  sea  along  the  coast  of 
the  confederated  states,  all  the  former  acts  which  affected  any  particular 
post,  or  any  branch  of  commerce,  were  repealed,  in  which  the  Boston  port 
and  the  fishery  bills  were  included.  While  all  were  proscribed  who  refused 
unconditional  submission,  pardon  was  held  out  to  those  who  returned  to 


382  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVI.— 1775. 

[Dinerent  provinces  of  Messrs.  Burke  and  Fox.] 

their  duty,  and  commissioners  were  appointed  for  inquiring  into  the  me- 
rits of  individuals  or  colonies  who  should  accept  of  the  proffered  mercy. 
Opposition  displayed  its  formidable  talents  in  showing  that  the  proposed 
law  amounted  to  a  declaration  of  war,  and  drove  the  Americans  to  the 
alternative  of  absolute  subjugation  or  independence ;  that  it  would  give 
tlie  finishing  blow  to  the  separation  of  Britain  from  her  colonies,  farther 
ruin  our  African  trade  and  the  West  Indies,  and  arrest  remittances  from 
the  colonics  for  the  liquidation  of  their  great  debts  due  to  British  mer- 
chants. •  AVhile  thus  producing  so  much  mischief  to  our  plantations  and 
mercantile  interests,  the  Americans  would  be  supplied  from  other  mar- 
kets ;  Britain  would  lose  a  great  source  of  wealth,  with  little  annoyance 
to  the  colonies,  and  to  the  gain  of  foreign  nations.  It  was  a  ridiculous 
inconsistency  to  begin  with  declaring  war  and  confiscating  the  efi'ects  of 
the  Americans,  and  conclude  with  some  fallacious  provisions  concerning 
peace.  In  defence  of  the  bill,  it  was  said,  that  the  Americans  were  at 
war  with  us  ;  that  while  hostilities  continued,  every  means  must  be  em- 
ployed to  distress  our  antagonists,  as  much  as  if  we  were  acting  against 
external  enemies.  Messrs.  Wedderburne  and  Thurlow  displayed  great 
ingenuity  in  supporting  these  positions,  and  endeavoured  to  prove,  that 
the  inconveniences  felt  by  the  West  Indian  planters  and  'British  mer- 
chants were  temporary,  but  that  the  permanent  good  would  overbalance 
the  evil.  Petitions  against  the  bill  were  presented,  and  disregarded  :  it 
was  carried,  however,  through  both  houses  by  a  great  majority,  and 
passed  into  a  law.  While  the  act  was  pending,  Mr.  Hartley  proposed  a 
conciliatory  bill,  similar  in  principle  and  object  to  that  of  Mr.  Burke, 
though  somewhat  dillbrent  in  detail ;  but  it  met  with  the  same  fate. 

The  transcendent  genius  of  Messrs.  Burke  and  Fo.k,  though  exercised 
in  every  subject  that  came  before  parliament,  had  two  different  fields  on 
which  they  respectively  displayed  their  greatest  excellence.  The  legis- 
lative plans  proposed  by  opposition,  projects  of  conciliation,  and  other 
schemes  of  deliberative  policy,  requiring  the  union  of  accurate  and  exten- 
sive detail,  with  confirmed  habits  of  generalization,  were  most  frequently 
the  productions  of  Mr.  Burke.  Discussions  of  executorial  plans,  and 
concise  inquiries  concerning  specific  measures,  requiring  also  energy  of 
intellect,  firmness  and  dcci.sion  of  temper,  but  without  demanding  .such 
a  compass  of  general  knowledge,  or  at  least  equal  habits  of  philosophic 
contemplation,  came  chiefly  from  Mr.  Fox.  Mr.  Burke,  watching  over 
legislation,  might  be  called  the  lawgiver,  and  Mr.  Fox,  over  executive 
measures  and  conduct,  the  statesman  of  opposition.  On  the  22d  of 
November,  Mr.  Fox  moved  for  an  account  to  be  laid  before  the  house 
of  the  expenses  of  the  army  in  America,  from  August  1773  to  August 
177o.  He  said,  that  from  tlicse  papers  he  could  demonstrate  the  delu- 
sion of  ministers,  and  the  waste  of  the  public  money,  to  have  been  asto- 
nishing. 'I'he  expenses  of  the  ordnance  in  particular  in  the  year  1775, 
had  been  greater  than  in  any  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough's  campaigns. 
Although  every  branch  <>l'  the  military  service  had  been  amply  provided 
tor  by  the  minister's  own  acknow  lodgment,  and  according  to  his  own  ap- 
propriation to  the  respective  services,  a  debt  had  been  incurred  in  the 
*!inglc  department  of  ordnance,  amounting  to  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  pounds.  When  in  a  canq)aign  of  .so  little  exertion  the  expcn- 
fliture  had  been  so  great,  what  was  to  be  expected  from  the  operations 
tff  the  ensuing  year  ?     Ministers  opposed  this  motion,  because,  they  said. 


1775.     (]HAy.  XVI.  UVAGH  07  GEORGE  III.  383 

[Petition  from  Nova  Scotia.     Despondency  of  ministers.] 

several  accounts  were  not  received.  Mr.  Fox  obviated  their  objection, 
by  confining  his  requisition  to  the  papers  which  were  in  their  possession; 
but  the  ministerial  party  also  controverted  this  proposition,  and  from 
their  unwillingness  to  submit  the  accounts  to  the  inspection  of  the  house, 
Mr.  Fox  was  afterwards  doubly  vigilant  in  his  inquiries  concerning  pub- 
lic expenditure. 

A  petition,  before  the  recess,  Avas  presented*  from  Nova  Scotia  to 
each  house  of  parliament,  in  consequence  of  lord  North's  conciliatory 
proposition  ;  which  by  its  promoters  was  intended  as  a  model  for  the  rest 
of  the  colonies.  It  proposed  a  revenue  to  be  raised  among  them,  under 
the  direction  of  parliament.  This  doctrine  being  extremely  agreeable  to 
ministry,  they  gave  the  petition  a  very  favourable  reception,  though  they 
knew  the  amount  of  the  revenue  must  be  very  inconsiderable.  The  pro- 
posed mode  of  taxation  was,  the  payment  of  a  certain  proportionable  sum 
on  the  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  but  that  the  rate  of  the  duty 
should  be  first  fixed  by  parliament.  To  this  plan  it  was  objected,  that 
the  revenue  heretofore  drawn  from  the  provinces,  every  part  of  which, 
except  the  tea  duty,  had  been  submitted  to,  and  chiefly  paid,  was  more 
productive  than  the  new  duties  proposed  in  lieu  of  them  would  be,  in 
case  this  regulation  was  generally  adopted  :  neither  did  it  appear  likely, 
that  the  opulent  colonies  should  follow  the  example  of  a  district  which 
ever  had  been  a  considerable  expense  to  government,  and  continued  to 
require  a  yearly  grant  from  parliament  for  its  support.  The  minister  at 
first  supported  the  petition,  and  a  motion  founded  upon  it  passed  the 
committee  ;  but  during  the  discussion,  perceiving  its  inefficacy,  he  suf- 
fered it  to  be  rejected. 

Though  the  public  measures  and  declarations  of  ministers  expressed 
a  determination  to  persevere  in  coercion  and  confident  assurance  of  suc- 
cess, yet  it  is  now  knownf  that,  at  the  very  time  of  their  menacing  pro- 
testations, they  were  really  oppressed  with  fear  and  despondency ;  they 
appear,  indeed,  to  have  been  wavering  between  the  false  shame  that  pre- 
vents the  abandonment  of  projects  which  had  been  precipitately  embraced, 
and  sad  forebodings  of  ultimate  failure. 

The  first  business  that  engaged  the  house  after  the  recess,  was  a  mea- 
sure of  the  government  of  Ireland  ;  the  lord-lieutenant  had  sent  a  writ- 
ten message  to  the  house  of  commons,  requiring,  in  the  king's  name,  four 
thousand  additional  troops  from  that  kingdom  for  the  American  service, 
promising  that  their  expense  should  not  be  defrayed  on  the  Irish  estab- 
lishment, and  offering  to  replace  them  by  continental  auxiliaries  without 
any  expense.  The  commons  of  Ireland  granted  the  native  forces  re- 
quired ;  but  after  a  violent  debate,  leaving  the  ministerial  party  in  the 
minority,  they  refused  to  admit  foreign  soldier's. 

The  message  proposing  the  employment  of  troops  from  and  in  Ireland 
without  being  paid  by  that  country,  obviously  meant  that  they  were  to 

•  See  parliamentary  journals,  Dec.  1,  1775. 

f  From  various  sources,  and  especially  from  the  writings  of  Gibbon,  as  we  may 
see  by  the  following  extract  from  a  letter,  written  the  18th  of  January  1776, 
during  the  Christmas  recess.  "I  think  our  meeting  will  be  lively;  a  spirited 
minoritj',  and  a  desponding  majority.  The  higher  people  are  placed,  the  more 
gloomy  are  their  countenances,  the  more  melancholy  their  language,  i'ou  may 
call  this  cowardice  ;  but  I  fear  it  rises  from  their  knowledge  (a  late  knowledge) 
of  the  difhculty  and  magnitude  of  the  business." 


384  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVI.— 1775. 

[Discussion  respecting  Irish  troops.    Proposed  inquiry  of  Mr.  Fox.] 

be  paid  by  Great  Britain ;  and  was  not  without  reason  considered  as  an 
eligagement  by  the  crown,  to  dispose  of  British  pubHc  money  without 
the  consent  or  knowledge  of  tiie  Britisli  house  of  commons.  On  the 
loth  of  February  1776,  JMr.  Thomas  Townshend  moved,  that  the  lord- 
lieuteuant's  nu'ssage  was  a  breach  of  the  privilege  of  that  house.  The 
arguments  by  which  he  supported  his  motion  were,  the  principles  and 
practice  of  the  Briti.^^h  constitution  concerning  pecuniary  grants,  and  the 
designs  which  such  attempts  intunated  ;  he  also  mentioned,  though  only 
incidentally,  the  absurd  extravagance  of  paying  eight  thousand  men  for 
the  use  of  four  thousand.  The  ministerial  speakers  did  not  all  take  the 
same  ground  :  lord  North  declared,  that  though  his  majesty's  servants 
in  Britain  had  a  general  co-operation  with  his  servants  in  Ireland,  the 
former  did  not  consider  themselves  as  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the 
latter :  he  however  justified  the  message  on  the  ground  of  expediency, 
Without  closely  discussing  the  right.  Others  supporting  a  higher  tone  of 
prerogative,  insisted  that  the  king  had  a  right  to  introduce  foreign  troops 
into  any  part  of  liis  dominions  whenever  he  deemed  it  expedient.  Most 
members  of  opposition  w<ire  not  very  strenuous  in  support  of  the  motion, 
because  the  scheme  which  it  censured  had  not  been  put  into  execution; 
and  it  was  rejected  therefore  by  a  majority  greater  even  than  was  usual. 
Mr.  Fo.x's  proposed  inquiry  concerning  the  ordnance,  was  only  pre- 
clusive to  a  more  comprehensive  scrutiny.  On  the  2d  of  February  he 
made  a  motion  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  ill  success  of  his  majes- 
ty's arms  in  North  America,  as  also  into  the  causes  of  the  defection  of 
t!ie  Canadians.  That  he  might  give  the  greater  efTect  to  his  present 
proposition,  he  avoided  every  extraneous  subject ;  he  would  neither  (he 
said)  consider  the  right,  the  expediency,  or  the  practicabihty  of  coercing 
America,  but,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  admitting  them  all,  would  sim- 
ply inquire  whether  the  measures  and  proceedings  of  ministry  upon  their 
own  principles,  hud  produced  the  desired  and  predicted  effect :  without 
now  discus.sing  the  end,  he  should  merely  examine  the  fitness  of  the 
means.  Beginning  with  the  Boston  port  bill,  as  the  commencement  of 
determined  coercion,  be  pursued  an  historical  detail  of  the  ministerial 
mta>'ure3  down  to  the  j)resent  time.  If,  according  to  the  hypothesis  of 
ministers,  coercion  was  practicable,  either  they  had  not  planned  efficient 
measures,  and  atforded  the  proper  force,  or  they  had  intrusted  its  direc- 
tion and  conduct  to  incompetent  officers :  there  had  somewhere  been 
incapacity,  neglect,  or  misconduct.  Whether  the  rapid  extension  of  dis- 
affection, the  successes  of  the  Americans,  and  the  inefficiency  of  our 
troops,  was  owing  to  unfitness  in  one  class  of  servants  to  deliberate  and 
to  determine,  in  another  to  execute,  or  to  both,  parliament  ought  to  be 
informed.  The  country  had  given  the  minister  the  means  of  effectual 
effort,  and  had  a  right  to  explore  the  causes  of  the  failure,  and  to  know 
what  ministers  or  military  officers  deserved,  or  did  not  deserve,  farther 
employment.  Minister.-^  themselves,  if  conscious  that  no  blame  was 
justly  imputable  to  tiiem,  were  interested  in  promoting  the  desired  scru- 
tiny ;  they  would  rejoice  at  such  an  opportunity  of  vindicating  their  con- 
duct to  the  public,  and  of  convincing  the  people  that  our  present  national 
disgraces,  misfortunes,  and  application  of  that  support  which  they  had 
so  liberally  given,  were  not  owing  to  ministerial  ignorance,  incapacity, 
or  want  of  integrity.  He  concluded  with  a  position,  that  none  wished 
to  avoid  inquiry,  but  those  who  were  either  culpable  themselves,  or  wish- 


l776.~CHi.r.  XVI.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  385 

[lleply  of  lord  North.     Subsidy  to  German  princes.] 

ed  to  screen  the  culpability  of  others  ;  an  observation,  doubtless  ecnc- 
mlly,  but  not  universally  just.  IMr.  Fox  urjjcd  these  arguments  vitb  a 
force  which  could  not  be  resisted  by  reasoning  :  what  they  were  unable 
to  combat,  ministers  endeavoured  to  elude.  There  appeared  on  the 
the  question,  as  on  others  before  mentioned,  a  want  of  coincidence  in 
the  arguments  of  mini.stry  and  their  friends.  Lord  North  was  less  de- 
cisive in  his  opposition  than  many  of  his  supporters,  and  very  evideutly 
showed  a  disposition  to  moderation,  from  which  he  was  often  recalled  by 
his  more  violent  coadjutors  ;  he  had  rather  betrayed  than  discovered  a 
disposition  to  conciliate,  instead  of  coercing,  but  had  been  prevented  by 
the  abettors  of  stronger  measures.  In  discussions  with  opposition,  he 
showed  a  similar  disposition,  rather  to  palliate  than  directly  to  contro- 
vert. From  the  great  abilities  of  his  lordship,  it  may  be  fairly  inferred, 
that  his  indecision  arose  in  some  degree  tVom  doubts  about  the  general 
wisdom  of  the  plan  wliich  hewas  pursuing.  It  was  by  no  means  probable, 
that  a  man  of  lord  North's  talents,  if  thoroughly  convinced  that  what  he 
proposed  was  unobjectionable,  would  discover  such  hesitation.  He  ad- 
mitted, that  miscarriages  had  happened,  but  it  was  impossible  to  foresee 
every  event ;  he  was  ready  to  resign  his  office,  whenever  the  house 
should  withdraw  its  confidence.  Mr.  Fox  had  charged  administration 
with  wickedness,  ignorance,  and  neglect ;  the  first,  he  assured  them, 
was  wrong,  and  the  two  last  remained  to  be  proved.  This  vague,  tem- 
porizing, and  indecisive  reply  to  Mr.  Fox's  definite  charges,  if  it  did  not 
prove,  at  least  afforded  grounds  for  forming  an  opinion,  that  lord  North 
liimself  was  not  altogether  satisfied  with  the  part  which  he  was  acting. 
Others  of  much  less  ability  were  by  far  more  decided  in  their  opposition 
to  an  inquiry. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  treaties  between  his  majesty  and  the  duke 
of  Brunswick,  also  the  landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel  and  the  hereditary 
prince  of  Ilesse-Cassel,  were  laid  before  parliament.  By  these  agree- 
ments, four  thousand  three  hundred  Brunswick  troops  and  twelve  thou- 
.sand  Hessians  were  taken  into  Briti.sh  service.  To  the  duke  of  Bruns- 
wick an  annual  subsidy  was  to  be  paid,  of  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred 
and  nineteen  pounds.  For  the  Hessians  a  double  rate  was  to  be  paid, 
amountinof  to  one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  nine- 
ty-eight  pounds.  The  levy  money  to  both  princes  was  seven  pound.? 
four  shillings  and  four  pence  per  head  ;  every  man  killed  was  to  be 
charged  at  the  rate  of  the  levy  money.  All  were  to  receive  the  same 
pay,  ordinary  and  extraordinary  as  British  troops.  The  minister  con- 
tended, that  the  supply  was  necessary,  and  that  the  terms  were  fair.  Op- 
position reprobated  the  measure  of  hiring  foreign  mercenaries  against 
British  subjects  ;  the  motion,  however,  was  carried  by  a  great  majority 
m  both  houses.  The  secretary  at  war  having  moved  for  a  supply  of 
845,000/.  for  the  extraordinaries  of  the  army,  this  vast  demand  incur- 
red in  so  short  a  time,  and  in  so  confined  and  inefficacious  a  service, 
roused  all  the  vigour  of  opposition.  Neither  the  campaign  of  1704, 
which,  by  discomfiting  France  delivered  Europe  ;  nor  of  1760,  which 
subdued  North  America;  had  cost  near  so  much  as  1775,  which  pro- 
duced nothing  but  disgrace.  Ministers  rested  their  measures  on  the 
sanction  of  parliament ;  the  misfortunes  of  the  last  campaign  (they  said) 
were  owing  to  their  belief  that  the  Americans  were  not  in  general  so 
wicked  as  they  had  actually  proved,  and  from  that  conviction  we  had 
Vol.  VII.— 49 


386  7ITSTORY  OF  THE  OfiAP,  XVI.— 1776. 

[Last  efforts  of  the  duke  of  Grafton  for  reconciliation.    Assurances  of  ministers.] 

employed  too  small  an  army  ;  but  in  the  present  campaign,  the  forco 
which  should  be  sent  would  totally  reduce  the  colonies. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  the  last  attempt  was  made  to  prevent  war  be- 
tween the  parent  and  the  children.     The  duke  of  Grafton  moved  an  ad- 
dress to  his  majesty,  entreating,  that  to  put  an  end  to   the  effusion  of 
blood,  and  to  evince  to  the  world  the  wish  of  the  sovereign  and  the  par- 
liament to  restore  peace  and  tranquillity,  he  should  issue  a  proclamation, 
declaring,  if  the  revolted  colonies  would  present  to  the  commander  in 
chief  of  his  majesty's  forces  in  America,  or  to  the  commissioners  sent 
out  with  powers  adequate  to  the  purposes  of  making  peace  or  war,  a  pe- 
tition setting  forth  their  grievances,  hostilities  should  he  in)mediately  sus- 
pended, and  the  petition  referred  to  the  parliament,  to  be  considered  with 
the  most  solemn  and  serious  attention.     The  great  object  of  this  motion 
seems  to  have  been,  to  remedy  the  defects  of  the  late  prohibitory  act : 
which,   according  to  opposition,  held  out  a  delusive  show  of  peace, 
without  furnishing  the   means,   or   containing  the  powers,  by  wliich  it 
could  be  effected.  Besides  the  general  arguments  which  this  motion  na- 
turally suggested,  its  mover  adduced  a  declaration  of  lord  George  Ger- 
maine,  in  the  other  house,  that  nothing  less  than  unconditional  submis- 
sion from  America  would  satisfy  Britain.     To  promote  the  address,  his 
grace  farther  stated,  that  intelligence  was  received  by  himself  that  mes- 
sengers had  been  sent  by  France  to  general  Washington  and  the  con- 
gress, and  argued  that  this  conciliatory  proposition,  would  prevent  the 
Americans  from  seeking  the  means  of  defence  in  foreign  assistance. 
Ministers  contended,  that  conciliation  was  almost  impracticable,  and 
that  nothing  could  more  certainly  prevent  it  than  concession.     An  ofler 
to  admit  them  to  amity  on  any  other  terms  than  those  already  proposed, 
would  be  a  degradation  to  the  honour  of  the  king,  the  parliament,  and 
the  country.     The  Americans  would  be  reduced  in  one  campaign  to  ac- 
cept of  the  terms  which  we  were  pleased  to  offer :   France  would  not  in- 
terfere in  a  dispute  between  us  and  our  colonies.     If  she  had  any  such 
intention,  it  would  be  an  additional  argument  for  employing  our  force  to 
subjugate  America,  before  she  could  be  joined  by  so  powerful  an  auxili- 
ary.    We  have  (they  said)  passed  the  Rubicon,  and  it  is  no  longer  time 
for  us  to  be  proposing  conciliation.     This  was  the  language  not  of  mere 
parrots  of  the  political  creeds  that  happened  to  be  in  vogue  lor  the  day, 
but  of  many  senators  of  considerable  talents  and  knowledge;  some  high- 
ly distinguished  for  ability,  and  one  equal  to  most  men  that  ever  appear- 
ed in  a  legislative  assembly.     A  reader,  who  should  know  the  origin, 
principles,  and  history  of  the  American  war,  without  having  attended  to 
parliamentary  debate  and  speeches,  would  learn  with  surprise,  that  a 
most  strenuous  abettor  of  coercive  measures,  a  determined  enemy  to 
nvery  plan  of  a  conciliatory  spirit,  a  supporter  of  unconditional  submis- 
sion and  a  prophesier  of  speedy  subjugation,  was  lord  IVlansfield.     Such 
powers  of  argument  in  cases  of  momentous  importance,  drawing  conclu- 
sions from  insufficient  information  and  erroneous  principles ;  such  pro- 
found wisdom  sanctioning  the  measures,  decrees,  and  acts  of  misinfor- 
mation, precipitancy,   and   violence  ;  aflbrd  a  .striking  instance  of  the 
weakness  which,  from  the  imperfection  of  human  nature,  is  often  inter- 
mingled with  the  most  exalted  qualities ;  it  teaches  the  reasoner  in 
drawing  his  inferences,  and  the  counsellor  in  forming  his  schemes,  not 
to  place  implicit  reliance  on  either  the  authority  or  example  of  even  an 
illustrious  sage. 


irre.—cujLT.  xvi.  imoN  of  george  hi.  387 

[Scotch  militia  bill  rejected.] 

A  bill  was  this  year  proposed  for  establishing  a  militia  in  Scotland, 
which, was  eagerly  patronized  by  members  from  that  country,  but  strong- 
ly controverted  by  English  senators.  In  favour  of  the  bill  it  was  argued, 
that  the  obvious  utility  of  militia  as  a  national  defence,  rendered  its  es- 
tablishment as  proper  in  Scotland  as  in  England  ;  and  that  the  attach- 
ment now  evinced  by  Scotchmen  to  the  family  on  the  throne,  removed 
objections  formerly  weighty.  On  the  other  side  it  was  alleged,  that 
there  was  neither  necessity  nor  occasion  for  the  proposed  scheme.  A 
militia  was  local,  and  paid  by  the  landholders  for  their  protection  and 
defence  ;  the  Scotch  paid  one-fortieth  part  only  of  the  land  tax,  out  of 
which  the  militia  expenses  were  paid  :  the  population  of  Scotland  was  a 
fifth  of  that  of  England  ;  it  was  therefore  unreasonable  in  her  to  apply 
for  a  militia,  in  the  maintenance  oi"  which  her  expense  would  be  but  one- 
eighth  of  her  advantage  in  proportion  to  England.  The  answer  to  this 
was  obvious  ;  that  though  the  specific  fund  for  defraying  the  militia  ex- 
penses was  the  land  tax^  the  protection  of  that  branch  of  revenue  was 
not  its  sole  purpose,  but  the  defence  of  every  constituent  of  private  and 
public  property  and  security.  After  a  warm  contest,  the  minister  being 
left  in  a  minority,  the  bill  was  rejected. 

In  providing  the  ways  and  means  for  the  current  year,  a  loan  of  two 
millions  was  found  necessary.  The  funds  for  paying  the  interest,  being 
taxes  on  articles  of  luxury,  were  favourable  to  the  financial  character  of 
the  minister.  After  passing  a  vote  of  credit  for  another  million,  the  ses- 
sion closed  on  the  23d  of  May. 


388  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.  X\ll.—177&- 


CTIAPTEi^  X\ii. 


Evacuation  of  Boston. — Britisli  troops  sail  to  Hulli'ux — objects  of  campaign  177t^ 
three :  first,  recovery  of  Canada,  anrl  invasion  of  colonies  by  llie  lakes — se- 
condly, expedition  to  Carolina — thirdly,  and  chiefly,  invasion  of  New-York  — 
Quebec  relieved,  and  Canada  recovered. — liritish  armament  under  sir  Henry 
Clinton  and  sir  Peter  Parker,  arrives  too  late  in  North  Carolina — proceed  to  the 
south — siejje  of  Charleston — raised — Internal  proceedings  .jf  the  colonies-  de- 
claration of  independence. — Objects  and  reasons  of  the  New  York  expedition — 
Rnt.sh  force  arrives  there — description  of  New- York  and  its  dependencies— 
pacificating  overtures  of  the  British  commanders — rejected — Battle  of  Long 
Island. — Americans  defeated,  but  escape. — Capture  of  New-York — town  set  on 
fire  by  the  Americans. — Battle  of  AVhite  Plains — Americans  defeated  in  one 
part,  but  the  main  body  escapes. — Battle  and  capture  of  Fort  Washington. — 
General  Howe  plans  detached  expeditions — invasion  and  reduction  of  Rhode- 
Uhind— rapid  successes  of  lord  Cornwallis  in  the  Jerseys — consternation  ami 
flight  of  the  Americans — expect  general  Howe  at  Philadelphia — lord  Cornwal- 
lis ordered  into  winter  quarters — revival  of  American  spirits  from  the  cessation 
of  pursuit — animated  to  most  extraordinary  exertions — their  offensive  opera- 
tions— surprise  of  the  Hessians  at  Trenton,  and  its  important  effects. — Opera- 
tions on  the  lakes — Crown  Point  taken,  but  evacuated. —  General  result  of  the 
campaign. — Depredations  of  American  privateers — encouraged  by  France  and 
Spain. 

The  principal  scene  of  action  in  which  Britain  was  now  engaged, 
was  the  American  colonies  ;  thither,  therefore,  the  history  must  ciall 
the  attention  of  the  reader.  Boston^  from  the  preceding  summer,  had 
continued  in  a  state  of  blockade.  Gage  was  returned  home,  and  the 
command  had  devolved  on  general  Howe.  The  British  admiral  hav- 
ing been  displeased  with  the  conduct  of  Falmouth,  a  sea  port  town  in 
the  northern  part  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  cannonaded  atid  destroyed  the 
place;  and  the  provincials  being  informed  of  this  proceeding,  issued 
out  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  declaring,  however,  it  was  their 
intention  to  confine  their  hostilities  to  the  capture  of  ships  which 
should  carry  stores  and  provisions  to  the  British  army  at  Boston.  Se- 
veral vessels  laden  with  necessaries  of  life,  were  taken  at  the  very  en- 
trance of  the  harbour ;  the  capture  of  the  coal  ships  was  severely  felt, 
both  from  the  coldness  of  the  winter  in  that  climate,  and  from  that 
being  a  harder  season  than  usual.  Many  of  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
known  abettors  of  the  American  cause,  were  still  retained  as  hostages, 
and  all  the  loyalists  who  could  escape,  took  refuge  in  Boston  ;  ihence 
there  was  not  only  a  want  of  fresh  meat,  but  even  of  salt  provisions. 
To  supply  the  deficiency  of  firing,  they  destroyed  several  houses,  and 
used  the  materials;  but  still  liic  scarcity  increased.  Aware  of  the  dif- 
ficulties. Washington  prosecuted  the  siege  with  a  double  vigour,  in 
order  to  take  the  place  before  the  arrival  of  re-enibrccments  from 
Britain.  On  the  2d  of  March,  a  battery  was  opened  on  the  western 
side  of  the  town,  whence  it  was  dreadfully  annoyed  by  a  furious  dis- 
charge of  cannon  and  bombs  :  and  on  the  5th,  another  acted  on  the 
eastern  shore.   Nevertheless,  the  British  troops  acquitted  themselves 


1776— CuAP.  XVII.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  lU.  389 

[Proposed  objects  of  the  campaign.    Americans  evacuate  Canada.] 

with  surprising  fortitude,  and  during  Iburleen  days,  endured  this  bom- 
bardment with  undaunted  courage.  The  besieged  had  no  altcrnulive, 
but  either  to  dislodge  the  Americans,  or  to  evacuate  the  town.  The 
general  attempted  to  attack,  the  enemy,  but  lound  they  were  sc» 
strongly  posted  as  to  render  the  assault  impracticable.  The  British 
must  have  ascended  a  perpendicular  eminence,  on  the  lop  of  which 
the  Americans  had  prepared  hogsheads  chained  together  in  great 
numbers,  and  filled  with  stones,*  to  roll  down  upon  the  king's  troops 
as  they  climbed  up  the  hill.  Finding  that  they  could  not  force  the 
works  of  the  American  general,  and  being  in  the  greatest  distress  for 
want  of  provisions,  general  Howe  and  the  British  loyalists  embarked 
for  Halifax  on  the  17th  of  March,  and  arrived  liiere  in  the  end  of  the 
month.  By  their  departure,  the  Americans  becam» masters  of  Bos- 
ton, and  a  considerable  quantity  of  artillery  and  stores,  which  general 
Howe  was  obliged  to  leave  behind.  Some  ships  were  left  in  the  bay, 
to  protect  the  vessels  which  should  arrive  from  England ;  but,  as  it 
afterwards  appeared,  they  were  not  sufficient  to  prevent  the  British 
transports  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

The  objects  proposed  by  the  Britisli  government  in  the  present 
campaign  were  three — to  relieve  Quebec,  recover  Canada,  and  invade 
the  colonies  through  the  lakes — to  make  an  impression  on  the  south- 
ern provinces,  and  to  undertake  an  expedition  to  New-York.  During 
these  transactions  at  Boston,  col.  Arnold  continued  the  blockade  of 
Quebec,  notwithstanding  a  very  severe  season,  and  under  great  dif- 
ficulties; re-enforcements  arrived  very  slowly  from  the  congress,  and 
the  Canadians  were  disheartened  and  wavering;  the  succours,  how- 
ever, at  last  came,  and  Quebec  being  cut  off  from  supplies  by  land, 
and  the  ice  in  the  river  not  admitting  assistance  from  England,  the 
townsmen  and  garrison  experienced  many  difficulties-  But  as  the 
season  advanced  for  the  safe  navigation  of  the  river,  the  Americans 
became  more  active,  that  they  might  anticipate  the  arrival  of  the 
troops  from  England:  they  renewed  the  siege,  and  erected  batteries 
to  burn  the  shipping  While  the  besieged  were  engaged  in  attending^ 
to  those  operations,  Arnold  attempted  to  storm  the  town  in  another 
quarter,  and  made  his  entrance  into  the  suburbs,  but  could  not  pene- 
trate farther.  Meanwhile,  the  small -pox,  so  pestilential  in  that  coun- 
try where  inoculation  was  not  common,  broke  out  in  the  American 
army,  and  frightened  many  of  the  soldiers  to  desert.  Although  it  was 
now  the  beginning  of  May,  and  the  river  was  far  from  being  clear  of 
ice,  an  English  squadron  made  its  way  up  to  Quebec,  and  on  finding 
succours  arrived,  the  besiegers  retired.  On  the  9th  of  May,  Carleton 
proceeded  in  pursuit  of  Arnold,  just  as  they  had  begun  the  retreat. 
Seeing  the  troops,  they  left  the  artillery  and  military  stores  to  the 
British,  and  thus  the  siege  of  Quebec  was  raised,  after  continuing 
about  five  months.  Understanding  that  a  number  of  sick  and  wounded 
provincials  were  scattered  about  the  woods  and  villages,  the  governor 
issued  a  proclamation,  ordering  the  proper  officers  to  find  out  these 
miserable  people,  afford  them  relief  and  assistance  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, and  assure  them  that,  on  their  recovery,  they  should  have  the 

•  "  This  species  of  pi'eparation,  (Mr.  Stedman  observes,)  will  exemplify  jn  a 
striking  manner  that  fertility  of  expedients  which  strongly  characterized  tbr- 
AmericRiis  during  the  war." 


$00  IIISTOKV  or   rut  Cuap. XVII.--1776. 

[State  of  afVairs  in  the  Carolinas.j 

Hberiy  to  return  to  their  respective  provinces.  In  the  end  of  May, 
several  regiments  arrivinj^  tVom  Ireland  and  England,  together  with 
.1  regiment  from  general  Howe,  and  the  Brunswick  troops,  which, 
when  added  to  those  who  were  before  in  the  province,  amounted  to 
thirteen  thousand  men,  Carleton  prepared  for  offensive  operations. 
The  general  rendezvous  was  at  the  Three  Rivers,  about  half  way  be- 
tween Montreal  and  Quebec.  A  body  of  Americans  having  attacked 
the  advanced  division  of  the  British  troops,  was  repulsed  with  great 
loss.  General  Ikirgoync  arrived  with  the  re  enforcements  in  Canada, 
and  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  provincials.  Conscious  of  their  inability 
to  maintain  their  conquest,  the  provincials  evacuated  Montreal,  Fort 
St.  John,  crossed  lake  Champlain,  and  stationed  themselves  at  Crown 
Point,  whither  th«  British  commander  did  not  follow  them  for  the  pre- 
sent. While  the  campaign  opened  thus  auspiciously  for  Britain  in  the 
noith,  attempts  wee  made  to  re-establish  her  authority  in  the  south. 
The  p,overnois  of  tiie  several  colonies  had  represented,  that  in  the 
middle  ^md  southern  provinces  there  was  a  considerable  spirit  of  loy- 
alty, but  that  the  well  affected  were  afraid  to  discover  their  senti- 
nitnts  ;  and  i)  at  if  a  powerful  force  were  sent  from  the  mother  coun- 
try to  co-operu;e  with  them,  they  would  immediately  attach  them- 
selves to  her  cause.  In  consequence  of  this  information,  an  army  was 
prepared,  under  the  command  of  sir  Henry  Clinton  and  sir  Peter  Par- 
ker, and  ordered  to  sail  to  North  Ci.rolina,  from  the  loyalists  of  whichj 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  were  entertained. 

Governor  Martin  of  North  Carolina,  though  obliged  to  take  refuge 
in  a  ship,  had  been  extremely  active  in  the  service  of  Britain:  he 
maintained  a  correspondence  with  the  settlers  in  the  back  country, 
especially  with  an  unruly  class  of  men,  known  by  the  name  of  regu- 
lators, who  were  inimical  to  orderly  government,  had  formerly  been 
very  troublesome  to  the  British  establishment,  and  transferred  to  the 
provincials  their  hostility,  since  they  had  acquired  the  ascendancy  In 
the  same  parts,  there  was  a  totally  different  set  of  men,  emigrants 
from  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  under  the  pressure  of  the  most  indi- 
gent circumstances,  who  were  distinguished  for  loyalty  to  their  sove- 
reign, and  attachment  to  their  native  land,  which  poverty  and  want 
had  compelled  them  to  abandon.  Actuated  by  such  contrary  motives, 
to  oppose  the  Americans,  these  two  classes  of  settlers  co-operated  and 
acquired  a  considerable  degree  of  force.  Martin  projected  to  unite 
with  them  all  the  back  settlers  of  the  southern  colonies,  and  that  the 
whole  should  act  in  conjunction  with  the  king's  troops,  who  were  ex- 
pected early  in  the  spring,  and  also  bring  forward  the  Indians  to  assist 
the  royal  cause.  By  the  desire  of  Martin,  Mr.  Macdonald,  a  High- 
land gentleman,  of  known  courage,  enterprise,  and  ability,  directed 
and  headed  the  execution  of  the  scheme  ;  the  governor  also  issued  a 
proclamation,  commanding  all  persons  on  their  allegiance  to  repair  to 
the  royal  standard  ;  but  it  was  necessary  to  embody  the  loyalists,  in 
order  to  keep  them  steady  in  their  intentions ;  and  this  step  ulti- 
mately disconcerted  the  undertaking.  Their  hopes  of  success  rested 
on  the  concealment  of  the  design,  until  his  majesty's  troops  should 
arrive;  but  the  formation  of  a  corps,  however,  soon  reached  and 
alarmed  the  provincials.  General  Macdonald  proposed  to  march  to 
Wilmington,  and  there  occupy  a  secure  post,  until  the  British  landing 
should  be  able  to  afford  them  assistance.    Inforrped  of  these  proceed- 


1776.— Chap.  XVIL  ItEIGN  OP  GEOKGE  IH,  39| 

[Armament  under  sir  Flenry  Clinton.    Attempt  uymn  Charleston] 

ings,  Mr.  Moore,  a  provincial  gentleman,  and  colonel  of  the  Caroli- 
nians, advanced  with  a  body  of  troops  iu  quest  of  Macdonald.  The 
Highlander  sent  Moore  a  copy  of  the  king's  proclauuition  ;  in  answer 
to  which,  the  provincial  commander  transmitted  the  test  to  the  con- 
gress, promising  (if  they  should  subscribe  to  it)  to  treat  Macdonald 
and  his  party  as  friends,  but  denouncing  the  severest  vengeance  in 
case  of  a  refusal.  The  royalists  losing  time  in  negotiation,  the  provin- 
cials had  leisure  to  assemble  in  great  numbers  to  the  standard  of  co- 
lonel Moore.  Macdonald  proceeding  on  his  march,  descried  Mr.  Cas- 
well, a  provincial  colonel,  who  was  hastening  with  a  body  of  colonists 
to  join  the  general,  and  found  him  posted  at  Moore's  creek  bridge 
upon  Cape  Fear  river,  not  far  from  Wilmington.  The  emigrants  with 
great  fury  began  the  attack  with  broad-swords  ;  but  colonel  Macleod, 
the  second  in  command,  and  others  of  their  bravest  officers  being 
killed,  the  people,  who,  in  the  spirit  of  their  native  country  regarded 
their  leaders  as  chieftains,  were  disheartened  by  the  fall  of  their  com- 
manders, and  thrown  into  a  confusion  which  reached  the  rest  of  the 
corps;  the  whole  party  was  broken  and  dispersed,  and,  being  pur- 
sued, many  of  them  were  taken  prisoners,  and  among  others,  general 
Macdonald.  Such  was  the  issue  of  the  first  enterprise  in  the  southern 
colonies  for  supporting  the  cause  of  the  British  government. 

Among  the  causes  which  had  contributed  to  the  distinguished  suc- 
cess of  Mr.  Secretary  Pitt's  belligerent  measures,  one  of  the  most  ef- 
ficacious was  promptness  of  preparation.  This  was  a  quality  ex- 
tremely deficient  in  the  armaments  that  were  employed  during  the 
ministry  of  lord  North,  and  the  forces  sent  out  on  an  expedition  were 
frequently  too  late  for  accomplishing  their  purpose.  The  troops  des- 
tined to  co-operate  with  the  loyalists  of  the  south,  ought  to  have  left 
Cork  before  Christmas,  that  they  might  reach  Carolina  in  the  be- 
ginning of  spring,  so  as  to  be  in  the  field  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  great  heats  that  are  so  injurious  to  northern  constitu- 
tions, unless  gradually  encountered  ;  but  they  did  not  depart  from  Ire- 
land till  the  7th  of  February,  and  it  was  the  3d  of  May  before  they  ar- 
rived at  Cape  Fear.  General  Clinton  having  joined  them  from  Bos- 
ton, took  the  command  ;  and  finding  that  from  the  discomfiture  of  the 
royalists  he  could  have  no  hopes  of  success  in  North  Carolina,  re- 
solved to  make  an  attempt  upon  South  Carolina,  and  to  besiege 
Charleston  its  capital.  This  town  was  the  great  support  of  the  war- 
like preparations  in  the  southern  colonies,  and  on  account  both  of  its 
strength  and  opulence,  would  be  an  important  acquisition  to  Britain. 

The  harbour  of  Charleston  was  protected  and  commanded  by  a  fort 
upon  Sullivan's  Island,  which  is  formed  by  the  conflux  of  the  rivers 
Ashley  and  Cooper,  that  almost  enclose  the  town  ;  and  an  inlet  of  the 
sea.  It  was  projected  to  capture  that  fort,  and  leaving  a  sufficient 
garrison  for  its  defence,  to  intercept  all  intercourse  between  Charles- 
ton and  the  ocean.  Clinton  arrived  on  the  4th  of  June  before  the  ca- 
pital of  South  Carolina;  the  American  commander  Lee,  having  re- 
ceived accurate  intelligence  concerning  the  motion  of  the  British  ge- 
neral, by  forced  marches  appeared  about  the  same  time  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Charleston,  and  posting  himself  on  the  banks  of  the  river, 
secured  a  communication  with  Sullivan's  Island.  Between  Clinton 
and  the  fort  lay  Long  Island,  from  which  he  understood  there  was  a 
fordable  passage  to  Sullivan's  Island ;  he   stationed  himself  on  this 


39'^  HJSTOliY  OP  THE  Chap.  XVII.— 1776. 

[Attack  by  the  Ameficans  upon  the  Bahamas.   Internal  acts  of  the  colonies.] 

island,  constructed  batteries,  and  prepared  for  the  siege.  Having 
made  dispositions  for  commencing  the  attack,  on  the  28th  of  June  he 
poured  a  tremendous  fire  from  land  batteries,  floating  batteries,  and 
the  ships.  The  British  troops  behaved  with  their  usual  valour,  and 
the  Americans  displayed  great  courage  and  perseverance.  Three  of 
our  siiips  having  run  aground,  two  of  them  were  extricated  ;  but  the 
third  Slicking  fast,  was  set  on  fire,  to  prevent  her  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  The  troops  attempted  the  passage,  but  found 
that  the  water  was  not  one  foot  in  dcptli  as  they  had  been  informed, 
but  near  seven  feet  ;  under  cover,  however,  of  the  fire,  they  attempt- 
ed to  land,  but  it  soon  appeared  that  there  were  unexpected  difficul- 
ties to  encounter  even  if  they  did  land.  The  information  which  the 
general  had  received  concerning  the  access  to  the  fort  had  been  ex- 
tremely inaccurate ;  there  was  between  it  and  the  shore  a  trench,  in 
which  he  had  understood  that  the  water  was  shallow  ;  but,  on  exami- 
nation, it  Avas  discovered  to  be  extremely  deep,  and  also  much  more 
under  the  command  of  the  castle  than  the  general  had  supposed  :  the 
troops  were  for  the  present,  therefore,  ordered  to  return  to  their 
camp.  The  next  day,  dispositions  were  made  for  repeating  the  at- 
tempt, and  there  was  a  hot  fire  on  both  sides,  by  which  two  British 
ships  being  much  damaged,  were  ordered  to  retire.  The  attempt  was 
repeated  in  a  part  somewhat  shallower  than  where  the  first  trial  had 
been  made.  General  Clinton  and  several  other  officers  waded  up  to 
their  shoulders,  but  finding  the  depth  of  the  water  increasing,  were 
unable  to  proceed  ;  the  ships  could  not  approach  so  near  as  to  do  ef- 
fectual execution,  and  general  Lee  was  in  great  force  on  the  other 
side  to  defend  the  forts  :  for  all  these  reasons,  Clinton  thought  it  ex- 
pedient to  desist  from  the  attempt.  It  was  said  by  military  critics,  that 
the  British  general  had  not  bestowed  sufficient  pains  to  investigate 
the  situation  and  accessibility  of  the  place  before  he  commenced  the 
attack  ;  that  his  ships  might  have  approached  much  nearer  the  fort, 
and  covered  the  landing  of  the  troops  :  by  political  critics  it  was  al- 
leged that  the  difficulties  arose  from  the  general  causes  which  had 
been  predicted;  the  determination  and  force  of  the  Americans,  in- 
spired by  the  love  of  liberty,  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  na- 
ture of  the  country  and  posts  which  they  had  to  defend. 

Lord  Dunmore  continued  to  carry  on  naval  hostilities  on  the  coasts 
of  the  southern  provinces,  but  finding  he  could  make  no  effectual  im- 
pression, retired  to  Florida.  The  Americans,  on  the  other  hand,  fit- 
ting out  a  squadron  from  Boston,  attacked  the  Bahama  islands,  and 
plundered  them  of  stores  and  artillery,  by  which  means  they  brought 
to  their  country  a  supply  which  was  very  much  wanted.  Clinton  was 
summoned  by  general  Ilowe  to  meet  him  at  New-York,  but  before 
wc  accompany  the  southern  force  to  its  junction  with  the  commander- 
in-chief  and  the  main  army,  it  is  proper  to  take  a  view  of  the  civil 
proceedings  in  the  colonies,  which,  both  on  account  of  their  political 
importance  and  influence  on  military  operations,  merit  and  require 
historical  notice. 

In  the  former  year,  the  provincial  assembly  of  New-England  had 
passed  resolutions,  manifesting  a  disposition  to  independency;  but 
rather  to  feel  tlic  pulse  of  the  other  colonies  and  of  their  constitu- 
ents, than  to  pledge  themselves  by  an  explicit  proposition.  Their  de- 
legates in  the  congress,  and  the  other  most  violent  members,  having 


1776— CiiAF.  XVII.  KEIGN  OF  CliOHGR  III.  393 

[Uecommendation  of  congress.    Parties  in  the  provinces] 

sounded  the  rest  of  the  representatives,  discovered,  tliat  from  several 
colonies  there  was  an  aversion  to  that  measure,  and  that  a  separation 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  evils,  which  ought  not  to  be  in- 
curred unless  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  their  liber- 
ty. Bred  up  in  republicanism,  the  Ncw-Englanders  had  deemed  inde- 
pendence on  a  crowned  head  a  desirable  object;  but  other  colonists, 
educated  with  monarchical  principles,  and  attacJied  to  the  king  and 
people  of  Great  Britain,  regarded  a  connexion  between  themselves 
and  the  parent  country  as  constituting  the  supreme  advantages  of 
both  countries,  and  separation  as  only  not  so  bad  as  slavery.  The 
New-Englanders  had  been  winning  over  the  other  colonies  to  their 
sentiments  and  principles,  with  great,  i)Ut  hitherto  not  complete  suc- 
cess. The  congress  was  becoming  more  and  more  subject  to  the  in- 
fluence of  its  republican  president;  but  still  desirous  of  peace,  it 
waited  with  anxiety  for  the  result  of  its  petition  to  the  king,  and  for 
the  measures  which  should  be  adopted  in  parliament.  When  it  was 
learned  that  iio  attention  would  be  paid  to  the  petition,  that  nothing 
short  of  unconditional  submission  would  satisfy  the  British  govern- 
ment, and  that  great  armaments,  including  a  numerous  body  of  foreign 
mercenaries,  were  prepared  in  order  to  subjugate  America,  the 
greater  number  of  delegates  adopted  the  sentiments  which  were  first 
generated  and  afterwards  cherished  by  the  New-Englanders.  On  the 
30th  of  May,  a  prefatory  resolution  was  passed,  declaring,  that  the 
prohibitory  act  by  which  they  were  excluded  from  the  protection  of 
the  crown,  the  rejection  of  their  petition  for  redress  and  reconcilia- 
tion, with  the  intended  exertion  of  all  the  British  forces,  assisted  by 
foreign  mercenaries,  for  their  destruction,  depriving  the  colonies  of 
the  king's  protection,  annihilated  their  allegiance;  that  it  became 
now  necessary  for  them  to  take  the  power  of  government  into  their 
own  hands.  It  was  therefore  resolved,  "  to  recommend  to  the  various 
assemblies  and  conventions  in  the  United  States  of  America,  where 
no  form  of  government  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  affairs  had  yet 
been  adopted,  to  form  such  a  constitution  as  should  be  most  condu- 
cive to  the  public  welfare  and  security." 

In  the  middle  and  southern  provinces,  of  those  who  were  deter- 
mined to  resist  coercion,  there  were  two  parties :  the  one  wished 
merely  to  oppose  all  acts  of  hostility,  but  still  to  leave  room  for  re- 
union;* the  other  resolved  not  only  to  resist,  but  to  outrage  the  Bri- 
tish government.  In  a  state  of  public  ferment,  moderation  is  gene- 
rally regarded  as  lukewarmness,  and  indiftcrence  as  enmity  to  the 
prevailing  sentiment.  In  most  of  the  colonial  assemblies,  being  guided 
by  the  advice  of  the  congress,  they  instructed  their  delegates  to  sup- 
port independence.  In  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,!  the  assemblies 
resolved  to  oppose  this  measure ;  and  the  amount  of  their  reasoning 
was — Britain  has  oppressed,  and  is  attempting  to  subdue  America,  it 
becomes  us  therefore  to  resist,  but  the  necessity  of  resistance  docs 
not  justify  measures  injurious  to  ourselves,  and  not  necessary  to  ren- 
der our. resistance  effectual;  we  can  fight  as  well  without  mentioning 
independence,  as  after  declaring  it ;  we  will  not  actually  obey  the 
commands  of  Britain,  while  inconsistent  with  our  constitutional 
rights,  but  we  ought  not  therefore  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  re- 

•  Annual  Register,  1776,  p.  1G3.         |  Andrews,  vol.  ii.  p.  209. 
Vol.  VII.— 50 


394  I[ISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap,  XVII.— 1776. 

[Declaration  of  Independence.] 

conciliation,*  by  a  change  in  the  British  counsels,  which  experience 
of  the  inetficacy  of  her  plans  may  in  time  be  expected  to  produce  ; 
meanwhile  our  efforts  shall  be  as  energetic  as  those  of  the  most  zeal- 
ous votary  of  independence.  The  separation  from  Britain,  even  if 
finally  attainable,  would  be  productive  of  great  and  evident  evils. 
The  protection  of  the  parent  state,  the  salutary  power  of  a  common 
sovereign  to  balance  so  many  separate  and  possibly  discordant  pro- 
vinces, the  important  political  and  commercial  advantages  of  the  old 
union  appeared  in  a  striking  light  to  every  man  of  discernment, 
whose  mind  was  not  clouded  by  the  passions  that  overspread  the 
muUiiude  ;  but  no  art  was  spared  to  make  the  contrary  opinion  popu- 
lar, and  no  means  were  more  successful  than  publications  which,  by- 
enumerating  the  various  acts  of  alleged  oppression,  stimulated  the 
hatred  and  resentment  of  the  children  against  their  parents.  Of  these 
works  one  of  the  most  efiectual  was  an  essay  of  the  noted  Thomas 
Paine,  written  in  the  style  and  spirit  which  he  has  so  frequently  exhi" 
bited,  strong,  coarse,  and  inflammatory.  The  bold  and  unqualified  in- 
trepidity of  assertion  passed,  with  undisciplined  understandings,  as 
unanswerable  arguments  ;  familiarity  of  illustration,  and  vulgarity  of 
allusion,  highly  pleased  unrefined  tastes ;  an  appeal  to  their  preju- 
dices and  prepossessions  gratified  their  passions,  and  they  concluded 
that  he  must  be  right  whose  opinions  and  sentiments  agreed  with 
their  own.f  Displaying  an  ability  and  skill,  the  amount  of  which 
was,  that  he  could  att  Jire  to  combuntiblcs,  Paine's  address  acted 
powerfully  on  the  populace  of  Philadelphia,  and  contributed  to  inspire 
them  with  different  sentiments  from  their  provincial  assembly  and 
their  delegates  in  the  congress.  The  delegates,  however,  thought  it 
necessary  on  so  important  a  question  to  take  the  sense  of  their  con- 
stituents, and  after  a  great  contest  it  was  carried  that  they  should  be 
instructed  to  agree  to  the  determination  of  congress.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  artifices  of  demagogues,  there  still  remained  in  Philadelphia  a 
considerable  body  inimical  to  independence.  In  Maryland,  the  dele- 
gates were  instructed  to  oppose  the  question  of  independence  in  con- 
gress. Having  accordingly  voted  against  it,  they  were  driven  from 
the  assembly  ;  and,  on  returning  home,  they  found  the  violent  party 
gaining  ground.  A  second  meeting  of  constituents  was  called,  and 
they  returned  with  instructions  to  vote  for  independence.  On  the  4th 
of  July,  the  congress  of  delegates  from  thirteen  English  colonies  in 
America,  declared  the  provinces  a  free  and  independent  state.  In  the 
declaration,  they  commenced  with  observing,  that  when  it  becomes 
necessary  far  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands|  which  have 
connected  it  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the 
earth  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature,  of 
nations,  and  of  God,  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of 
mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  cause  which  impels 
them  to  the  separation.  Government  being  an  institution  for  the  hap- 
piness of  the  governed,  whenever  it  becomes  destructive  of  that  end, 
must  be  dissolved.  Having  laid  down  this  general  rule,  they  proceed- 
ed to  enumerate  the  facts  which,  in  their  opinion,  proved  the  British 
government'of  our  colonies  to  have  been  destructive  to  its  end,  and 

•  Annual  Register,  1776,  p.  164.         f  Rdmsay,  vol.  i.  p.  336. 
^  S(ec  state  papers,  July  4lli,  1776. 


1776.— Cba9.  XVII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  395 

[Enthusiastic  reception  by  the  people.   Opinions  of  Washington.] 

comprised  in  the  detail  all  iheacts  already  mentioned  :  in  every  stage 
of  oppression,  they  alleged,  that  they  humbly  petitioned  the  king  for 
redress,  but  Miith  no  effect.  '<  We  have  applied  also  (they  said)  to  our 
British  brethren  ;  we  have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of 
our  emigration  and  settlement ;  we  have  appealed  to  their  native  jus- 
tice and  magnanimity,  and  conjured  them  by  the  ties  of  our  common 
kindred  to  disavow  those  usurpations  which  \yould  inevitably  inter- 
rupt our  connexion  and  correspondence:  they  have  been  deaf  to  the 
voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity  ;  we  must  therefore  acquiesce 
in  the  necessity  which  denounces  our  separation,  and  hold  ihcni  as  we 
hold  the  rest  of  mankind — in  war,  enemies  ;  in  peace,  friends."  For 
these  reasons,  they  solemnly  published,  that  they  were  henceforth  free 
and  independent  states,  and  absolved  from  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown:  that  all  political  connexion  between  them  and  Great  Britain 
was  and  ought  to  be  completely  terminated ;  that  they  had  full  power 
to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  commerce, 
and  do  every  other  act  which  belonged  to  independent  states.  This 
celebrated  declaration,  which  separated  the  colonics  from  Britain, 
was  received  with  enthusiastic  applause  by  the  people,  but  by  some 
of  the  wisest  opponents  of  the  mother  country  it  was  not  equally  re- 
lished. General  Washington  himself,  though  so  strenuous  and  effica- 
cious a  supporter  of  American  resistance  to  what  he  conceived  op- 
pression and  tyranny,  never,  us  far  as  I  can  learn,  expressed  an  ap- 
probation of  the  total  dissolution  of  the  connexion  between  the  colo- 
nies and  the  mother  country.*  His  great  and  comprehensive  mind 
viewed  remote  and  distant  objects  ;  he  saw  that  whatever  was  the  en- 
mity between  Britain  and  America  at  present,  it  must  at  length  termi- 
nate. He  knew  the  vast  advantages  that  had  accrued,  and  the  greater 
which  might  proceed  from  the  renewal  of  friendly  relations  between 
Britain  and  North  America;  their  language,  their  respective  objects 
and  pursuits  fitted  them  for  a  reciprocity  of  benefit,  if  united,  which 
he  did  not  apprehend  they  could  enjoy  if  separated.  Distinguished  as 
a  champion  of  liberty,  he  was  its  champion  whh  the  principles  and 
discrimination  of  a  wise  man:  he  loved  freedom  secured  by  order, 

*  In  the  original  impression,  I  had  written  that  gener.1l  Washington  roas  fur 
from  approving  of  an  entire  dissolution  of  the  connexion.  That  opinion  I  founded 
partly  on  the  general  wisdom  and  moderation  of  tliat  ilhistrious  American,  and  tlic 
enmity  which  his  conduct  uniformly  exhibited  to  democratic  violence  ;  and  partly 
on  a  letter  for  many  years  imputed  to  him,  and  inserted  in  a  publication,  which, 
till  very  lately,  passed  for  genuine.  I'he  work  in  question  is  entitled,  "  Epistles, 
Domestic,  Confidential,  and  Official,  from  general  Washington;"  and  was  long 
current,  as  its  contents  were  probable,  and  its  averments  remained  uncontradicted. 
The  letter  from  whicli  I  made  the  citation  inserted  in  a  note,  pages  469  and  470, 
of  vol.  i.  had  been,  with  five  others,  denied  by  general  Washington,  in  an  Ameri- 
can gazette,  to  be  genuine,  a  sliort  time  before  Ills  death.  Tiiis  disavowal  I  did  not 
hear  of,  till  several  months  after  the  publication  of  the  work^  when  Mr.  Bleecker, 
of  New-York,  wrote  me,  that  the  epistles  in  question  were  spurious,  and  referred 
me  to  the  gazette  in  which  they  were  disavowed  by  general  Washington.  Kar 
from  wishing  to  impute  any  expression  to  any  character  in  my  history  which  he  did 
not  use,  I  am  desirous  of  correcting  the  error  respecting  that  fact ;  and  for  iliat 
purpose  have  directed  the  quotation  from  the  alleged  letter  to  Mr,  t.iind  Wash- 
ington to  be  cancelled,  and  llic  present  explanation  substituted  in  its  place. 

My  general  opinion,  however,  that  Washington,  so  eminent  for  wisdom  and  mo- 
deration, was  an  enemy  to  democratic  violence,  not  resting  on  one  letter,  but  on 
the  whole  tenour  of  his  conduct,  continues  the  same. 


396  lIISTOliY  OF  THE  Ciuv.  XVII.— 1776. 

[The  declaration  naturally  resulling  from  tlie  measures  of  the  British  government.] 

and  was  a  profound  admirer  of  the  British  constitution  :  he  did  not 
therefore  favour  the  democratical  principles  which,  first  spread  by  the 
New-Englandcrs,  had  extended  throuijh  the  colonies;  lie  foresaw 
that  the  constitution  resultinp^  from  independence  would  be  repub- 
lican, and  niisjht  from  the  influence  of  democratic  zealots  be  incon- 
sistent with  tranquillity  and  order.  He  therefore  did  not  enter  into 
the  violence  which  was  manifested  by  many  abettors  of  independence. 
Engaged,  however,  in  coiulucting  military  affairs,  he  did  not  deem 
himself  necessitated  publicly  to  declare  every  opinion  which  he 
might  form  upon  the  civil  and  political  proceedings  of  his  country- 
men;  and  without  agreeing  with  every  demagogue  that  could  agitate 
and  inllamc  the  populace,  he  continued  to  support  his  country  in  de- 
fending what  he  thought  her  liberty  :  some  of  her  counsels  and  reso- 
lutions might  not  meet  his  approbation,  but  was  he  therefore  to  de- 
sert her  in  war  and  danger  ?  As  a  patriot,  he  employed  his  talents  not 
only  in  endeavouring  to  extricate  her  from  danger  and  difTiculty,  but 
in  sacrificing  his  own  particular  sentiments  for  the  sake  of  unanimity 
and  the  general  welfare. 

Writers  favourable  to  the  coercion  of  America  affirm,  that  indepen- 
dence was  long  before  that  period  the  aim  of  their  leaders ;  but  being 
able  to  adduce  no  testimony  or  documents  in  support  of  their  assertion, 
rest  its  weight  on  probable  inferences  from  their  conduct.  "  Hence, 
(says  a  late  historian,)*  their  complaints  of  grievances  were  clamorous, 
frequent,  and  specific,  while  their  professions  of  attachment  and  loyalty 
were  merely  general,  and  attended  with  no  precise  offers  of  conciliation 
or  satisfaction."  The  American  statement  of  grievances,  in  their  peti- 
tions to  the  Iving,  and  other  representations,  were  no  doubt  specific ;  if 
they  had  been  vague,  they  would  have  been  nugatory.  Their  professions 
of  loyalty  and  attachment  were  attended  with  no  precise  offers  of  con- 
ciliation or  satisfaction,  because  in  their  view  they,  were  suffering  un- 
constitutional injury,  and  prayed  for  constitutional  redress:  they  were 
reclaiming  a  right,  and  not  making  proposals  for  a  bargain.  They  did 
not  conceive  tiiemselves  to  have  committed  injustice  against  the  British 
government,  aud  therefore  made  no  offers  of  satisfaction,  either  precise 
or  general.  Their  propositions  of  conciliation  were  simple  :  they  appre- 
hended that  the  new  system  of  legislature  was  a  violation  of  their  privi- 
leges as  British  subjects,  and  declared  that  they  would  return  to  amity 
when,  by  the  discontinuance  of  the  present  measures,  their  constitutional 
blessings  should  be  restored.  How  entreaties  or  even  requisitions  that 
their  connexion  with  the  mother  country  should  be  replaced  on  the  former 
footing,  demonstrate  an  intention  of  entirely  dissolving  the  tie,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  discover.  A  farther  argtmient  to  evince  the  American  desire  of 
independence  is,  that  their  demand  of  redress  in  the  repeal  of  all  the  acts 
since  1763,  must  be  insincere,  for  it  could  not  be  expected  to  be  success- 
ful. "  No  party  in  Britain  could  attempt  conciliation  on  such  grounds  : 
became,  thereby  they  must  have  abandoned  some  principle  :"  the  amount 
of  which  reasoning  is,  that  if  a  statesman  or  lawgiver  has  proposed  or 
adopted  any  measure  or  regulation,  he  must  adhere  to  his  resolution, 
that  he  may  preserve  his  consistency ;  a  doctrine  which,  in  such  fallible 
beings  a.s  men,  might  often  contravene  the  plainest  dictates  of  justice 
and  wisdom.     In  the  colonial  range  of  complaint,  therefore,  I  can  per- 

•  Adolphus,  vol.  ii.  p.  171. 


1776.— Cnip.  XVII.  "  »EIGN  OF  GF.OUGE  III.  397 

[Objects  and  reasons  of  the  expedition  to  New-York.] 

ceive  no  proofs  of  determined  separation.  From  the  series  of  acts  which 
the  narrative  has  presented,  it  appears  that  the  New-Englanders,  since 
the  commencement  of  the  disputes,  manifested  dispositions  to  repubU- 
canism,  from  which  v/c  might  fairly  infer  a  desire,  and  even  a  design  of 
eventual  separation  ;  but  that  the  middle  and  southern  colonies  were  the 
votaries  of  loyal  and  constitutional  connexion  and  subordination ;  that 
their  co-operation  with  the  colonists  of  the  north,  was  the  immediate 
effect  of  the  system  of  1774 ;  that  their  subsequent  resistance  arose 
from  refused  redress,  and  attempted  coercion  ;  and  their  consent  to  the 
scheme  of  independence,  from  the  total  rejection  of  all  their  api)lica- 
tions,  combined  with  elation  for  the  successes  of  the  former  campaign. 
The  independence  of  America,  therefore,  whether  wise  or  unwise,  evi- 
dently proceeded  from  no  preconcerted  design,  but  was  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  measures  that  were  pursued  by  the  mother  country,  and 
the  progress  of  human  passions,  when  they  refuse  the  admonitions  of 
reason  and  wisdom  ;  from  disputes  to  quarrels,  repeated  with  increasing 
asperity,  until  they  terminated  in  a  final  rupture. 

The  main  object  of  military  operations  was  New-York  ;  and  for  making 
this  part  of  America  the  chief  seat  of  war,  there  were  various  reasons. 
The  province  of  New-York,  running  north-west  joins  with  Canada,  that 
runs  south-west,  and  both  together  enclose  New-England,  and  divide  it 
from  the  southern  colonies.  By  possessing  New- York  and  the  southern 
part  of  the  province,  while  the  Canadian  army  invaded  it  on  the  north, 
a  communication,  it  was  conceived,  might  be  established  between  the 
secondary  and  primary  army ;  both  could  co-operate  vigorously,  easily 
reduce  New-England,  afterwards  act  in  concert  against  the  more  south- 
ern colonies,  and  procure  the  assistance  of  the  back  settlers,  many  of 
whom  were  well  disposed  to  the  mother  country.  New-York  was  a  cen- 
trical position,  from  which  operations  might  be  directed  either  to  the  one 
side  or  the  other,  as  occasion  miglit  serve,  or  circumstances  require,  so 
that  this  position  enabled  the  British  commander  to  prescribe  the  scene 
of  action,  and  to  quit  it  Avhen  he  chose ;  and  if  the  army  were  with- 
drawn from  the  field,  the  great  north  river,  and  the  different  channels 
between  the  islands  and  the  main  land,  would  enable  him  by  his  ships 
and  detachments,  to  harass  the  adjoining  countries  ;  while  the  provincials, 
however  powerful,  could  make  no  attempt  upon  the  islands  that  would 
not  be  attended  with  greater  inconveniences,  and  liable  to  imminent  dan- 
ger. Besides  these  advantages,  Long  Island  was  very  fertile  in  wheat 
and  all  other  corns,  abounded  with  herbs  and  flocks,  and  was  deemed 
almost  equal  alone  to  the  maintenance  of  an  army.  In  the  province, 
especially  in  the  upper  part  towards  Albany,  there  were  reported  to  be 
many  loyalists,  who  would  flock  to  the  British  standard  as  soon  as  they 
could  manifest  their  sentiments  safely.  New- York,  from  these  circum- 
stances, was  an  object  of  high  importance,  and  its  attainment  was  cot 
reckoned  difficult:  much  the  better  part  of  the  province  is  enclosed  in 
islands,  which  being  long  and  narrow,  were  exposed  on  all  sides  to  at- 
tacks from  our  fleets,  and  to  the  descents  of  our  troops  ;  and  whci  con- 
quered, the  protection  of  the  ships  of  war  would  be  as  effectual  in  their 
preservation,  as  their  hostility  had  been  in  their  reduction.  Tlvise  were 
the  reasons  on  which  the  military  plan  was  founded,  and  wljatever  the 
sentiments  of  the  reader  may  be  respecting  the  wisdom  of  thp  statesmar* 
who  proposed,  and  the  lawgivers  who  adopted  the  measures  which  pro- 


398  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVH.— 1776. 

[Arrival  of  the  British  armament.    Description  of  New- York.] 

duced  enmities  between  America  and  the  mother  country,  he  will  proba- 
bly without  hesitation  admit,  that  the  plan  of  military  operation  was  not 
discreditable  to  the  talents  of  its  author  as  a  war  minister.  But  the  his- 
tory now  proceeds  to  narrate  its  execution. 

General  Howe  was  obliged  to  remain  at  Halifax  for  two  months,  to 
receive  re-cnforccments  which  he  expected  from  England,  with  a  fleet 
commanded  by  his  brother,  lord  Howe ;  the  armament  from  England 
much  exceeded  the  time  that  had  been  planned  for  its  departure  from 
lionie.  The  general,  therefore,  resolved  to  wait  no  longer  at  Halifax, 
but  to  proceed  southwards,  that  there  might  be  no  delay  after  lord  Howe 
should  reach  America.  Leaving  Halifax  on  the  11th  June,  in  tlie  end 
of  the  month  he  arrived  in  Saridy  Hook  near  New-York.  During  his 
passage,  he  was  joined  by  six  transports  full  of  Highland  troops,  belong- 
ing to  the  forty-second  and  seventy-first  regiments  ;  from  them  he  learned 
that  colonel  (Campbell  with  a  detachment  was  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  armament :  he  afterwards  found,  that  going  into  Boston,  where  they 
expected  to  have  joined  the  British  army,  they  were  taken  prisoners  by 
the  provincials. 

The  town  of  Now-York  is  situated  in  an  island  running  from  north  to 
soutliL,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  river,  at  the  southern  extremity, 
separated  from  New-York  island  by  a  narrow  channel ;  on  the  east,  is 
Long  Island ;  directly  south,  in  sight,  but  at  a  greater  distance,  is  Staten 
Island ;  beyond  which,  and  in  the  same  direction,  lies  Sandy  Hook. 
The  Americans  having  been  informed  of  the  destination  of  the  British 
armament,  had  been  at  great  pains  to  fortify  New-York  town  and  island, 
and  to  make  tlie  access  as  difficult  as  possible,  by  sinking  ships  in  the 
most  approachable  part  of  the  channel ;  they  were  also  provided  with  a 
numerous  artillery,  and  guarded  by  a  strong  body  of  troops.  On  the 
northern  extremity  of  New-York  island,  it  communicated  with  the  conti- 
nent by  a  bridge,  called  Kingsbridge.  liong  Island,  from  its  extent,  was 
not  so  strongly  fortified,  yet  was  well  guarded,  had  an  encampment  on 
the  side  next  New-York,  and  also  works  on  the  most  accessible  parts  of 
tiie  coast.  Staten  Island  being  less  valuable,  was  not  guarded  with  equal 
strength  and  vigilance  :  thitlicr,  therefore,  he  proceeded,  and  landed  with- 
out opposition  :  he  met  with  Mr.  Tryon,  lute  governor  of  New- York,  and 
other  loyalists,  who  informed  him  of  the  disposition  of  the  province,  and 
strength  of  the  enemy.  From  the  accounts  which  he  received  of  the 
provincial  force,  he  found  that  it  would  be  impracticable  to  commence 
iiostilities  until  the  armament  from  England  should  arrive.  It  was  the 
11th  of  July  before  lord  Howe  reached  Staten  Island:  the  troops  that 
■were  conveyed  in  the  fleet  consisted  of  twenty  regiments  of  foot,  and  a 
regiment  of  light  dragoons,  and  also  the  Hessian  auxiliaries :  so  re- 
enforced,  the  Bnti-ih  army  amoimted  to  near  thirty  thousand  men.  The 
commanders  possessed  high  characters,  and  had  distinguished  themselve."? 
in  .subordinate  stations  of  trust  and  importance  in  the  former  war.  The 
naval  officer  had,  in  the  year  1758,  on  the  coast  of  France,  laid  the 
fouufjition  of  a  fame  wiiicli  was  increased  during  subsequent  services: 
ihe  mi'itary  gentleman  was  the  distinguished  favourite  of  general  Wolfe, 
led  the  'aody  which  first  seized  the  heights  of  Abraham,*  and  afterwards 
supported  and  advanced  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held.     It  was 

*  See  this  volume,  p.  102. 


1776.— Chap.  XVII.  HKIGN  OF  GEOUGE  UI.  399 

[Pacific  overtiirts  of  the  British  commanders  rejected.} 

true,  ho  never  had  an  opportunity  of  sifjnalizing  himself  as  a  general,  ex- 
cept at  Bunker's  hill ;  and  having  acted  there  under  the  command  of  an- 
other, he  merely  proved,  as  before,  that  he  was  an  active  and  intrepid 
soldier :  but  from  his  conduct  in  secondary  situations,  he  was  very  na- 
turally allowed  credit  for  abilities  which  could  fill  up  the  first  with  equal 
propriety.  From  their  near  relation,  no  doubt  was  entertained  that  there 
would  ,be  the  utmost  harmony  between  the  general  and  admiral ;  and  the 
appointment  of  lord  Howe  and  sir  William  to  the  chief  command  of  the 
naval  and  military  operations,  aftbrded  general  satisfaction  in  England, 
and  the  most  sanguine  expectations  were  entertained  of  their  success. 
It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  their  hopes  were  not  without  apparently- 
probable  grounds.  The  American  army  did  not  exceed  twenty  thou- 
sand,* raw  and  undisciplined,|  to  oppose  thirty  thousand  veterans.  These 
were  unprovided  with  the  various  accommodations  and  even  necessaries 
of  a  inilitary  life,  whereas  the  British  forces  were  abundantly  supplied 
with  every  article  that  could  be  useful  in  warfare. 

Besides  their  military  powers,  the  general  and  admiral  were  appointed, 
under  the  late  act  of  parliament,  the  commissioners  for  restoring  peace 
to  the  colonies,  and  for  grantmg  pardon  to  such  as  should  deserve  the 
royal  mercy.  Before  they  commenced  hostile  operations,  they  tried  pa- 
cific proposals  ;  and  their  first  act  was  a  circular  letter  from  lord  Howe 
to  the  late  governors  of  the  several  provinces,  acquainting  them  with  the 
power  which  was  intrusted  to  his  brother,  and  accompanied  with  a  decla- 
ration to  the  public  to  a  similar  effect.  His  lordship,  at  tlie  same  time, 
sent  a  letter  to  the  American  general,  addressed  to  George  Washington, 
esq.  which  that  commander  refused  to  receive,  as  it  did  not  describe  the 
rank  that  he  held  under  the  United  States. |  On  the  20th  of  August, 
general  Howe  sent  his  adjutant  general,  Patterson,  with  a  letter  addressed 
to  George  Washington,  &c.  &c,  &c.  The  general  received  them  with 
great  politeness,  but  absolutely  declined  to  accept  an  official  letter  with- 
out an  address  naming  his  office.  A  conference,  however,  ensued,  in 
which  nothing  effectual  was  done^  General  Washington  said,  the  power 
of  the  commissioners  appeared  to  be  no  more  than  to  grant  pardons : 
they  were  only  defending  what  they  deemed  their  indisputable  right,  had 
committed  no  fault,  and  therefore  wanted  no  pardon.  Dr.  Franklin  had 
for  many  years  resided  in  Englijnd  as  agent  for  the  colonies  of  Massa- 
•chusetts  and  Pennsylvania;  he  was  lately  returned  to  America,  and  be- 
ing a  member  of  the  congress,  possessed  very  great  influence.  Lord 
Howe  addressed  a  letter  to  him  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Staten  Island  ; 
therein  stated  the  nature  of  his  commission,  expressed  his  hopes  that 
America  would  unite  with  the  British  in  dispositions  for  peace,  and  re- 
quested the  assistance  of  Doctor  Franklin  to  effect  this  purpose.  Frank- 
lin replied,  by  informing  his  lordship,  that  preparatory  to  any  propositions 
of  amity  or  peace,  it  would  be  required  that  Britain  should  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  America,  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  in- 
demnify the  colonies  for  burning  their  towns.     A  correspondence  also 

•  See  Stedman. 

f  See  general  Washington's  letter  to  Mr.  Lund  Washington. 

i  This  conduct  was  highly  applauded  by  the  congress,  which  passed  a  resolu- 
tion, directing,  that  for  the  future  no  commander  in  their  service  should  receive 
any  letters  or  message  from  the  enemy  which  did  not  acknowledge  In  its  address 
their  official  character. 


400  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVH.— 1776. 

[  Military  operations.    Battle  of  L»np-Island.] 

took  place  between  lord  Howe  and  lord  Drummond,  >vhich  the  latter 
cominuiucatcd  to  general  Washington  ;  but  it  was  equally  unavailing,  the 
same  arguments  being  used  on  the  side  of  Britain,  met  with  the  same 
objections  on  the  side  of  America. 

These  overtures  of  Britain  being  unavailing,  and  the  re-enforcements 
being  now  arrived,  the  British  connnanders  opened  the  campaign  on  the 
22d  of  August,  a  very  late  season,  especially  in  a  country  in  which  winter 
sets  in  soon  and  severely ;  but  as  it  evidently  arose  from  the  tardiness 
with  which  troops  arrived  from  Europe,  the  delay  was  not  imputable  to 
the  commanders  in  America.  The  British  forces  began  with  an  attempt 
to  reduce  Long  Island ;  and  a  division  of  four  thousand  men,  crossing 
from  Staten  Island,  under  cover  of  three  frigates  and  two  bomb-ketches, 
landed  there  without  resistance  in  Gravesend  Bay,  adjoining  the  strait 
that  separates  the  two  islands.  The  detachment  having  eifected  its  pur- 
pose, the  rest  of  the  army  without  difficulty  effected  their  landing.  The 
Americans  were  posted  near  Red-Hook,  almost  opposite  to  New- York, 
commanded  by  general  Putnam.  The  road  from  Gravesend  to  Red- 
Hook  lay  across  Flatbush,  a  woody  tract  of  land,  behind  which  a  ridge 
of  hills  arise.  General  Putnam  had  sent  a  great  body  of  troops  to  seize 
the  defiles  which  led  through  those  eminences.  Lord  Cornwallis  ad- 
vanced towards  the  pass,  but  finding  it  already  seized  by  the  enemy,  in 
conformity  to  orders  which  he  had  received,  he  refrained  from  an  attack. 
Major-general  Grant  commanded  the  left  wing  that  extended  to  the  coast. 
The  Hessians.under  general  de  Heister  composing  the  centre,  advanced 
to  Flatbush,  while  the  commander  in  chief,  with  the  greater  part  of  the 
British  forces,  marched  to  the  right  over  Flatland.  General  Clinton  and 
.sir  William  Erskino  having  reconnoitred  the  position  of  the  enemy,  and 
finding  also  that  their  attention  was  chietly  directed  towards  the  Hes- 
sians, reported  to  general  Howe,  that  they  thouglit  it  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  turn  the  left  flank  of  the  provincials,  and  thereby  force  them  either 
to  hazard  a  battle,  or  abandon  the  hills.  Thinking  the  proposal  practi- 
cable, the  general  consented.  It  was  concerted,  that  to  favour  the  de- 
sign of  the  right  wing,  the  attack  should  be  begun  by  general  Grant  and 
the  Hessians  on  the  left  and  centre.  Farther  to  draw  off  the  attention 
of  the  enemy  from  the  principal  movement,  the  king's  ships  stationed  to 
the  riiiht  of  them  moved  towards  the  town,  so  as  to  make  them  conceive 
New- York  to  be  the  immediate  object.  » 

On  the  2Cth  of  August,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  general  Clinton, 
lord  Cornwallis,  and  lord  Percy,  advanced  with  part  of  the  troops,  and 
general  Howe  himself  brought  forward  the  rest  of  that  division.  At  nine 
in  the  morning,  the  British  passed  the  heights ;  general  Clinton  turned 
the  left  of  the  enemy,  and  crossed  to  Bedford,  while  Grant  and  De 
Heistor  attacked  the  right  and  the  centre.  On  the  side  of  Flatbush,  the 
Americana  made  a  vigorous  resistance  ;  but  their  left  wing,  finding  itself 
attacked  both  on  flank  and  rear,  was  thrown  into  confusion,  and  fled  in 
all  directions.  The  centre  and  right  of  the  provincials,  hearing  of  this 
total  rout  of  the  left,  suddenly  retreated  in  disorder  ;  about  two  thousand 
of  the  enemy  were  killed,  and  one  thousand  taken  prisoners.  Among 
the  captured  were,  generab^  Sullivan,  Udell,  and  lord  Stirling:  about 
three  hundred  British  were  killed  and  wounded.  Of  the  slain  were, 
leulenant-colonel  Grant  and  sir  Alexander  Murray,  both  officers  of  great 


1776.— Chap.  XVH.  UEIGN  OF  GKORGE  III.  4qj 

[Masterly  retreat  of  Washington.] 

merit ;  the  latter  a  young  Scottish  baronet*  of  indfipendont  fortune,  who 
leaving  the  comforts  of  ease  and  atlhionce  for  iiardship  and  danger,  earned 
a  premature,  but  glorious  death  in  the  service  of  iiis  king  and  country. 
General  Washington  had  been  at  New-York  when  the  engagement  be- 
gan ;  hearing  that  a  battle  had  commenced,  he  hastened  over  to  the  as- 
sistance of  his  countrymen  ;  but  when  he  arrived,  he  found  his  troops 
involved  in  ditficulties  by  the  stratagem  of  tlic  enemy.  On  seeing  their 
situation,  he  did  not  doubt  but  they  would  be  entirely  destroyed,  as 
he  conceived  general  Howe  would  certainly  attack,  and  as  certainly 
force,  the  American  lines.  Many  of  the  Jiritish  officers  and  soldiers 
were  of  the  same  opinion.  Confident,  however,  that  they  must  be  re- 
duced by  regular  approaches,  without  risking  the  loss  that  might  be  sus- 
tained by  an  assault,  the  general  declined  the  attempt.  On  the  evening 
of  the  27tli,  the  British  army  opened  the  intrenchments  before  the  Ame- 
rican lines  :  the  provincials  finding  it  impossible  to  maintain  their  post 
in  Long  Island,  on  the  29th  evacuated  their  encampment,  and  general 
Washington  executed  the  retreat  with  great  ability  ;  his  troops  were  with- 
drawn from  the  camp  and  the  different  works,  and  with  the  baggage, 
stores,  and  part  of  the  artillery,  .were  conveyed  to  the  water  side,  they 
embarked,  and  passed  over  a  long  ferry  to  New-York  with  such  won- 
derful silence  and  order,  that  the  British  army  did  not  perceive  the  least 
motion,  and  were  surprised  in  the  morning  at  finding  the  lines  abandoned, 
and  seeing  the  last  of  the  rear  guard  in  their  boats  and  out  of  danger. 
To  do  full  justice  to  this  masterly  retreat,  it  must  be  considered  that  they 
had  been  driven  to  the  corner  of  an  island  where  they  were  enclosed  in 
a  space  of  two  square  miles,  with  near  twenty  thousand  well  disciphned 
troops  in  front ;  and  in  the  rear,  an  arm  of  the  sea  a  mile  wide,  which 
could  not  be  crossed  but  in  several  embarkations.  Notwithstanding 
these  obstacles,  the  provincials  did  not  lose  a  single  man,  and  carried  off 
the  greater  part  of  their  provisions,  ammunition,  and  artillery.  Military 
critics  were  of  o[)inion,  that  sir  William  Howe  might  have  forced  their 
lines  on  the  day  of  the  battle  ;  and,  since  he  chose  the  more  gradual  ope- 
ration of  a  siege,  and  must  have  known  that  from  their  reduced  force  it 
was  their  interest  to  withdraw,  he  might  have  divined  it  to  be  their  'wish  ; 
therefore,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  he  Vi'ould  have  been  so  vigilant  as 
to  render  their  retreat  impracticable  ;  and  such  a  prevention  would  have 
been  by  no  means  difficult,  because  the  sea  between  Red  Hook  and 
New-York  is  deep  enough  for  a  seventy-four  gun-ship  to  anchor,  and  he 
might  have  easily  stationed  frigates  which  would  have  commanded  the 
passage,  and  prevented  their  escape. t  The  boats  which  had  brought 
them  from  New-York  to  Long  Island,  had  laid  on  the  Long  Island  shore 
three  days  after  their  defeat,  in  readiness  to  carry  them  over  to  New- 
\  ork.  These,  it  is  affirmed,  might  have  been  easily  destroyed  by  the 
British  ;  but  they  did  not  experience  the  smallest  annoyance. 

Possessed  of  Long  Island,  the  English  army  had  the  command  of 
New- York,  and  made  preparations  for  a  descent  upon  the  island  :  two 
brigades  of  Hessians,  and  one  British  being  left  at  Bedford,  the  rest  of 
the  army  was  posted  at  Newtown,  Hellgate,  Bushwick,  and  Flushing. 
On  the  west  side  of  Long  Island,  opposite  to*Horan's  Hook,  where  the 
enemy  had  thrown  up  strong  works,  two  batteries  were  erected.;];     This 

*  Representative  of  tiie  fannily  of  Bahnano  in  Perthshire, 
t  See  Stedman.  ^  Stedman,  vol.  i.  p.  199. 

Vol.  VIL— 51 


402  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVII.— 1776. 

[Conciliatory  propositions.    Proclamntion  of  lord  ITowc] 

work  commanded  TTellgatn,  a  passage  between  the  islnnds  of  Buchanan, 
Montresor,  and  the  Two  lirothers,  into  the  sound  which  separates  Long 
Iskiiid  from  New-York  and  the  Connecticut  shore.  The  Enghsh  bat- 
teries, in  a  short  time,  not  only  silenced  the  fire  of  the  enemy  from  the 
work,  but  broke  it  up  entirely,  and  rendered  it  utterly  indefensible. 

While  these  preparation  were  going  on,  the  British  commanders  again 
made  overtures  for  peace.     General  Sullivan  was  dismissed  on  his  pa- 
role, and  despatched  to  Philadelphia,  to  submit  to  the  congress  some 
propositions,  whereby  lord  Howe  expressed  a  wish  to  confer  with  several 
moderate  members,  not  as  deputies  from  an  independent  state,  but  pri- 
vate gentlemen  of  influence  in  the  colonies,  that  in  these  conferences 
they  might  adjust  preliminaries  for  an  accommodation  of  differences  :  he 
strongly  insisted,  that  this  was  a  favourable  crisis,  as  neither  party  were 
reduced  to  a  state  of  humiliation,  so  as  to  preclude  discussion  and  mo- 
dification of  terms.    The  congress  replied,  that  they  could  not  send  their 
members  to  confer  with  him  as  private  gentlemen,  but  they  would  depute 
a  committee  to  learn  whether  his  lordship  was  authorized  to  treat  with 
persons  appointed  by  congress  :   if  that  were  the  case,  the  committee 
would  receive  such  ])roposals ;  and  accordingly  doctor  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, Messrs.  John  Adams,  and   Edward  Rutledge,  were  the  committee 
appointed  to  confer  with  lord  Howe  on  this  subject.     Howe  still  ad- 
hered to  the  contents  of  the  message  which  he  sent  by  general  Sullivan  : 
the  committee  informed  him  that  they  could  not,  nor  should  not,  act  but 
as  deputies  from  the  congress ;  nevertheless  they  were  desirous  of  hear- 
ing what  proposals  he  had  to  make.     His  lordship  told  them,  that  the 
king  and  government  of  Great  Britain  anxiously  wished  to  finish  the  dis- 
sensions between  Britain  and  the  colonies.     To  accomplish  this  desira- 
ble end,  the  obnoxious  acts  should  be  revised,  and  every  just  cause  of 
complaint  removed,  if  America  would  declare  her  willingness  to  submit 
to  the  authority  of  Britain.     The  committee  replied,  that  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  British  superiority  could  not  now  be  expected  :  petitions,  his 
lordship  must  remember,  bad  been  presented  by  the  colonies  to  the  king 
and  parliament,  but  had   been  disregarded  and  despised  ;  America  had 
not  separated  herself  from  Britain,  but  Britain  from  America.     The  co- 
lonies had  not  declared  themselves  independent,   till  the  parent  country 
had  declared  war  :   the  subjects  had  not  renounced  allegiance,  until  the 
sovereign  had  withdrawn  protection  :  even  were  the  congress  willing  to 
replace  America  in  the  situation  which  she  held  in  1763,  that  body  was 
not  competent  to  execute  such  intentions  :  independence  was  declared  in 
consequence  of  the  collective  voice  of  the  people,  by  whom  alone  it  could 
be  annulled :   but  though  the  Americans  did  not  desire  to  return  under 
the  dominion  of  England,  they  were  willing  to  enter  into  any  treaty  m  hich 
might  be  advantageous  to  both.     From  this  answer,  lord  Howe,  seeing 
that  America  was  determined  to  persist  in  independence,   put  an  end  to 
the  conference.     He  soon  after  published  a  declaration  to  the  people  of 
America,  in  which  he  offered  pardon  and  protection  to  all  who  should 
return  to  their  former  submission  and  obedience  ;  and  acquainted  them, 
that  it  was  his  majesty's  iiUcfVition  to  consent  to  tiie  revisal  of  such  acts 
as  might  aggrieve  his  subjects.     The  proclamation,  however,  prodtic«;d 
very  little  efl^ect ;  the  concession  was  too  late,  and  the  sword  only  could 
decide  the  contest. 

The  two  armies  were  divided  by  the  East  fiver,  ubuut  thirteen  hundred 


1776.— Chap.  XVll.  RPIIGN  OF  GUORGE  III.  403 

[CapUire  of  New-York.    Movements  of  Wasliingtoii] 

yards  in  breadth  ;  and,  after  a  long  and  .severe  cannonade,  it  was  resolved, 
that  the  first  division  of  the  army  should,  on  the  15th  of  September, 
enter  tlie  island  of  New- York.  Accordingly,  commanded  by  general 
Clinton,  lord  Cornwallis,  major-general  Vaughan,  brigadier-general  Les- 
lie, and  the  Hessian  colonel  Donop,  they  embarked  at  the  head  of  New- 
town-bay,  which  deeply  indents  Long  Lsland,  and  where  they  were  out 
of  sicrht  of  the  enemy.  Being  covered  by  five  ships  of  war,  on  their  en- 
trance into  the  river  they  proceeded  to  Kipp's  Bay,  about  three  miles 
north  of  New-York ;  where,  being  less  expected  than  in  some  other 
places,  the  preparation  for  defence  was  not  so  great :  the  works,  how- 
ever, were  neither  feeble  nor  destitute  of  troops,  but  the  fiie  from  the 
ships  was  so  incessant  and  so  well  conducted,  that  they  were  soon  aban- 
doned, and  the  army  landed  without  opposition.  The  enemy  uiimediately 
abandoned  the  city  of  New-York,  and  all  their  posts  on  the  south  part  of 
the  island,  and  retired  towards  the  north,  where  their  strength  chiefly  lay. 
The  Americans  had  resolved,  if  the  Engli-sh  obtained  possession  of  New- 
York,  previous  to  the  evacuation  to  set  it  on  fire ;  but  they  were  obliged 
to  leave  it  too  quickly  to  carry  their  designs  into  execution.  Some  in- 
cendiaries, however,  secreted  themselves  in  deserted  houses,  and  con- 
trived to  set  fire  to  the  town  in  several  places.  On  the  morning  of  the 
21st  of  September,  about  a  third  part  of  the  town  was  destroyed ;  and  it 
Avas  owning  to  the  extraordinary  exertion  of  the  soldiers,  that  the  wliole 
was  not  consumed. 

The  general  had  fortified  Kingsbridge,  in  order  to  secure  a  retreat ; 
and  the  works  on  both  sides  of  the  passage  were  so  strong,  that  they  ap- 
peared to  defy  all  attempts  on  either.  At  Kingsbridge,  ten  thousand  of 
the  Americans  were  posted,  and  six  thousand  five  hundred  at  Haerlem, 
near  New-York.  The  whole  force  was  so  advantageously  disposed,  as 
to  render  an  attack  dangerous  from  New-York.  General  Howe,  finding 
he  could  make  no  impression  on  them  in  that  quarter,  resolved  to  attack 
them  from  another :  he  proposed  to  move  a  great  part  of  his  army  to  the 
continent  behind  Kingsbridge,  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  on  the  side 
whence  they  derived  their  provision  ;  but  to  retain  possession  of  New- 
York  by  a  strong  garrison,  protected  in  front  by  a  chain  of  redoubts,  and 
in  the  rear  and  on  both  the  sides  by  the  fleet.  This  manosuvre  would 
compel  the  provincials  either  to  hazard  a  battle,  or  be  confined  in  New- 
York  island,  cut  oflfby  the  army  or  fleet  from  every  supply  of  provisions, 
the  ships  guarding  the  passage  from  the  Jerseys,  while  the  troops  pos- 
sessed the  country  adjoining  Kingsbridge.  On  the  12th  of  October,  ge- 
neral Howe  embarked  his  troops,  crossed  over  to  the  continent  towards 
Connecticut,  and  landed  on  Frog's  Neck,  near  West  Chester :  here  he 
was  obliged  to  wait  five  days  for  stores  from  Staten  Island  ;  and  on  the 
ISth,  receiving  information  that  Pell's  Point  would  be  a  more  convenient 
place  for  landing,  the  British  re-embarked,  and  came  ashore  at  the  mouth 
of  Hutchinson's  river,  whence  they  advanced  up  the  country.  Extending 
from  East  Chester  to  New-Rochelle,  there  are  two  roads  to  Connecticut, 
the  lower  near  the  sea,  the  upper  through  high  grounds  called  the  ^^  hite 
Plains.  The  lower  route  was,  by  their  last  movement,  in  possession  of 
his  majesty's  troops  ;  and  they  now  prepared  to  seize  the  higher.  Mean- 
while general  AVashington  discovered  that  if  he  remained  in  his  ])rescnt 
position,  he  would  be  obliged  to  hazard  a  general  battle,  which  might  be 
in  its  event  decisively  fatal  to  the  colonics,  as  there  could  be  no  possibi- 


404  nisTouY  OF  the  chap.  xvil— irre, 

[Retreat  of  the  Americans.    Capture  of  Fort  Washington.] 

lity  of  a  retreat.  His  army  wa.s  originally  inferior  in  force  and  discipline 
to  the  royal  host,  and  now  reduced  by  recent  defeat  and  sickness,  it  was 
still  more  dispirited  :  from  the  same  causes,  creat  animosities  prevailed 
between  the  troops  of  the  northern  and  the  soutliern  colonies.  As  victory 
was  little  to  be  e.vpected  in  such  circumstances,  it  was  Washington's  ob- 
ject to  avoid  a  battle  if  possible  ;  but  if  an  engagement  was  inevitable,  to 
change  his  ground,  that  lie  might  have  the  gn-ater  probability  of  securing 
a  retreat.  Leaving  therefore  New-York  island,  he  posted  his  army,  about 
seventeen  thousand  in  numl)cr,  near  Kingsbridge,  and  occupied  the  ground 
from  tlience  to  ^Vhite  Plains,  having  the  river  Brunx  in  front,  and  de- 
tached eight  thousand  men  "to  occupy  the  eastern  bank;  on  tiie  26lii, 
crossing  with  his  whole  army,  he  occupied  a  very  strong  position. 

On  the  28th  of  October,  the  royal  army,  which  consisted  of  thir- 
teen thousand  men,  leaving  its  encampment,  advanced  in  two  co- 
lumns ;  general  Clinton  commanding  the  right,  general  de  Heister  the 
left.  They  found  the  Americans  encamped  on  a  long  ridge  of  hill,  on 
the  brow  of  which  they  had  hastily  constructed  lines.  A  bend  of  the 
Brunx  protected  the  right  flank,  and  another  turning  surrounded  the  rear 
of  the  right  wing.  The  left  wing  was  posted  on  uneven  ground,  steep 
and  rugged  in  front,  but  affording  a  secure  retreat  in  the  rear.  The  most 
accessible  part  was  the  centre,  the  slope  of  the  hill  being  there  gradual, 
the  lines  not  fraised,  and  the  ditches,  from  the  rockiness  of  the  soil  and 
the  shortness  of  the  time,  necessarily  shallow.  A  body  of  provincials 
posted  on  the  other  side  of  the  Brunx,  commanded  a  ford  opposite  to  the 
right  flank.  General  Howe,  inforn)ed  of  the  position  of  this  detachment 
and  judging  that  it  was  stationed  there  to  cover  the  right  flank,  sent  a 
body  of  troops  across  the  river,  with  a  view  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from 
their  rising  ground,  gall  tlie  flank  which  would  bo  thus  left  defenceless, 
and  thereby  facilitate  the  operations  in  front  of  the  camp.  The  troops 
sent  upon  that  service  under  general  Leslie  and  colonel  JJonop,  consist- 
ing both  of  British  and  Hessians,  vied  with  each  other  in  courage  and 
expedition,  passed  tlie  ford  in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  fire,  formed  on  the 
baidi,  inarched  with  alacrity  and  vigour  up  the  hill,  charged  the  enemy 
with  tlieir  bayonets,  and  drove  them  from  their  works.  General  Howe, 
in  the  mean  time,  made  no  attempt  to  attack  the  enemy's  lines,  or  to 
force  their  main  body  to  battle.  During  the  night,  the  provincials  drew 
back  their  encamp^nent,  and  thereby  strengthened  their  entrenchments  ; 
whereupon  the  British  commander  tliought  it  unwise  to  make  a  general 
assault  until  some  fresli  troops  should  arrive  from  York  island.  On  the 
30th,  the  expected  re-enforcement  came,  and  the  general  professed  an 
intention  of  attacking  the  camp  next  morning.  A  heavy  rain  having 
fallen  dining  the  night,  ho  judged  the  ground  too  .slippery  on  so  steep 
a  hill  for  being  attempted,  therefore  that  day  the  assault  was  deferred. 
The  succeeding  night  the  provincials  evacuated  their  camp,  and  retired 
back  into  tlie  country  ;  after  having  in. their  retreat  set  fire  to  all  tlic 
houses  on  AVhite  I'luins,  they  took  possession  of  the  high  ground  to- 
wards North  Castle.  General  Howe,  conceiving  the  enemy  could  not 
be  drawn  to  an  engagement,  judged  it  expedient  to  pursue  them  no  far- 
ther, and  employed  himself  in  reducing  Kingsbridge  and  Fort  Washing- 
ton, that  he  might  be  master  of  the  whole  of  New-York  island.  The 
last  of  these  posts  wa.s  very  important,  as  it  .seemed  an  immediate  in- 
tercourse with  the  Jersey  shore,  and  commanded  the  navigation  of  the 


-f'< 


1776.--CiiAr.  XVII.  HKIGN  Or  GEORGE  III.  405 

[Progress  of  the  British.    Capture  of  general  Lee.] 

North  river.     Sensible  of  tl»e  value  of  this  place,  the  provincials  had 
jjarrisonod  it  with  three  tlionsand  men,  commanded  by  colonel  Magaw. 
On  the  loth  of  November,  the  fort  was  summoned  to  surrender;  hut  the 
commander  answered  that  he  would  defend  it  to  the  last  extremity :  it 
was  therefore  resolved  to  attempt  a  storm.     Next  morninn;  the  royalists 
made  an  assault  in  four  divisions  ;  the  first,  consisting  of  Hessians,  was 
conducted  by  general  Kynphauscn,  on  the  north  side  of  the  three  others, 
being  British  troops  ;  the  second  was  led  by  general  Matthew,  supported 
and  covered  by  lord  Cornwallis  ;  the  third  was  conducted  by  colonel 
Stirling ;  and  the  forty-second  regiment,  the  last,  by  lord  Percy.     The 
Hessians  were  obliged  to  pass  through  a  wood  in  which  the  enemy  were 
very  advantageously  posted  ;  a  hot  engagement  taking  place  in  the  ascent 
of  a  hill,  they  made  their  way  through  the  thicket,  and  climbed  to  the  top 
of  an  eminence.     The  other  divisions  were  equally  active  and  success- 
ful ;  the  royal  Highlanders  particularly  distinguished  themselves  :  before 
they  landed  from  the  continent,  they  were  exposed  to  a  heavy  fire  from 
the  American  batteries  ;   and  these  continued  to  play  upon  them  as  they 
were  ascending  a  steep  hill.     The  heroes  bore  all  with  firmness  and  per- 
severance, gained  the  summit,  and  after  an  obstinate  resistance,  took  one 
hundred  and  seventy  prisoners  :  the  enemy,  unable  to  resist  any  longer, 
surrendered  at  discretion.    By  the  capture  of  Fort  Washington,  and  the 
surrender  of  Kingsbridge  which  followed  soon  after,  the  British  troops 
were  in  possession  not  only  of  New-York  and  the  adjacent  islands,  but 
also  of  an  easy  access  either  to  New-England  or  the  Jerseys.     Thus 
situated,  general  Howe  planned  two  expeditions,  one  under  lord  Corn- 
wallis to   the   Jerseys,   another   under   sir   Henry    Clinton   to    Rhode 
Island.     General   Clinton  and  sir  Peter  Parker  commanded  an  expe- 
dition to   Rhode  Island :    the    provincials    abandoned   it    at   their   ap- 
proach, and  they  took  possession  of  the  province,  which  was  deemed 
a  very  advantageous  acquisition,  since  it  had  been  a  great  rendezvous 
for  privateers,  that  had  captured  a  considerable  number  of  British  slijps. 
On  the  ISth  of  November,  lord  Cornwallis  crossed  over  to  the  Jersey 
shore  with  about  five  thousand  men,  and  landed  eight  miles  above  Fort 
Lee  ;  when  they  had  almost  surprised  the  garrison,  and  made  the  enemies 
prisoners  of  war  ;  but  a  deserter  informing  the  Americans  of  the  approach 
of  the  king's  troops,  they  evacuated  the  fort  with  great  expedition,  leaving 
to  the  British  their  provisions  and  artillery.    His  lordship  now  penetrated 
into  East  and  West  Jersey,  and  took  possession  cf  the  principal  towns 
as  far  as  Brunswick.    The  American  troops  fled  before  him  in  the  greatest 
dismay.     In  this  career  of  success  and  pursuit,  he  was  arrested  by  an 
order  from  the  commander  in  chief,  to  prevent  him  from  advancing  far- 
ther.    From  the  consternation  of  the  provincial  forces  in  the  Jerseys,  it 
was  the  general  opinion  of  military  men,  that  if  lord  Cornwallis  had  been 
permitted  to  proceed,  he  would  have  taken  Philadelphia. 

General  Washington  commanded  the  troops  in  the  Jerseys  and  on  the 
Delaware  ;  Lee  was  intrusted  with  a  body  of  forces  in  the  province  of 
New-York,  and  having  conceived  Washington's  situation  to  be  danger- 
ous, resolved  to  cross  the  North  river,  and  form  a  junction  with  him,  as 
they  marched  westwaads  towards  the  Delaware.  On  the  13th  of  Decem- 
ber he  quitted  his  camp,  in  order  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy;  in  the  course 
of  this  employment,  being  about. three  miles  distant  from  his  army,  he 
stopped  at  a  house  to  breakfast.    General  Howe  had  despatched  colone? 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XyU.—1776. 

[Constitution  of  llie  Americans] 

Ilarcourt  to  obtain  intelligence  concerning  general  Lee's  route  and  mo- 
tions. Having  traced  him  as  he  advanced,  he  determined  still  longer  to 
watch  his  progress.  In  the  course  of  this  service,  he  intercepted  a  coun- 
tryman carrying  a  letter  from  general  Lee,  by  which  he  found  where  he 
was  ;  learning  also  that  he  was  slightly  guarded,  he  projected  to  carry 
liim  otr,  and  galloping  with  his  party  to  the  place  where  Lee  had  halted, 
took  etftjctual  means  to  prevent  his  escape,  lorced  open  the  doors,  made 
})im  a  prisoner,  and  conveyed  him  to  the  commander-in-chief  at  New- 
York.  The  Americans  severely  felt  the  loss  of  this  general,  who  pos- 
sessed great  abilities  and  very  extensive  knowledge  ;  he  had  formerly 
been  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  British  service,  had  served  with  reputa- 
tion in  the  seven  years  war  both  in  America  and  Portugal,  and  was  highly 
esteemed  for  his  military  conduct.  A  restless  disposition,  and  a  fortune 
which  enabled  him  to  gratify  his  inclinations,  had  induced  him  after  the 
peace  to  travel  ;  he  traversed  most  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  visited 
the  various  courts,  and  was  well  acquainted  with  the  respective  govern- 
ments, customs,  manners,  and  langtiages  of  the  several  nations.  Being 
disgusted  by  some  persons  in  the  British  administration,  he,  on  the  first 
disturbances  in  America,  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  offered  his  services  to 
the  congress.  His  proposals  were  received  with  joy,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed major-general.  By  his  talents,  activity,  and  skill,  he  had  been 
eminently  useful  in  disciplining  the  American  troops,  and  greatly  contri- 
buted to  support  the  provincial  cause.  This  able  man  was  by  no  means 
without  his  defects  ;  he  disbelieved  and  ridiculed  revealed  and  even  na- 
tural religion,  was  loose  in  his  moral  principles,  and  profligate  in  his  cha- 
racter :  his  very  efforts  in  the  service  of  the  colonies  arose  from  unwor- 
thy motives  ;  because  he  conceived  some  ground  of  displeasure  against 
persons  employed  imdcr  the  JJritish  government,  he  made  war  against 
iiis  king  and  native  country.  There  being  no  l^ritish  officer  of  equal  rank- 
a  prisoner  with  the  Americans,  general  Washington  offered  six  field  of- 
ficers in  exchange  for  Lee  :  but  general  Howe  answered,  that  he  was  a 
deserter  from  the  British  service,  and  therefore  could  not  be  considered 
as  a  prisoner  of  war.  Washington  contended,  that  having  resigned  his 
commission  before  he  accepted  of  a  command  in  the  provincial  service, 
the  general  was  not  a  deserter.  Howe  adhered  to  his  resolution,  and 
Avould  not  release  him,  but  kept  him  a  close  prisoner.  This  rigorous  con- 
duct produced  retaliation  on  the  other  side  :  colonel  Campbell,  who  had 
Vjeen  before  treated  as  befitted  his  condition,  was  the  first  who  experien- 
ced disagreeable  effects,  owing  to  the  i5ritish  treatment  of  Lee  ;  he  was 
now  confined  in  a  dungeon,  and  the  other  officers,  though  not  handled 
with  such  severity,  underwent  very  great  hardships. 

The  affairs  of  the  provincials  a[)peaicd  now  to  be  in  a  desperate  situa- 
tion :  by  th(;  orders  of  the  general  to  lord  Cornwallis,  they  had  been  suf- 
fcrcfl  to  cross  the  J>claw;ue  ;  but  no  doubt  was  entertained  that,  as  soon 
as  the  river  was  frozen  over,  not  only  a  detachment,  but  the  whole  army 
under  Howe  himscll',  would  advance  in  pursuit  of  the  discomfited  and  ffy- 
m<i  enemy,  proceed  to  Philadelphia,  and  for  so  important  an  object,  and 
with  fuch  probability  of  complete  success,  brave  all  the  hazards  and  hard- 
ships of  a  winter  campaign.  The  soldiers  wer«  quite  disheartened  ;  the 
panic  c\t(;ndcd  itself  to  the  civil  departments  :  the  governor,  council, 
assembly,  arul  magistracy  of  New-Jersey  deserted  their  province ;  their 
brcthrui  of  Philadelphia  dispersed  ;   and  the  congress  expecting  the 


1776--CHAP:  XVII.  ItEION  OF  GEOUGE  III.  4Q7 

iFirmncss  ofamif^rcss.    Howe  returns  into  winter  quarters.] 

speedy  arrival  oflhc  British  army,  flfitl  to  Maryland.  Three  of  the  prin- 
cipal citizons,  in  the  name  of  the  rest,  declared  their  resolution  to  entreat 
the  protection  of  general  Ilowc.  The  chief  city  of  North  America,  the 
seat  of  the  new  government,  appeared  ready  to  submit,  if  the  British  ar- 
my should  advance.  Alarmed  at  these  dangers,  congress  did  not,  how- 
over,  despair ;  they  proceeded  not  only  to  repair  their  actual  losses,  but 
to  remove  the  causes.  Their  soldiers  had  only  been  enlisted  for  a  year  : 
they  now  ordained  that  they  should  be  levied  for  three  years,  or  during 
the  continuance  of  the  war.  The  army  was  to  consist  of  eighty-eight 
l)attalions,  to  be  furnished  and  maintained  by  the  respective  colonies  in  a 
certain  proportion,  according  to  the  ascertained  ability  of  each.  Liberal 
oflers  were  made  of  bounties  and  of  pay,  as  an  inducement  to  men  to  en- 
list ;  and  an  allotment  of  lands  at  the  end  of  the  war  was  promised  to  all 
wlio  survived,  or  to  the  families  of  those  who  fell.  They  also  published 
an  appeal  to  the  American  people,  to  remind  them  of  their  assurances  of 
protection  and  support ;  they  recapitulated  the  various  grievances  which 
they  had  so  often  stated,  and  the  rejection  of  all  their  applications  for  re- 
dress :  nothing  but  unconditional  submission  would  satisfy  their  enemies  ; 
the  oidy  alternatives  were  resistance  or  slavery — which  of  the'  two  wero 
iVoe-born  men  to  choose?  The  success  of  tlie  British  arms,  they  alleged, 
had  been  greatly  exaggerated,  and  cost  very  dear.  They  assured  them  of 
the  assistance  of  foreign  powers,  and  exhorted  them  to  firm  reliance  and 
resistance  ;  to  prepare  for  a  vigorous  defence  of  their  liberties,  proper- 
ties, and  every  object  which  could  be  dear  to  man.  The  appeal  had  the 
desired  effect,  it  revived  the  spirits  of  the  people,  and  stimulated  the  most 
astonishing  eftorts  to  procure  re-enforcements  for  the  army. 

With  the  zeal  of  the  Americans,  the  wisdom  and  ability  of  their  gene- 
ral most  powerfully  co-operated,  not  without  being  seconded  by  some  un- 
fortunate circumstances  in  the  army  of  Britain.  To  the  surprise  of  both 
friends  and  enemies,  general  Howe  did  not  attempt  to  prosecute  the  suc- 
cess of  his  detachment,  but  retired  into  winter  quarters.  He  so  cantoned 
his  troops  that  they  could  not  easily  be  condensed,  should  a  sudden  oc- 
casion require  them  to  act  in  concert;  bodies  of  Hessians  were  quartered 
at  Trenton  and  Bordentown,  near  the  Delaware,  and  from  knowing  the 
reduced  situation  of  the  enemy,  had  given  way  to  great  laxity  of  disci- 
pline. Without  being  restrained  by  their  officers,  or  by  the  commander- 
in-chief,  they  ravaged,  plundered,  and  in  short  exercised  every  cruelty 
which  could  be  expected  from  mercenary  hirelings,  who  fought  without 
sentiment  or  principle,  merely  as  the  instruments  of  a  petty  tyrant  whose 
ways  and  means  were  the  blood  of  his  subjects.  They  revelled  in  the 
proceeds  of  rapine,  and  gave  way  to  excesses  so  natural  to  men,  who  by 
indigence  are  usually  debarred  iVom  the  comforts  of  life,  when  they  hap- 
pen to  obtain  temporary  abundance.  New-Jersey  became  a  scene  of  rob- 
bery, disorder,  and  licentiousness.  The  Americans,  while  they  dreaded 
the  force,  and  abhorred  the  cruelties  of  Hessians,  contemned  their  slavish 
submission  to  the  most  sordid  despotism.  Washington,  perfectly  in- 
formed of  the  Hessian  laxity,  projected  to  surprise  their  detachments  at 
Trenton,  and  knowing  the  detestation  and  resentment  with  which  his 
coimtrymen  regarded  men  whom  they  considered  as  hirelings,  purchased 
to  butcher  those  who  had  done  them  no  injury,  encouraged  tliem  with  the 
hopes  of  punishing  those  hated  enemies  before  they  should  be  aware  of 
their  danger.   In  order  to  prevent  the  division  at  Bordentown  from  af- 


408  HISTORY  OF  TIIK  Chap.  XVII.— 1776. 

[Surprise  of  the  Hessians  at  Trenton,    Inactivity  of  lord  Howe.] 

fording  any  assistance  to  their  countrymen  at  Trenton,  he  despatched  a 
body  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  niiUtia,  very  hghtly  accoutred  and  armed, 
to  INIount  Holly,  in  sight  of  the  Hessian  post,  with  orders  not  to  fight,  hut 
to  fly  as  soon  as  they  had  provoked  their  enemies  to  advance,  and  draw 
them  to  as  great  a  distance  as  possible.  The  stratagem  was  successful : 
colonel  Donop,  who  commanded  that  cantonment  of  Hessians,  with  the 
whole  of  his  |)arly,  except  eighty  men  left  at  the  quarters,  had  proceeded 
twelve  miles  from  his  own  station,  and  eighteen  from  Trenton.  General 
AVashinfTton  discerned  that  his  ahscnce  was  the  fit  moment  for  enterprise, 
and  embraced  the  o|)portunity.  He  passed  the  Delaware,  already  almost 
frozen  over,  by  forcing  the  boats  through  the  ice,  during  the  night  after 
Christmas  ;  and  by  day-break  on  the  26th,  surrounded  the  Hessian  can- 
tonment. The  Germans  were  thrown  into  the  greatest  astonishment  and 
confusion,  and  before  they  could  be  called  to  arms,  Washington  galled 
them  with  a  heavy  fire,  lllialle,  the  Hessian  commander,  assembled  a 
Considerable  number  of  liis  troops,  and  was  beginning  to  charge  the  ene- 
my with  groat  courage,  when* he  received  a  mortal  wound,  on  which  his 
soldiers  refused  to  continue  the  battle,  and  surrendered  themselves  pri- 
soners of  \\ar.  The  number  of  killed  and  wounded  was  considerable, 
but  the  prisoners  amounted  to  nearly  a  thousand.  This  success  proved 
very  advantageous  to  the  American  cause,  as  it  revived  the  spirits  of  the 
soldiers,  and  co-operated  with  the  address  of  the  congress,  to  encourage 
and  stimulate  the  people.  The  Americans  had  particularly  dreaded  the 
Hessians,  on  account  of  their  known  warlike  discipline  ;  but  from  seeing 
so  many  of  them  taken  prisoners,  their  fears  greatly  decreased.  The  ge- 
neral and  congress,  with  great  judgment,  paraded  the  prisoners  through 
the  streets  of  Philadelphia  and  other  populous  places,  and  thus  promoted 
in  the  people  a  disposition  to  enlist.  Notwithstanding  this  advantage, 
general  U  ashington  did  not  choose  to  encamp  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Delaware  ;  he  had  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  with  such  a  superior  force 
as  he  possessed,  general  Howe  would  re-occupy  the  posts  in  Jersey,  and 
even  cross  the  Delaware.  Instead,  however,  of  attempting  to  regain  the 
position  which  was  thus  lost,  the  general  directed  colonel  Donop  to  aban- 
don his  situation,  and  retire  to  Princeton.  Washington,  encouraged  by 
movements  so  very  different  IVom  what  lie  apprehended,  again  crossed 
the  river,  and  marched  to  Tr'enlon  at  the  head  of  four  thousand  men.  It 
was  now  believed  that  general  Howe  would  have  taken  the  field  immedi- 
ately, but  these  expectations  proved  unfounded.  Instead  of  marching 
with  the  main  army,  he  sent  lord  C'ornwallis  to  take  command  of  the  de- 
tachment in  Jersey,  while  he  himself  remained  quiet  at  New- York.  Lord 
f'ornwallis  no  sooner  arrived,  than  \yg  marched  to  attack  the  enemy  at 
Trenton,  (reneral  Washington's  object  was  to  fatigue,  haras.s,  and  dis- 
tress the  king's  troops,  without  hazarding  a  battle.  On  the  approach  of 
the  British  detachment,  therefore,  he  retired  from  the  town,  posted  him- 
self on  some  hiiih  grounds  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  there  seemed  re- 
solved to  await  the  assault  of  the  enemy.  Lord  Cornwallis  determined 
to  force  the  post  of  the  enemy  ;  but  the  next  morning,  Washington, 
leaving  his  fires  burning,  and  piquets  advanced,  retreated  in  profound 
silence  ;  and  taking  a  circuitous  route,  marched  with  a  design  to  surprise 
a  Firitish  detachment  at  Princeton,  consisting  of  the  seventeenth,  fortieth, 
and  fifty-fifth  regiments,  under  lieutenant-colonel  Mawhood.  This  corps 
was  preparing  to  follow  lord  Cornwallis,  when  Wasliington  made  his  ap- 


1776.— Chap.  XVII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  409 

[Battle  at  I'rinceton.    Operations  on  the  lakes.] 

pearancc  about  sunrise.  Mawhood  immediately  concluded  that  the  Ame- 
rican general  was  retreating  from  lord  Cornwallis,  and  that  by  obstruct- 
ing his  march  he  might  atFord  the  British  troops  from  Trenton  time  to 
arrive.  A  foggy  morning,  and  thick  woods,  prevented  him  from  disco- 
vering the  number  of  the  enemy  :  under  these  mistakes  he  resolved  to 
hazard  an  action ;  the  fortieth  regiment,  which  had  not  been  included  in 
the  orders  to  march,  was  behind  at  Princeton  ;  and  to  that  corps  he  sent 
immediate  orders  to  join  his  party.  Moanwliile  the  battle  began,  and  a 
iieavy  discharge  of  British  artillery  did  considerable  execution  ;  the  se- 
venteenth regiment  rushed  forwards  with  fixed  bayonets,  and  a  dreadful 
slaughter  ensued.  The  fifly-lifth  and  fortieth  were  not  sufficiently  advan- 
ced to  support  their  fellow-soldiers.  vSeveral,  by  their  ardour,  were  severed 
from  the  rest  of  the  detachment ;  the  seventeenth,  notwithstanding  the 
great  superiority  of  numbers,  cut  their  way  tlirough  the  enemy,  and  re- 
treated to  Brunswick  with  a  loss  of  near  one  half  of  their  numher.  The 
exploit  of  the  seventeenth,  ju.st  recorded,  was  considered  as  one  of  the 
most  gallant  achievements  during  the  war.  The  Held  offircrs  being  all 
absent,  captain  Scott,  who  led  the  regiment,  received  just  and  very  high 
applau.se  for  his  conduct ;  the  loss  of  tlie  Americans,  from  the  valour  of 
that  corps,  was  very  considerable.  Lord  Cornwallis,  discovering  the  re- 
treat of  the  enemy,  hastened  to  pursue  them  ;  but  Washington,  though 
he  kept  so  near  the  British  troops  as  to  give  them  full  employment,  did 
not  liazard  an  engagement.  The  troops  of  Cornwallis  being  broken  with 
the  toilsome  warfare,  he  was  obliged  to  retire  to  Brunswick  to  refresh 
his  corps,  and  wait  for  the  arrival  of  assistance  from  the  commander-in- 
chief  AVashingtoii,  meanwhile,  overran  Jersey,  seized  the  principal 
towns,  and  secured  the  posts  on  the  Delaware,  by  which  means  he  com- 
manded an  easy  passage  for  himself  whenever  it  should  be  expedient  to 
recross  that  river. 

The  conduct  and  event  of  these  winter  operations  proved  very  different 
from  what  the  friends  of  Britain  e.\pected,  and  the  provincials  appre- 
hended. It  was  conceived,  that  the  general  would  have  acted  at  the 
head  of  his  whole  combined  army,  instead  of  remaining  unemployed 
himself,  and  parcelling  his  troops  out  in  a  great  number  of  detachments. 
If,  instead  of  preserving  his  force  concentrated,  and  pressing  forward  on 
the  enemy  with  its  whole  impulse,  they  must  be  spread  into  such  a  num- 
ber of  cantonments,  it  was  thought  the  posts  next  to  the  enemy  ought  to 
have  been  the  strongest,  whereas  they  were  the  weakest.  The  Ameri- 
eans,  with  reason,  dreaded  that  they  would  be  overwhelmed  by  the  Bri- 
tish army;  directed  by  the  conduct,  and  encouraged  by  the  example  of  its 
commander  in  chief  to  activity  and  enterprise,  but  they  found  they  had 
only  to  contend  with  partial  detachments,  while  the  main  force  and  the 
general  himself  were  stationary  and  inactive.  The  army  of  Washington 
did  not  amount  to  seven  thousand  militia,  the  army  of  general  Howe  to 
twenty-eight  thousand  disciplined  troops:  during  six  months,  from  the 
middle  of  this  winter  to  the  middle  of  the  following  summer,  W^ashington 
remained  upon  the  Delaware,  within  thirty  miles  of  the  British  head- 
quarters, without  any  attempts  to  dislodge  him  from  his  posts,  or  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  great  object  of  the  war. 

The  plan  of  the  campaign  under  general  Carleton  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  drive  the  enemy  from  Canada,  and  afterwards  proceed  by  the 
lakes  to  the  northwestern  parts  of  the  province  of  New- York,  that  he 

Vol.  VII 52 


410  illSTOUY  OF  THE  CsAr.  XVII.— 177(i 

[Destruction  of  tlic  fleet  under  Arnold.  Crown  Point  evacuated  by  the  Americans.] 

might  co-operate  with  tlie  main  army,  and  have  it  in  his  power  to  invade 
either  the  northern  or  middle  colonies  as  occasion  might  require;  that 
thus  they  could  separate  tlie  southern  from  the  northern  provinces,  en- 
close New- York  between  the  two  armies,  and  thereby  compel  those  pro- 
vincials to  surrender  at  discretion.  Wc  left  the  British  generals  at  the 
capture  of  Fort  St.  John's  in  the  end  of  June;  there  an  armament  was 
pre.)ared  for  crossing  lake  Champlain,  in  order  to  besiege  Crown  Point 
and  Ticonderoiia.  The  Americans  had  a  considerable  fleet  on  lake 
Cliamplain,  wh'jreas  the  British  had  not  a  single  vessel.  It  was  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  gain  a  superiority,  to  prepare  thirty  fishing  sloops,  and 
to  equip  them  with  cannon.  The  general  used  every  effort  to  procure 
the  requisite  naval  force :  the  largest  of  the  vessels  were  brought  from 
England,  and  were  afterwards  obliged  to  be  taken  in  pieces  and  re-con- 
structed, in  order  to  answer  their  purpose  upon  the  lake.  It  was  neces- 
sary also  to  transport  over  land,  and  drag  up  the  rapid  current  of  St. 
Theresc  and  St.  John's,  with  tliirty  long  boats,  a  great  number  of  flat 
boats  of  great  burthen,  a  gondola  weighing  thirty  tons,  and  about  four 
hundred  batteaux.  Notwithstanding  the  difllculty  of  the  undertaking, 
and  the  complexity  of  the  labour  and  impediments,  such  was  the  ardour 
and  activity  of  the  British  troops  that  it  was  finished  in  three  months. 
By  this  time,  however,  the  season  was  far  advanced ;  not  only  lake  C  ham- 
plain  and  lake  George  were  to  be  encountered,  and  an  unknown  force 
on  each  subdued,  and  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga  captured;  but. 
after  these  difficulties  were  overcome,  a  wild  and  desolate  country  co- 
vered with  intricate  forests,  indented  with  swamps  and  morasses,  was  to 
be  pervaded,  in  order  to  arrive  at  Albany,  and  open  a  communication 
with  general  Howe.  October  was  begun  before  the  tleet  was  ready  to 
oppose  the  Americans  on  lake  Champlain:  the  naval  force  consisted  of 
the  Inflexible,  which  was  re-constructed  at  St.  John's  in  twenty-eight 
days,  and  mounted  eighteen  twelve-pounders;  one  schooner  mounting 
fourteen,  and  another  twelve  six-pounders;  a  flat  bottomed  batteau, 
carrying  six  twenty-four,  and  the  same  ninnber  of  twelve-pounders,  be- 
sides howitzers;  and  a  gondola,  with  seven  nine-pounders:  twenty  gun 
boats,  carrying  either  iield-pieces,  or  howitzers,  were  furnished  in  the 
same  manner.  There  was  besides  a  great  number  of  large  boats  for 
transposing  the  troops,  provisions,  stores,  and  other  necessaries.*  The 
American  force  was  by  no  means  equal  to  the  British:  they  had  made  the 
most  skilful  use  of  their  materials,  but  they  wanted  timber  and  artillery: 
their  fleet  amounted  to  fifteen  vessels,  commanded  by  Arnold.  On  the 
11th  of  October,  the  British  fleet,  conducted  by  captain  Pringlc,  and  un- 
der the  general  direction  of  Carleton,  discovered  the  armament  of  the 
enemy  posted  to  defend  the  passage  between  the  island  of  Valicour  and 
the  western  main.  An  engagemer»t  commenced,  and  contiruied  on  both 
sides  for  several  hours  with  great  intrepidity;  the  unfavourableness  of 
the  wind  pr*'vented  the  chief  ships  of  thf  British  from  taking  a  share  in 
the  fight.  iViyht  approaching,  it  was  thought  prudent  to  discontinue 
the  action;  they  were  accordingly  withdrawn,  but  not  before  the  strong- 
oat  of  the  enemy's  ships  was  run  ajrround,  and  one  of  their  gondolas 
sunk.  Arnold,  sensible  of  the  insufficiency  of  his  strength,  retreated 
during  the  night:  the  British  fleet  pursued  them  the  next  day,  and  the 

•  See  Gazettes. 


1776.— Chap,  XVII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  41  ^ 

[General  result  of  the  campaign.     Depredations  of  American  privateers.] 

day  follov/ing;  and  the  wind  being  fnvourable  for  bringing  all  (he  ships 
into   action,   overtook  them  a  few  leagues  from   Crown  Point.     1  he 
American  commander,  unable  to  nvoid  an  engagement,  made  the  best 
disposition  which  his  force  permitted;  about  noon  the  battle  began,  and 
continiied  with  great  fury  for  two  hours;  but  at  length  the  superior  force 
and  skill  of  the  Kritish  prevailed.     The  provincials  burnt  several  of  the 
ship?,  to  prevent  them  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  English.     On  the 
15th  of  October  the  British  fleet  anchored  off  Crown  Point,  and  the  ene- 
my retired  to  Ticonderoga.     General  Carleton  remained  at  Crown  Point 
till  the  third  of  November:  and  as  the  winter  was  commencing,  he  did 
not  think  it  advisable  to  besiege  Ticonderoga.     Some  of  his  officers 
wished  the  attempt  to  have  been  made  immediately  on  his  arrival  at 
Crown  Point.     The  distance  was  only  fifteen  miles,  and  the  garrison, 
they  conceived,  would  not  hold  out  ten  days  against  the  British  force. 
General  Carleton,  however,  thought  the  capture  of  that  place  might  be 
attended  witli  considerable  loss,  while  the  benefit  arising  from  it  would 
be  immaterial  during  the  current  campaign,  because  t^o  late  in  the  sea- 
son they  could  not  think  of  entering  upon  lake  George,  and  proceeding 
to  Albany.     From  the  difficulty  of  subsistence,  a  garrison  could   not 
easily  be  maintained  during  the  winter:  and  thus,  though  taken,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  evacuate  it  again,  and  leave  it  to  the  enemy.     Though 
these  arguments  did  not  convince  the  other  officers,  yet  they  determined 
general  Carleton  to  re-embark  the  army,  and  return  to  St.  John's;  whence 
he  distributed  his  army  into  winter  quarters. 

Thus  of  the  three  great  objects  of  the  campaign  of  1776,  the  southern 
expedition  totally  failed,  and  the  other  two  were  but  partially  obtained. 
The  Canadian  armament  achieved  only  the  reduction  of  Crown  Point: 
general  Howe  acquired  possession  of  Long  Island,  and  New-York,  with 
part  of  the  Jerseys.  His  operations  had  very  little  impaired  the  re- 
sources of  the  enemy;  on  the  other  hand,  by  allowing  them  to  gain  un- 
expected advantages,  he  had  animated  hope,  inspirited  courage,  pro- 
moted firmness  and  unanimity,  and  affiirded  them  a  fair  prospect  of 
ultimate  success. 

During  this  year  the  American  privateers  were  extremely  active  and 
successful.     The  West  India  islands,  as  had  been  predicted,  were  in 
great  distress  by  the  interclusion  of  commerce  with  America.     The 
most  essential  necessaries  of  life,  especially  Indian  corn,  the  principal 
food  of  the  negroes  and  of  the  poor  and  laborious  whites,  had  risen  from 
three  to  four  times  the  customary  price.     Slaves,  next  in  importance 
and  necessity,  were  not  to  be  procured  in  sufficient  quantity  for  any  sum; 
and  other  wants  and  distresses  multiplied.     In  this  period  of  calamity,  a 
conspiracy  was  formed  for  an  insurrection  of  negroes  in  Jamaica,  most 
of  the  soldiers  having  been  drafted  to   America.     One  hundred  and 
twenty  sail  of  merchantmen  were  about  to  depart  for  Europe,  and  the 
conspirators  had  fixed  on  their  departure  as  the  proper  time  for  carrying 
the  plot  into  execution,  as  the  island  would  then  be  still  more  defence- 
less.    The  conspiracy  was  brought  to  light  a  few  days  before  the  fleet 
actually  sailed,  and  the  ships  were  retained  until  it  was  effectually  crush- 
ed, and  order  restored.     This  detention  was  afterwards  attended  with 
very  ruinous  effects.     The  American  privateers  had,  during  the  former 
part  of  the  summer,  been  very  active  and  successful :  and  as  the  increase 
of  captures  enlarged  the  eapitals  of  the  adventurers  for  more  distant  en- 


412  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVII.— 1776. 

(Provincial  privateers  encouraged  by  the  French.] 

terprises,  they  extended  the  scene  of  their  depredations.  A  consider- 
able part  of  this  rich  fleet  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  provincials;  and  en- 
couraped  by  such  an  acquisition,  they  afterwards  sent  cruisers  to  the 
^\  est  Indies,  which  captured  many  other  ships.  The  planters  and  mer- 
chants were  almost  ruined  by  the  complicated  evils  that  resulted  to  them 
from  the  war.  The  merchants  wlio  had  traded  to  America,  continued 
to  be  great  sufl'erers,  not  only  by  the  loss  of  trade,  but  by  the  detention 
of  their  property,  which  was  no  longer  remitted.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  year,  American  ships  infested  the  coasts  of  Europe,  and  seizing  the 
British  traders,  distressed  other  merchants.  The  provincial  privateers 
found  refuge,  protection,  and  encouragement  from  France,  notwithstand- 
ing the  professions  of  amity. 


1776.— Chap.  XVUI.  REIfiN  OF  REORGK  FII.  4]J>, 


CHAP.   XVllI. 


British  nation  still  favmirahle  to  coercive  measures — various  causes  of  this  dispo 
sitioii-  -Conspiracy  ami  liial  of  John  the  I'ainter— Meeting  of  parliament.-- 
King's  speecli— debate— Motion  for  a  revision  of  acts  obnoxious  to  tlie  Ameri- 
cans, in  conformity  to  fjeneial  Howe's  procium;ttion-"rejectecl— secession  of 
members  —  Letters  of  marque,  &.c.--Re])risal  bill. -Bill  for  seizintj  suspected 
persons;  in  which  lord  Norlli,  wisliing  to  please  both  parties,  satisfies  neitlier. 
—  Important  amendments,  throiit|h  Mr.  Dunnins^,  passed. -Affairs  of  India-- 
Tiabob  of  Arcot,  council  of  Madias,  and  rajah  of  'lanjore.— Lord  Pig(jt  sent  out 
— conspiiacy  against  him,  executed  by  colonel  Stuart— proceedings  thereon  in 
the  India  lKnise---in  parlian>ent— seceding  members  return---lord  Ciiatiiam's 
motion  for  terminating  the  war— rejected  --difference  of  opinion  among  oppo- 
sition concei'ning  Amt-rican  independence.— Unexpected  demand  fiom  Hessc- 
Cassel."-Proiogalion  of  parliament. 

DESTRueTivE  as  the  manifold  lo-sses  which  we  have  Locn  relating 
were  to  the  mercantile  interest,  yet  the  nation  in  general  continued  fa- 
vourable to  the  war.  The  declaration  of  independence  separated  from 
the  cause  of  the  Americans  persons  who  had  before  regarded  tliem  as 
oppressed  and  suffering  fellow-subjects:  these  now  contended  that  the 
question  no  longer  was,  "  Have  our  brethren  been  well  or  ill  treated? 
but  shall  we  not  reduce  our  declared  enemies  ?  As  long  as  they  acknow- 
ledged themselves  subjects  of  the  British  constitution,  we  wished  theiii 
to  enjoy  all  the  rights  and  privileges  which  our  excellent  polity  confers 
and  secures;  but  now  they  have  renounced  connexion,  and  declared  hos- 
tility to  this  country,  we,  as  Britons,  must  oppose  the  enemies  of  Bri- 
tain." By  this  species  of  reasoning,  extended  tarther  than  the  subject 
of  the  analogy  justified,  they  inferred,  that  the  parental  authority  extend- 
ed to  the  control  of  the  property  eventually  acquired  by  the  children 
through  their  own  ability,  industry,  and  skill.  The  asserted  ingratitude 
they  enhanced,  by  alleging  that  the  preceding  war  was  comn)enced  and 
carried  on  for  the  sake  of  these  colonies,  and  that  they  were  debtors  to 
us  for  all  those  eflbrts  by  which  we  had  vanquished  the  enemy,  and  se- 
cured our  American  settlements.  No  arguments  were  more  frequently 
repeated  by  the  censurers  of  American  resistance,  than  this  charge  of  in- 
gratitude; the  weight  of  which  so  obviously  depends,  not  on  the  benefit 
conferred,  but  on  the  motives  for  rendering  the  service.  The  hostilities 
that  commenced  in  1755,  arose  on  one  side  from  a  determination  to  pre- 
vent France  from  being  aggrandized  at  our  expense,  and  to  repress  en- 
croachments upon  colonies  which  were  so  beneficial  in  Britain.  The 
consideration  of  filial  duty  led  to  parental  dignity  as  well  as  claims;  zeal 
for  the  maintenance  of  British  authority  and  supremacy  induced  many  a 
loyal  and  i)atriotic  subject  to  reprobate  the  Americans;  and  not  doubting 
that  om-  demands  were  founded  in  right,  and  conducive  to  honour,  they 
did  not  examine  whether  this  assertion  of  our  alleged  rights  would  not 
be  over  balanced  by  the  expense  and  danger  of  the  contest;  and  in 
spite  of  the  experience  which  they  had  already  received  in  the  course  of 
two  very  costly  years,  still  regarded  the  reduction  of  the  colonies  as  a 


414  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVIU.— 1776. 

[Friends  of  constitutional  liberty.] 

profitable  object.     The  mini-sterial  system  they  conceived  would  greatly 
diminish  our  national  burthens;  on  a  balance  of  accounts,  we  should 
find  ourselves  jiainccs  by  the  war;  besides  those  who  from  public  mo- 
tives approve  of  tiie  contest,  there  were  not  wanting  men  who  supported 
it  from  private  interest;  the  certainty,  or  believed  probability,  of  acquir- 
ing lucrative  contracts,  or  rather  pioiits  from  the  war,  which  they  could 
not  expect  in  peace.     The  multitude  were,  as  usual,  directed  by  autho- 
rity ;   tiie  greater  number  of  peers,  and  of  the  principal  gentry,  were 
staunch  supporters   of  the  ministry;   and  in  addition  to  their  immediate 
dependents  connected  with  them  by  the  ties  of  interest,  there  were  many 
more  who,  either  from  attachment,  admiration  of  rank  and  fortune,  or 
vanity,  were  influenced  by  their  opinions,  followed  their  example,  praised 
the  measures  and  conduct  of  ministry,  and  reviled  the  Americans  and 
the  British  opponent.^  of  administration.     Great  numbers  felt  resentment 
and  indignation  at  the  ingratitude  and  insolence  which  they  imputed  to 
the  colonists,  for  resisting  such  reasonable  demands  of  their  benefactors, 
under  who.-<e  tostcring  care  they  had  been  reared  to  their  present  strength: 
they  formed  analogies  from  the  returns  incumbent  on  filial  duty  for  paren- 
tal affection,  and  support  bestowed  in  the  days  of  inability  to  provide 
for  themselves.     From   these  various  causes,  and   probably  others,  a 
large  majority  of  the  people  of  all  ranks  at  this  time  approved  of  the 
American  war  throughout  the  nation.     Those  who  still  continued  to  cen- 
sure the  compulsory  system  that  had  bet  n  adopted  towards  the  colonists, 
if  far  less  numerous,  were  by  no  means  deficient  in  respectability;  among 
these,  besides  the   partisans  of  parliamentary  oppo.-^ition,  were  some  of 
the  chief  gentlemen  and  a  great  number  of  the  smaller  landholders  in 
English  counties;  a  considerable  portion  of  independent  merchants,  who 
neither  possessed  nor  expected  contracts  from  government,  and  found 
commerce  injured  by  the  war;  manufacturers  in  similar  circumstances; 
protestant  dissenters,  the  ardent  friends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  who 
carried  their  zeal  perhaps  farther  than  was  consistent  with  order;  the 
ablest  of  Knglish  counsellors  who  held  no  office  under  government,  but 
who,  relying  on  personal  efforts,  and  having  no  motives  to  be  expec- 
tants of  donatives,  free  and  independent  by  their  talents,  were  the  friends 
of  constitutional  liberty.     Literary  men  did  not  then  constitute  so  nume- 
rous a  class  as  they  have  since  become ;  lord  North,  a  scholar  and  a 
man  of  taste,  was  a  friend  to  literature,  and  some  of  the  ablest  vvriters 
and  many  of  subordinate  rank,  were  patronized  by  the  court;  though  in- 
dividuals of  superior   celebrity  were  adverse  to  the  measures  of  govern- 
ment, yet  authors,  as  a  body,  could  not  be  said  to  be  hostile  to  a  minis- 
try which  held  genius  and  learning  in  high  estimation.     The  clergy  of 
England   were  in  general    friendly  to  administration:    of  the  Scottish 
church,  except  a  few,  by  office,  sinecure,  or  pension,  connected  with  go- 
vernment, tlie  men  of  most  ability  and  influence  were  inimical  to  the 
stamp  act,   and  all  the  subsequent  proceedings  of  the  compulsory  sys- 
tem; and  though  they  did  not  justify  the  wisdom  of  the  American  decla- 
ration of  independence,  yet  imputed  it  to  the  united  rashness,  violence, 
and  weakness  of  the  British  cabinet.     From  continued  contrariety  of 
sentiment,  a  general  virulence  prevailed  between  the  supporters  and  cen- 
surers  of  the  ministerial  system;  and  to  the  charge  of  erroneous  reason- 
ing, the  parties,  very  often  reciprocally  added  the  accu.sation  of  corrupt 
and  even  flagitious  motives,  by  which  there  is  no  evidence,  and  little 


1776.— CHiip.  XVIII.  REIGN  OF  GKOKGE  III.  4|5 

[Conspiracy  and  trial  of  John  tlie  Painter] 

probability,  that  the  greater  number  of  either  side  were  actuated.  Ad 
incident  which  happened  about  tliis  lime  caused  very  great  alarm  through 
the  kingdom,  produced  very  contrary  constructions  from  the  opposite 
parties,  and  from  both,  as  far  as  we  have  any  evidence,  interpretations 
very  different  from  the  truth. 

Near  the  close  of  this  year,  the  rope-house  at  Portsmouth  was  set  on 
fire,  and  the  perpetrator,  when  discovered,  exhibited  a  singular  instance  ol 
human  depravity  :  this  was  James  Aitkcn,  destined  to  immortal  infamy 
under  the  name  of  John  the  Painter.  According  to  his  own  confession, 
this  man,  though  only  four-and-tweiity  years  of  age,  had  committed  a 
surprising  number  and  variety  of  atrocious  acts,  with  a  secrecy  which 
long  escaped  d<'tection,  with  a  perseverance  which  manifested  a  firm- 
ness and  constancy  of  enormity  rarely  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of 
crimes,  and  with  a  machination  that  displayed  a  very  considerable  por- 
tion of  ingenuity.  Totally  unsocial  in  his  villainy,  he  by  solitary  guilt 
precluded  an  usual  source  of  impeachment  in  the  confession  of  accom- 
plices, and  at  last  incurred  by  circumstantial  evidence  the  long  merited 
punishment  which  from  his  isolated  wickedness  no  direct  testimony 
could  sanction.  Aitken  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  and  bred  a  painter  ;  of 
a  melancholy  temper,  a  gloomy  disposition,  and  ardent  passions,  he  had 
a  strong  propensity  to  vice,  and  sought  his  own  sole  gratification.  Hav- 
ing no  pleasure  in  the  converse  of  other  men,  he  found  no  charms  in 
convivial  profligacy  and  associated  turpitude.  Very  early  in  life  he  had 
been  seized  with  a  desire  of  wandering,  and  exploring  in  other  countries 
the  means  and  opportunities  of  wickedness.  About  three  years  before 
this  time  he  had  betaken  himself  to  America,  where  he  had  imbibed  a 
mortal  antipathy  to  his  country,  and  formed  the  extravagant  design  ef 
subverting  the  government,  and  destroying  the  nation  which  he  so  much 
abhorred.  He  projected  to  annihilate  the  maritime  force  of  England, 
as  well  as  her  internal  riches  and  strength,  by  burning  the  royal  dock- 
yards, the  principal  trading  cities  and  towns,  with  their  respective  ship- 
ping. He  traversed  the  kingdom  to  discover  the  state  and  accessibility 
of  the  several  docks,  and  found  them  in  general  not  rigidly  guarded  :  he 
took  great  pains  to  construct  fire-works,  machines,  and  combustibles  : 
he  attempted  the  great  hemp-house  at  Portsmouth,  but  failed  :  he  suc- 
ceeded in  setting  fire  to  the  rope-house,  and  having  immediately  set  off 
for  London,  from  Portsdown-liill  feasted  his  diabolical  malignity  with 
contemplating  the  dreadful  conflagration,  which,  from  its  prodigious  ap- 
pearance, he  imagined  to  have  extended  to  all  the  docks,  magazines, 
and  buildings.  lie  made  similar  attempts  at  Plymouth  and  at  Bristol, 
but  fortunately  without  success.  In  pervading  the  country  to  execute 
his  designs,  he  committed  robberies,  burglaries,  and  rapes.  At  last, 
some  intimation  of  his  conduct,  with  a  description  of  his  person,  reached 
the  chief  police  magistrate,  sir  John  Fielding,  and  he  was  apprehended 
for  a  burglary.  No  evidence  appearing  to  establish  the  charge,  he  was' 
on  the  point  of  being  dismissed,  when  some  circumstances  excited  a 
suspicion  against  him  as  an  incendiary  :  being  examined  by  the  privy- 
council  and  the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  he  behaved  with  great  caution 
and  presence  of  mind,  and  baffled  all  their  attempts  to  discover  the 
truth.  At  last  another  painter  sent  to  him  in  confinement,  insinuated 
himself  into  his  confidence,  and  procured  an  acknowledgment  of  designs 
and  acts  which  proved  eventually  a  clue  to  the  whole  labyrinth  of  bi? 


416  HISIOHV  OF  Tin:  Chap.  XVIII.— 1776. 

LMeeling' of  parliament.     Speecli  oFthe  king.j 

guilt.  He  was  tried  at  Portsmoutli,  and  the  chain  ol' circumstances  be- 
ing so  strong  as  to  prevent  the  possibihty  of  duubt,  thoi-gh  he  himself 
displayed  great  ingenuity,  acuteness,  and  dexterity,  in  rebutting  obvious 
inferences,  the  jury,  without  leaving  the  court,  adjudged  him  guilty. 
Finding  death  inevit:ible,  he  made  a  lull  confession  of  his  manifold  ini- 
<|uities,  and  acknowledged  the  justness  of  his  condenination.  In  detail- 
ing his  own  acts,  he  asserted  that  going  to  Paris,  he  had  informed  Mr. 
Silas  Dean,  an  agent  from  America,  of  his  project  to  burn  the  English 
docks,  and  had  been  promised  a  great  reward  if  he  should  execute  his 
attempts. 

The  facts  and  circumstances  brought  to  light  by  or  through  this  mis- 
creant, gave  full  scope  to  the  rage  and  virulence  of  both  parties.  Sup- 
porters of  the  ininisteriul  system  attributed  the  acts  of  Aitken  to  the  in- 
stigation of  American  and  republican  partisans  within  the  kingdom;  their 
opponents,  no  less  bigoted,  considt  red  the  alleged  discoveries  as  the 
inventions  or  exaggerations  of  tories,  in  order  to  bring  whitrs  and  liberty 
into  discredit.  There  was  not  the  smallest  shadow  of  probability  that 
either  party  was  concerned  with  John  the  Painter,  or  was  any  farther  t© 
blame  than  for  credulity  and  illiberal  comments.  Various  hypotheses, 
however,  respecting  this  despicable  person,  constituted  the  principal 
subject  of  discussion,  declamation,  and  invective,  to  the  inferior  adhe- 
rents both  of  ministers  and  opposition  for  several  months  ;  so  readily  d© 
the  zealous  votaries  of  party  believe  improbable  stories,  and  adopt  ab- 
surd opinions,  when  agreeable  to  their  favourite  noiions. 

On  the  31st  of  October  parliament  assembled.  His  majesty's  speech 
informed  tliern,  thai  so  daring  and  desperate  was  now  the  spirit  of  Ame- 
rican leaders,  whose  object  had  always  been  dominion  and  poAvcr,  that 
they  had  openly  renounced  all  allegiance  to  the  crown,  and  all  political 
connexion  with  t!ie  country,  rejected  with  indignity  and  insult  our  offers 
of  conciliation,  and  had  presumed  to  set  up  their  rebellious  confederacies 
as  independent  communities.  Were  American  treason  suffered  to  take 
root,  it  would  prove  pernicious  to  the  loyal  colonies,  to  the  commerce 
and  political  iulerests  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  the  present  system  of  all 
Europe.  One  advantage  to  be  expected  from  the  open  avowal  of  this 
object,  would  be  at  home  the  general  prevalence  of  unanimity,  and  a  con- 
viction that  the  measures  pursued  by  government  were  necessary.  The 
events  of  the  campaign  afforded  the  strongest  hopes  of  ultimate  success; 
but  the  delays  unavoidable  in  commencing  operations,  prevented  the 
progress  from  being  complete.  Other  courts  continued  to  assure  the 
king  of  their  amicable  dispositions;  nevertheless,  in  the  present  situa- 
tion of  affairs,  it  was  expedient  to  put  the  kingdom  in  a  respectable  state 
ef  defence.  He  regretted  (he  e\|>ense  necessarily  attendant  upon  our 
present  situation,  but  doubted  not  that  the  commons  would  cheerfully 
2rant  the  suppliis  that  might  be  wanted  for  such  momentous  purposes. 
His  sole  object  was  to  promote  the  true  interest  of  all  his  subjects ;  no 
people  ever  lived  under  a  milder  government  or  enjoyed  more  happiness, 
than  the  revolted  colonies,  as  was  demonstrated  by  their  population,  arts, 
wealth,  and  the  strength  by  hca  and  land,  which  now  gave  them  confi- 
dence to  contend  with  the  mother  country.  Addresses  being  framed  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  form  of  complimentary  repetition,  produced  very 
vehement  debates,  and  motions  of  amendment  diametrically  opposite  to 
the  original  propositions.     The  opponents  of  ministers  asserted,  that 


izre.— CuAP. xviir.  ukkin  ok  (iEour.K  iif.  4J7 

[Dcljates  on  the  addresses.     Heasoning-  of  opposition] 

the  disaffection  and  revolt  of  a  whole  people  could  not  have  taken  place 
without  error  or  misconduct  in  their  former  rulers  ;  they  repeated  their 
objections  to  the  present  system  of  measures,  imputed  to  them  perni- 
cious effects,  and  contended  that  nothing  could  restore  Britain  and  Ame- 
rica to  their  former  happy  state  and  relations,  hut  a  total  change  both  of 
counsels  and  counsellors.  Nothing  could  be  more  inconsistent  with  a 
proper  spirit  in  parliament,  than  an  attempt  to  bend  British  subjects  to 
an  abject  unconditional  submission  to  any  power  whatever ;  to  anni- 
hilate their  liberties,  and  subdue  them  to  servile  principles  and  passive 
habits  by  means  of  foreign  mercenaries.  Amidst  the  excesses  (it  v.as 
said)  which  have  happened,  we  ought  to  respect  the  spirit  and  principles 
whicii  so  evidently  bear  an  exact  analogy  to  those  that  supported  tlie  most 
valuable  part  of  our  own  constitution.  The  speech  had  asserted,  that 
the  prosperous  state  of  America  was  owing  to  the  mild  government  and 
fostering  protection  of  Britain :  they  admitted  the  propf)siiion,  but  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  truth  was,  that  those  who  had  wantonly 
changed  so  beneticial  a  system  deserved  the  severest  censure.  The 
Americans  had  been  charged  with  implicitly  obeying  arbitrary  leaders  ; 
who  were  these  tyrants  1  In  no  country  of  great  population  and  power 
was  there  so  near  an  equality  between  individuals,  or  so  little  of  depend- 
ence ;  in  situations,  wherein  labour  was  extremely  productive  even  to 
the  lowest  operator,  a  very  moderate  share  of  industry  produced  an  am- 
ple subsistence,  and  removed  the  cause  which  in  other  countries  so  often 
rendered  the  lower  classes  retainers  to  some  patron  in  the  higher.  As 
the  general  prevalence  of  independent  and  easy  subsistence  precluded 
the  necessity  of  abject  submission  to  wealth,  the  want  of  nobility  pre- 
vented the  atithority  annexed  in  other  countries  to  rank  and  title.  The 
provincials  had  no  motives  to  yield  to  the  authority  of  adventitious  dis- 
tinctions ;  Mr.  Hancock,  their  civil  president,  was  a  plain  merchant,  of 
fair  character,  who  possessed  no  influence  over  the  people  beyond  that 
which  arose  from  the  trouble  caused  by  British  administration.  Mr. 
Washington  was  a  country  gentleman  of  a  great  landed  estate,  such  as 
several  private  gentlemen  possess  in  every  county  in  England  ;  respect- 
able in  his  own  district,  but  little  known  beyond  its  limits  before  the  situa- 
tion of  his  country  called  him  from  obscurity.  Others,  now  most  emi- 
nent in  the  field  and  congress,  would  have  been  still  more  obscure,  had 
not  the  oppressive  acts  of  Britain  stimulated  the  public  exertion  of  their 
abilities  :  in  circumstances  rendering  resistance  necessary  to  preserve 
their  liberties,  they  naturally  reposed  their  chief  confidence  in  virtue  and 
ability:  they  acknowledged  the  power  of  talents  and  qualifications;  lis- 
tened to  the  advice  which  they  thought  wisest  and  most  patriotic,  from 
their  own  delegates  and  agents  ;  and  followed  their  counsels  with  a  will- 
ing ratification,  and  not  an  extorted  obedience.  The  persons  represent- 
ed by  ministers  as  governing  the  Americans  with  despotical  tyranny, 
were  no  other  than  their  own  officers  and  servants,  appointed  by  their 
will,  and  removeable  at  their  pleasure.  The  conciliatory  offers,  in  them- 
selves totally  inadequate  to  the  case,  had  rot  been  brought  forward  until 
the  whole  system  declaring  them  rebels  and  enemies,  and  denouncing 
the  vengeance  due  to  such,  had  full  time  and  scope  for  operation.  The 
amicable  and  pacific  professions  of  other  powers  deserved  no  reliance, 
while  they  were  really  assisting  the  Americans,  and  making  powerful  pre- 
parations both  by  sea  and  land.  Respecting  the  required  unanimity,  mi- 
YoL.   VIT.— 53 


4  IS  lllSTOltY   l)F  THK  Chip.  XVIII.— irrfi. 

[Argiimrnts  of  inlnisiers.     Peculiar  situalion  of"  opposition.] 

nietcrs  could  not  he  seiioiig.  "  "We  (rontiniicd  their  opponents)  predicted 
the  niischiels  whirh  liavo  .since  actually  arisen,  because  we  reprobated 
ministerial  proroedings  as  pernicious  ;  and  though  they  have  really  prov- 
ed more  fatal  than  wo  represented,  yet  we  are  called  upon  to  give  our 
approbation  and  support." 

Ministers  contended,  that  "the  American  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence had  entirely  destroyed  the  {jrounds  on  which  ihey  had  been  formerly 
supported  in  parliament.  Our  colonies  enabled  us  to  hold  a  principal 
place  amonnj  the  chief  powers  of  Europe  ;  deprived  of  tliese  settlements, 
we  should  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  humiliation  and  dependence.  Should 
we  ingloriously  relinquish  our  present  situation,  or  by  a  vigorous  exer- 
tion retain  our  u«ual  power  and  splendour  ?  l^e.^^ides  interest  and  safety, 
indignation  and  resentment  ought  to  rouse  the  British  spirit  to  chastise 
the  ingratitude  and  insolence  of  the  American  rebels.  Though  the  atro- 
ciousness  of  their  crunes  would  justify  any  severity  of  punishment,  it  was 
8«ill  wished  to  treat  them  with  lenity,  when  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
their  condition,  and  a  sense  of  their  duty.  Designing  and  ambitious 
leaders  never  could  have  succeeded  in  instigating  the  Americans  to  hos- 
tility and  a  declaration  of  independence,  if  their  disobedient  and  rebelli- 
ous spirit  had  not  been  t'omented  and  nourished  by  aspiring  and  factious 
men  ui  this  coutitry,  who  sacrificed  loyalty  and  patriotism  to  their  own 
selfish  and  unjustifiable  prr  jpcts.  The  opponents  of  ministers  in  parlia- 
ment having  hitherto  avowedly  regulated  their  conduct  on  the  supposition 
that  the  Americans  never  designed  or  even  desired  independence,  were 
now  bound  to  support,  with  the  utmost  vigour,  measures  necessary  for 
their  reduction."  The  votes  in  favour  of  ministry  were  nearly  as  nume- 
rous as  usual,  but  in  debate  the  animation  of  their  friends  was  not  so  ar- 
dent;  the  hopes  of  an  immediate  reduction  of  America  they  saw  were 
not  fulfilled  ;  another  campaign  must  be  encountered,  very  great  expense 
must  be  incurred,  and  foreign  powers  would  probably  interfere  in  the  pro- 
tracted contest. 

The  declaratiori  of  American  independence  placed  the  supporters  of  the 
colonists  in  a  situalion  never  before  known  in  the  history  of  parliament ; 
the  Americans  were  no  longer  fellow-subjects  complaining  of  grievances, 
but  a  separate  state  engaged  in  hostilities  with  this  country.  Parliamen- 
tary annals  do  not  before  this  session  atlbrd  an  instance  of  a  party  in  our 
senate  avowedly  defending  the  cause  of  a  power  with  which  our  country 
was  at  war,  with  the  approbation  of  both  the  senate  and  nation.  Mem- 
bers may  have  censured  either  the  impolicy  or  precipitancy  of  intended 
hostilities,*  but  after  they  were  actually  commenced,  have  abstained  from 
such  opposition,  as  tending  to  inspirit  the  enemy,  and  to  di.shearten  their 
countrym.en.  They  have  objected  to  specific  plans  for  carrying  on  the 
war,  and  censured  instances  of  rash  or  feeble  execution  ;  but  their  an- 
im;  dversions  were  confined  to  management  without  extending  to  origin  : 
they  showed  tliemselves  aware  that  when  a  powerful  state  is  once  involv- 
ed in  a  war,  the  only  ciTcHtual  means  of  honourable  and  secure  extrica- 
tion are  vigorous  eflbrts  ;  but  the  opponents  of  ministers  at  this  period 
took  a  different  course,  and  however  prudent  and  just  their  exertion,'? 
might  bo  while  they  tended  to  avert  war,  they  became  much  more  ques- 

•  Fn  tlie  Dutcli  war  undertaken  by  the  mean  and  profligate  Charles,  not  merely 
a  party,  but  the  parliament  and  nation  were  averse  to  hostilities. 


irre— Chap.   XVJU.  KEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  HI.  419 

[Motion  for  a  revision  of  tlie  obnoxious  acts.     Secession  u{  mtmhf  rs] 

tionable  in  point  of  expediency,  from  tlie  time  that  the  colonies  ^epaialed 
themselves  from  the  mother  country. 

A  few  days  after  the  introductory  debate,  lord  John  Cavendish  hav- 
ing produced  a  copy  of  the  proclamation  issued  hy  lord  Howe  and  his 
brother  on  the  capture  of  New-York,  proposed  that  in  conformity  to  its 
promises,  the  liou.se  should  resolve  itself  into  a  committee  for  revising 
the  acts  by  which  the  Americans  thought  themselves  aggrieved.  Minis- 
ters replied,  that  the  proffered  redress  of  grievances  was  intended  only 
for  those  who  should  return  to  their  duty.  A  disavowal  of  independence 
and  an  acknowledgment  of  Briti.sh  supremacy  were  requisite,  on  the  part 
of-lhe  colonies,  before  any  conciliatory  measures  coidd  be  adopted  by 
Britain.  The  proclamation  was  perfectly  conformable  to  the  general 
spirit  of  all  our  proceedings  ;  sanctioned  by  great  majorities  in  parliament, 
it  assured  protection  and  the  maintenance  of  their  constitutional  rights  to 
those  who  should  return  to  their  duty,  but  vindicated  the  authority  and 
dignity  of  this  country.  To  revise  and  repeal  laws  with  a  view  to  redress 
the  grievances  of  a  peo|)le,  who,  denying  the  authority  of  such  laws, 
could  not  be  aggrieved  by  their  existence,  would  be  grossly  absurd  and 
nugatory.  If  they  persisted  in  Iheir  renunciation  of  dependence,  there 
was  no  doubt  from  our  force  and  our  recent  successes,  that  we  could 
soon  reduce  them  to  submission.  Although  the  ministerial  argument, 
that  it  was  absurd  to  debate  upon  the  degree  of  authority  to  be  exercised 
over  men  who  denied  the  asserted  right  of  exercising  any,  was  fair;  yet 
their  assertion,  that  this  proclamation  oftered  no  more  than  preceding 
acts  of  the  legislature  and  executive  government,  was  not  equally  just ; 
before,  they  had  promised  amnesty  to  unconditional  submission  ;  in  this 
paper  they  had  proposed  a  condition,  in  compliance  with  which  a  revision 
of  obnoxious  laws  and  a  redress  of  grievances  were  proffered.  In  the 
course  of  the  debate,  ministers,  though  they  agreed  in  opposing  the  mo- 
tion, took  different  grounds.  Ijord  North  dwelt  chiefly  on  conciliation, 
which  he  appeared  to  think  the  commissioners  might  effectuate  :  lord 
George  Germaine,  and  other  speakers,  trusted  chiefly  to  compulsion,  as 
the  only  means  of  driving  out  of  them  their  spirit  of  independence.  Op- 
position did  not  tail  to  observe  and  mention  their  diversity,  which,  in- 
deed, had  very  frequently  been  discovered  ;  but  that  body  itself,  without 
harmony  and  system,  notwithstanding  the  great  abilities  of  several  mem- 
bers, and  the  extraordinary  powers  of  some,  did  not  so  effectually  coun- 
teract the  schemes  of  ministers,  as  it  might  have  done  by  unanimity  and 
concert.  In  debating  this  question,  the  speeches  of  opposition  rather  in- 
dicated than  showed  the  difference  of  opinion  concerning  American  inde- 
pendence, which  afterwards  became  manifest,  and  even  produced  a 
jtolitical  schism  among  the  opponents  of  the  North  administration.  Mr. 
iiurke  and  the  Rockingham  party  early  intimated  a  wish  to  treat  with 
America  without  questioning  her  independence  :  Mr.  Fox  had  joined  op- 
position through  no  party  connexion,  bj*  chiefly  associated  with  Mr. 
Burke  and  his  political  friends,  and  adopicd  many  of  their  principles  and 
doctrines  ;  he  agreed  to  this  opinion,  avowed  it  with  his  usual  oj)ennes.=!, 
and  supported  it  with  his  usual  force.  Mr.  Dunning,  colonel  Barre, 
lords  Camden,  Shelburne,  and  Temple,  and  others  connected  with  the 
earl  of  Chatham,  wished  to  treat  with  America,  but  to  maintain  the  su- 
premacy of  Britain. 

After  the  rejection  of  this  motion,  many  of  the  minority,  especially  of 


420  HISTORY  OP  THK  Chap.  XVIII.—irrr. 

[Letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  bills.    Bill  for  seizing  suspicious  persons.] 

the  Rockingham  party,  withdrew  from  the  house  when  any  question  re- 
specting America  was  discussed;  they  attended  on  ordinary  business, 
but  when  that  was  despatched,  retired.  They  said,  they  were  wearied 
with  opposing  reason  and  argument  to  power  and  numbers  without  any 
effect.  This  secession  was  by  no  means  approved  by  opposition  in  ge- 
neral, many  even  loudly  blamed  such  proceedings.  A  member  of  parlia- 
ment, they  asserted,  consistent  with  his  duty,  cannot  withdraw  himself 
from  tlie  business  of  parliament,  merely  from  an  opinion  that  he  will  be 
outvoted,  and  ought  not  ihence  to  infer  tliat  his  attendance  must  be  use- 
less ;  tliough  by  vigil;ince  they  did  not  procure  a  majority,  they  were  not 
without  etiect,  as  by  discovering  and  exposing  the  absurdity  and  mis- 
chievous tendency  of  measures,  they  could  often  modify,  if  they  did  not 
prevent,  pernicious  laws  and  counsels.  Some  acknowledged,  that  the 
whole  body  of  the  minority  might  secede  jointly,  but  that  members  ought 
not  to  absent  themselves  separately  ;  and  in  support  of  this  opinion  they 
rather  quoted  precedents  than  adduced  arguments.  In  1738,  Mr.  Pitt, 
and  the  whole  opposition  to  sir  Robert  ^Valpole,  had  on  the  ratification 
of  the  Spanish  convention,  absented  themselves  from  parliament.  The 
defenders  of  individual  secession  contended,  that,  in  cases  of  imminent 
danger  to  the  constitution,  such  conduct  might  operate  as  a  call  to  the 
nation,  and  awaken  the  people  to  a  real  sense  of  their  condition :  its  as- 
sailants insisted,  that  whoever  was  fit  for  being  a  useful  member  of  par- 
liament, must  derive  his  utihty  not  from  inaction  but  from  effort :  that  by 
his  presence  he  might  lessen  the  evil  of  hurtful  propositions,  though  he 
could  not  amend  them  by  his  absence.  They  appealed  to  experience  to 
prove  the  beneticial  amendments  which  ministerial  motions  often  under- 
went from  the  strictures  of  opposition,  so  as  to  be  rendered  more  inno- 
cent before  they  passed  into  laws. 

After  the  proposed  revision  of  obnoxious  acts,  no  political  question  of 
material  magnitude  engaged  the  attention  of  parliament  until  the  expira- 
tion of  the  Christmas  recess.  In  the  beginning  of  February,  a  bill  was 
introduced  by  lord  North,  for  granting  letters  of  marque  and  reprisals 
against  American  ships,  which  passed  the  house  of  commons  without 
opposition;  in  tlie  house  of  lords  it  underwent  the  small  alteration  of 
inserting  tlie  word  ;)cj*;MmJon  instead  oi'  marque,  the  latter  being  supposed 
applicable  only  to  foreign  enemies. 

Another  bill  proposed  soon  after  by  the  minister,  excited  severe  ani- 
madversion in  parliament,  and  great  alarm  among  the  people  ;  this  was 
a  law  to  enable  his  mai«:;sty  to  secure  and  detain  persons  suspected  of 
treason,  comniitled  either  in  America  or  on  the  high  seas,  or  accused  of 
piracy.  By  the  bill,  persons  so  charged  or  suspected  were  liable  to  be 
imprisoned  in  a  common  gaol  or  any  other  place  of  confinement  v.ithin 
his  majesty's  dominions,  there  to  remain  without  either  bail,  or  the  pri- 
vilege of  demanding  a  trial  to  ascertain  the  charges.  The  law  was  to 
comprehend  crimes  siip[)ose  i  to  be  generated  in  these  realms,  though 
committed  abroad,  and  the  pcinalties  were  to  extend  to  all  at  home,  by 
whom  they  should  be  suspected  to  be  suggested  or  encOmaged.  The 
law  was  to  continue  in  force  for  a  year;  and  thus  any  man  asserted  to 
be  suspected  of  these  crimes,  might  at  the  pleasure  of  ministers,  te  de- 
tained in  prison  at  home,  or  even  sent  to  our  foreign  settlements ;  de- 
prived of  his  liberty,  or  doomed  to  banishment  without  any  investigation 
of  his  case.     Every  British  subject  might  be  alleged  to  be  an  object  of 


irrr.— Chap.  XVIII.  REIGN  OF  CEOUGK  III.  421 

[Opposition  to  the  bill — it  is  paised  with  amendments  ] 

suspicion  ;  his  liberty,  therefore,  the  enjoyment  of  his  friends  and  na- 
tive country,  the  exercise  of  his  talents,  industry,  and  skill,  might  de- 
pend upon  the  permission  of  administration.     Mr.  Dunning  first  disco- 
vered and  exposed  the  nature  and  tendency  of  this  proposition;  it  might, 
he  proved,  operate  not  only  as  a  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus,  but  as 
a  temporary  banishment  to  persons  against  whom  there  was  no  evidence 
oi  criminal  conduct.     It  was  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  laws  and  a  free 
constitution,  founded  in  arbitrary  principles,  and  fitted  to  produce  tyran- 
nical consequences ;  these  positions  he  established   by  a  recital  of  its 
various  provisions,  and   an  enumeration  of  its  obvious   effects.     The 
strongest  objections  being  already  adduced,  Mr.  Fox  followed  the  pro- 
bable operation  of  the  law  through  a  great  variety  of  cases,  and  by  his 
luminous  eloquence  illuslrated  its  injustice  and  impolicy.     Recurring  to 
its  principle,  he  inferred  it  to  be  an  index  of  a  general  design  long  form- 
ed for  changing  the  constitution  of  this  country,  and  executed  as  oppor- 
tunities served,  circumstances  suited,  and  power  increased.    To  support 
their  motion,  ministers  employed  the  usual  topics  ;  in  dangerous  situa- 
tions it  is  necessary  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  government,  and  impos- 
sible to  carry  on  public  business  without  delegating  power  to  the  crown, 
which  would  be  improper  in  seasons  of  tranquilhty.     The  apprehensions 
from  the  operation  implied  a  want  of  that  confidence  in  ministers,  without 
which  they  could  not  perform  their  official  duties  ;  should  the  authority 
intrusted  to  the  executive  government  for  a  specific  and  indispensable 
purpose  be  abused,  the  means  of  redress  were  easy  ;  parliament  could 
not  only  withhold  future  reliance,  but  prosecute  past  malversation.     To 
these  common  arguments,  the  luminaries  of  the  law  and  eloquence  urged 
their  objections  with  a  force  which  lord  North  saw  it  was  in  vain  to  com- 
bat ;  he  was  moreover  informed  that  great  fears  were  entertained  by  the 
people  from  the  proposed  law :  to  satisfy  all  parties,  his  characteristic 
dexterity  gave  such  an  explanation  of  his  purjjoses,  as  permitted  a  very 
material  change  in  the  bill.     Perceiving  the  minister  begin  to  relax,  Mr. 
Dunning  offered  two  amendments  ;  the  one  circumscribing  the  objects, 
the  other  the  penalties  of  the  law.  After  a  long  discussion,  it  was  agreed 
that  the  bill  should  extend  to  none  who  were   not  out  of  the  kingdom 
when  the  offences  were  committed,  and  that  the  confinement  should  be 
in  no  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions  but  within  this  realm.  Lord  North, 
in  admitting  these  changes,  declared  that  thj  present  state  of  the  bill 
corresponded  with  his  principles  and  objects  ;  ai\d  tl  it  ho  was  'sorry  if 
any  ambiguity  of  expression  excited  a  difl!erent  opinion  :  he  hoped  the 
present  correction  would  satisfy  gentlemen  in  opposition,  and  that  the 
law  would  meet  universal  approbation.     While  the  minister  thus  strove 
to  please  both  parties,  he,  as  is  usually  the  case,  satisfied  neither  ;  op- 
position thought  he  conceded  too  little,  many  of  the  ministerial  party 
that  he  conceded  too  much  ;  and  that  to  render  the  bill  agreeable  to  his 
political  adversaries,  he  deviated  from  the  intent  with  which  it  was  de- 
signed by  his  coadjutors.     Lord  North,  indeed,  often  rendered  it  evi- 
dent, that  on  very  im.portant  questions  he  either  did  not  originally  agree 
with  some  of  his  own  colleagues,  or  that,  in  the  progress  of  a  discussion, 
he  fluctuated  between  contrary  opinions.     His  education  had  rendered 
him  a  tory ;  his  situation  and  many  concurrent  circumstances  made  him 
the  official  promoter  of  coercion,  but  his  temper  and  disposition  inclined 
him  to  mildness  and  conciliation.   If  any  of  his  measures  were  imperious 


422  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuip.  XVm.—  1777. 

[Nabob  of  Arcot.    Lord  Pigot  sent  to  India] 

or  arbitrary,  their  severity  and  harsliness  arose,  not  from  a  mind  dictato- 
rial and  tyrannical,  but  too  yielding  and  indulgent,  and  which,  from  ex- 
cessive pliancy,  too  often  gave  way  to  understandings  far  inferior  to  his 
own.  The  bill,  with  the  alterations,  passed  the  house  of  commons  ;  and 
being  carried  to  the  peers,  occasioned  neither  debate  nor  amendment. 
The  peers  of  opposition  absented  themselves  so  generally,  that  the  only 
protesting  opponent  was  lord  Abingdon. 

The  attention  of  the  nation  for  several  years  had  been  almost  solely 
engrossed  by  the  American  contest ;  but  a  transaction  on  the  coast  of 
Coromandel  now  atUacted  the  regard  of  the  public  to  the  East  Indies. 

At  the  treaty  of  Paris,  France  had  been  obliged  to  admit  Sallabat 
Sing  as  lawful  soubah  of  the  Decan :  Mahomed  Ali  Cawn,  as  lawful 
nabob  of  the  Carnatic,  or  of  Arcot.  This  prince  had  ever  since  culti- 
vated a  very  close  intercourse  with  the  civil  and  military  powers  of  the 
English  presidency  at  Madras,  and  resided  in  the  fortress.  He  display- 
ed vigorous  ability,  enterprise,  and  ambition  ;  and  formed  a  considerable 
army,  which  he  disciplined  by  British  officers.  His  expensive  estabhsh- 
ment  and  munificent  gifts  to  the  company's  servants,  had  greatly  ex- 
hausted his  treasures  ;  but  his  donations  and  character  acquired  an  in- 
flcnce  in  the  council,  through  which,  with  the  assistance  of  his  forces,  he 
did  not  doubt  that  he  would  soon  supply  the  deficiencies.  Accordingly  a 
joint  project  was  concerted  by  the  nabob  and  his  friends  of  the  British 
presidency  ;  this  was  an  expedition  to  Tanjore.  Fuligee,  rajah  of  Tan- 
jore,  was  a  Gentoo  prince,  near  Cape  Comorin,  whose  ancestors  had 
never  been  conquered  by  the  Mahomedan  invaders  of  Hindostan  :  they 
were,  however,  obliged  to  pay  a  tribute.  He  himself  had  been  for  many 
years,  and  then  was,  in  alliance  with  both  the  English  and  the  nabob, 
and  held  his  dominions  under  their  joint  guarantee.  When  the  mogul 
granted  to  the  English  such  extensive  powers,  and  they  formed  such  ar- 
rangements as  would  render  them  most  profitable,  it  was  resolved  that  \ 
Mahomed  Ali  Cawn  should  be  appointed  to  collect  a  revenue  due  to  his 
superior,  and  that  a  considerable  sum  should  be  allowed  to  himself  for 
agency.  After  this  nomination,  a  great  variety  of  pecuniary  transactions 
took  place  between  Mahomed  and  the  king  of  Tanjore.  The  nabob  ap- 
plied to  Fuligee  for  the  revenue  that  was  due ;  the  rajah  alleged  that  he 
had  a  right  to  deduct  sums  owing  to  him  by  the  other,  on  the  balance  of 
their  private  accounts.  The  nabob  insisted  on  the  immediate  payment 
of  the  whole  revenue,  and  proposed  to  refer  their  own  concerns  to  sub- 
sequent consideration.  Fuligee  repeated  his  proposals  for  the  deduction, 
and  pleaded  his  inability  by  any  other  means  to  pay  the  demand.  The 
nabob  applied  to  the  government  at  Madras,  and  engaged  the  presidency 
to  support  him,  by  iuvadmg  Tanjore  with  the  company's  forces.  The 
event  of  this  convention  was,  that  the  rajah  was  despoiled  of  his  riches, 
and  his  subjects  were  phmdered.*  The  proceeds  of  this  incursion 
amounted  to  about  five  millions  sterling;  and  the  chief  part  of  the  booty 
was  divided  among  the  company's  servants.  When  the  news  of  this  ex- 
pedition reached  England,  the  East  India  directors  manifested  great  dis- 
pleasure against  the  plunderers  of  Tanjore,  and  concerted  measures  for 
making  all  possible  restitution  to  the  injured  rajah.  For  that  purpose, 
they  sent  out  as  governor  to  Madras,  lord  Pigot,  so  highly  respected  for 

•  Annual  Regiiier,  1777,  p.  94— 110. 


irr7.— f^uip.  XVIII.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGK  iir.  423 

[Conspiracy  against  him.] 

his  able  and  effectual  defence  of  it  seventeen  years  before  against  the 
French ;  to  him  the  company  were  indebted  for  preserving  its  posses- 
sions in  that  part  of  India.  His  civil  government  was  no  less  distinguish- 
ed than  his  military  exploits,  and  his  private  character  procured  him  ex- 
tensive esteem.  The  English  presidency,  meanwhile,  prepared  to  guard 
against  the  consequences  of  their  late  acts  ;  and  the  nabob  was  still  more 
anxiously  making  provisions  for  not  only  retaining  what  he  had  already 
acquired,  but  for  securing,  through  his  friends  at  Madras,  the  perpetual 
possession  of  the  kingdom  of  Tanjore.  Lord  Pigot  arrived  in  the  latter 
end  of  1775,  and  was  violently  opposed  by  the  majority  of  the  council 
and  the  commander  in  chief,  in  executing  the  proposed  plans  of  reform. 
Notwithstanding  these  obstacles,  he  succeeded  so  far  as  to  restore  the 
king  of  Tanjore  to  his  ancient  and  hereditary  dominions.  This  act  of 
justice  enraged  the  nabob,  who,  with  his  son,  an  impetuous  and  daring 
youth,  joined  tlie  most  avowedly  violent  of  their  friends  in  the  presidency. 
Lord  Pigot  thought  it  of  the  highest  moment  to  send  a  proper  officer  to 
restore  the  king  of  Tanjore  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  council  opposed  the 
appointment  of  the  person  whom  he  nominated  for  that  purpose,  and 
contended  that  their  board  had  a  right  to  act,  notwithstanding  the  dissent 
of  the  governor.  Pigot  contended,  that  the  governor  was  a  part  in  every 
legal  and  orderly  act  of  government.  His  lordship  finding,  as  he  affirm- 
ed, that  the  sole  principle  of  the  council  was  to  traverse  all  his  endea- 
vours to  carry  the  orders  of  the  company  into  execution,  embraced  a 
very  strong  measure  :  having  put  the  question,  he,  by  his  own  casting 
vote,  suspended  two  of  the  council  ;  and,  by  his  supreme  authority  put 
the  commander  in  chief  under  arrest.  Enraged  at  these  proceedings, 
the  secluded  members,  together  with  the  nabob  and  his  son,  formed  a 
plot  for  securing  the  person  of  the  president,  and  eflecting  a  revolution 
in  the  government,  which  should  place  the  power  entirely  in  their  own 
hands.  By  the  confinement  of  sir  Robert  Fletcher,  colonel  Stuart  suc- 
ceeded to  the  immediate  command  of  tlic  forces.  This  gentleman  was 
extremely  intimate  with  the  governor,  to  whom  he  appeared  warmly  at- 
tached ;  nevertheless  he  was  closely  connected  with  the  suspended 
members  and  their  adherents.  Becoming  an  accomplice  in  their  con- 
spiracy, he,  by  his  military  power  and  personal  ability,  was  a  formidable 
accession  to  their  party.  Stuart  was  aware  that  violence  offered  to  the 
governor's  person  by  the  troops  within  the  precincts  of  the  fortress,  would 
involve  the  actors  in  the  capital  penalties  of  the  mutiny  laws ;  but  by 
means  of  his  professed  friendship,  he  was  able  to  invent  a  stratagem  for 
seizing  the  person  of  the  governor,  without  incurring  the  legal  criminali- 
ty. On  the  24lh  of  August  1776,  colonel  Stuart  spent  the  day  at  the 
house  of  lord  Pigot,*  and  was  entertained  with  all  the  cordiality  that  a 
host  could  exert  to  a  visitant  whom  he  thought  his  sincere  and  affection- 
ate friend.  The  guest,  complaining  of  the  excessive  heat  of  the  fortress, 
and  observing  his  entertainer  also  affected  by  it,  advised  him  to  spend 
the  night  at  a  villa  belonging  to  the  governor,  and,  as  an  inducement,  of- 
fered to  accompany  him  in  the  excursion.  The  governor  being  per- 
suaded, they  set  out  together  :  when  they  were  bi^ond  the  precincts  of 
the  fort,  his  lordship,  according  to  the  concert  of  his  guest  and  professed 

•  Annual  Register,  \777,  p.  25-2,  255;  and  in  detail  in  the  evidence  before  the 
company. 


424  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XVIII.— 1777. 

[Proceeding's  in  the  India  House  and  in  parliament.] 

friend  with  his  avowed  enemies,  was  met  by  an  officer  and  a  party  of  se- 
poys, rudely  and  violently  dratrged  out  of  the  chaise,  carried  prisoner  to 
the  Mount,  and  strongly  guarded.  Pubhc  orders,  signed  by  the  princi- 
pal cons;piiators,  were  issued,  by  which  immediate  death  was  denounced 
on  all  who  shoidd  attempt  his  rescue.  The  conspirators  and  their  friends, 
under  a  course  of  legal  forms,  assumed  the  whole  power  of  government. 
Representations  of  these  transactions  were  immediately  transmitted  by 
the  dilleront  parties  to  Europe;  and  the  nabob,  who  had  taken  so  active 
a  share  in  the  disturbances,  sent  a  gentleman  as  his  agent  both  to  the 
company  and  ministers.  A  court  of  proprietors  having  considered  the 
business,  recommended  to  the  directors  to  reinstate  lord  Pigot,  and  pun- 
ish those  who  iiad  dispossessed  him  of  bis  power.  The  directors  were 
not  so  decided  in  their  opinion  as  tlieir  constituents  :  they  voted  indeed 
for  the  restoration  of  lord  Pigot,  and  tl.e  suspension  of  the  conspirators 
from  their  offices  ;  but  they  also  resolved,  tiiat  his  lordship's  conduct  had 
been  reprehensible  in  several  instances.  When  they  re-considered  the 
business,  it  was  evident  that  their  opinions  were  much  farther  distant 
from  those  of  the  proprietors,  than  at  first.  The  agents  of  the  ruling 
party  at  Madras,  and  the  commissioners  from  the  nabob,  had  by  this 
time  pressed  their  arguments  and  statements  with  a  force  and  effect 
which  weakened  the  professions  that  had  produced  the  late  resolutions. 
Government  also  had  listened  with  such  attention  to  the  accounts  of  the 
prevailing  party,  as  to  have  become  manifestly  favourable  to  the  oppos- 
ers  of  lord  Pigot.  On  the  9th  of  May,  the  question  being  again  discussed 
in  the  India  house,*  it  was  determined  that  the  governor  should  be  re- 
stored, but  that  he  and  the  council  of  Madras  should  be  ordered  home, 
and  their  respective  conduct  undergo  a  legal  scrutiny.  From  this  deter- 
mination governor  Johnstone  appealed  to  the  house  of  commons,  and 
moved  for  resolutions  expressing  strong  approbation  of  the  conduct  of 
lord  Pigot,  condemning  the  proceedings  of  his  opponents,  and  annulling 
the  resolution.  The  seceders  were  now  returned  to  the  house,  and,  with 
the  rest  of  the  party,  supported  the  motion  of  governor  Johnstone.  The 
adherents  of  ministry  censured  the  conduct  of  lord  Pigot,  as  well  as  his 
opponents,  and  contended,  that  in  such  circumstances  it  was  right  and 
equitable  to  bring  both  parties  to  England,  where  only  a  just  and  impar- 
tial inquiry  into  their  conduct  could  be  carried  into  execution.  By  the 
restoration  of  lord  Pigot,  the  dignity  of  government  would  be  supported 
and  established  ;  but  he  had  abused  his  trust,  and  violated  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  company,  therefore  his  removal  was  equally  just  and  neces- 
sary. O[)posilion  justified  the  conduct  of  the  governor,  and  insisted  that 
the  proceedings  toward  him  amounted  to  an  insurrection  against  estab- 
lished government.  Mr.  Burke  displayed  tlie  atrocity  of  inferior  ser- 
vants towards  a  superior,  v/ho  was  promoting  the  honour  and  interests  of 
their  mutual  master;  and  entered  very  deeply  into  the  conduct  of  the 
nabob  of  Arcot,  and  the  corrupt  and  dangerous  influence  acquired  not 
only  at  Madras  but  in  this  country  by  that  ambitious  prince.  The  British 
government  had  espoused  his  cause,  and  that  of  his  factious  adherents: 
administration,  by  llWbming  the  tools  of  this  nabob,  and  countenancing 
schemes  destructive  to  the  interests  of  the  company,  had  rendered  it  ab- 
solutely necessary  for  parliament  to  interfere  for  the  security  and  preser- 

•  See  proceeding's  of  the  India  house  respecting  lord  Pigot. 


1777.— Chap.  XVIII.  UEIGN  OF  eEOUGK  III.  425 

[Motion  of  lord  Chatham  for  terminating  the  war  rt-jected.    Supplies.] 

vation  of  India.  These  argunienls  had  considerable  wci<.4)t,  and  tho 
motion  was  negatived  by  a  majority  of  only  twenty-three,  being  much 
ismaller  than  tiiose  which  usually  voted  (or  ininislers.  As  governor 
Johnstone's  appeal  was  rejected,  the  resolutions  of  the  India  house  met 
with  no  further  animadversion  from  parliameni  :  an  order  was  sent  out 
for  recalhng  lord  Pigot,  as  well  as  the  members  of  the  council. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  the  earl  of  Chatham  made  one  effort  to  rescue 
his  country  from  the  miseries  of  war.  Tliis  illustrious  statesman  disre- 
garded the  disappointment  of  his  former  attempts,  and  was  more  strongly 
confirmed  by  the  event  in  his  reprobation  of  hostilities  destructive  to  the 
parties:  enfeebled  by  age,  borne  down  by  distem])er,  and  supported  by 
crutches,  with  a  body  lit  only  for  the  bed  of  sickness,  but  a  mind  quali- 
fied to  restore  the  nation  from  sickness  to  health  if  it  would  follow 
his  prescription,  the  venerable  patriot  came  forward  to  propose  the  sal- 
vation of  the  state  by  a  change  of  counsels  and  of  conduct.  He  moved 
an  address  to  the  throne,  representing  that  they  were  deeply  penetrated 
by  the  misfortunes  which  impended  over  the  kingdom  from  the  continua- 
tion of  an  unnatural  war.  He  recommended  an  immediate  cessation  of 
hostilities,  and  a  removal  of  accumulated  grievances^  as  the  only  means 
of  regaining  the  affections  of  our  brethren,  and  securing  to  Great  Britain 
the  commercial  and  political  advantages  of  those  valuable  possessions* 
In  explaining  his  goneral  object,  he  unavoidably  repeated  statements 
formerly  made,  and  arguments  frequently  advanced,  both  by  himself  and 
other  statesmen.  But  he  exhibited  more  fully  and  circumstantially  than 
at  any  preceding  period,  the  danger  to  which  our  discord  and  situation 
exposed  us  from  the  house  of  Bourbon.  This  part  of  his  speech  was  a 
forcible,  eloquent  and  impressive  comment  on  his  own  text,  delivered  at 
a  much  earlier  sta^e  of  the  contest — France  and  Spain  are  watching 
THE  MATURITY  OF  vouR  ERRORS.  It  showed  with  what  penetrating  sa- 
gacity and  enlarged  comprehension  a  mind  of  which  "  age  had  neither 
dimmed  the  perspicacity  nor  narrowed  the  range,"*  darted  into  the  secret 
counsels  of  our  rivals,  developed  the  proofs  of  their  designs,  and  unfolded 
tlie  series  of  their  policy.  Ministers,  he  said,  as  they  had  blundered 
from  the  beginning,  are  led  into  a  fatal  error  respecting  our  inveterate 
enemies  the  French;  they  imagine  nothing  is  to  be  dreaded  iVom  France, 
becausje  she  has  not  directly  interfered  in  favour  of  America.  Would 
they  have  France  incur  the  expense  and  hazard  of  a  war,  when  Britain 
is  doing  all  for  her  that  she  can  possibly  wish  or  desire  ?|  She  has  been 
sedulous  to  give  just  that  degree  of  countenance  and  protection,  which 
has  hitherto  served  to  keep  the  civil  war  alive,  so  as  to  batfle  your  de- 
signs, or  to  waste  your  strength.  The  energetic  orator  described  in  the 
truest  light,  as  well  as  the  most  glowing  colours,  the  evils  that  had  arisen, 
were  proceeding,  and  must  farther  issue,  from  the  ministerial  system.  Ne- 
vertheless liis  reasoning  and  eloquence  were  again  unavailing,  his  pacifica- 
tory motions  were  rejected,  and  wisdom  cried,  but  she  was  not  regarded. 

The  supplies  for  the  current  year  were  very  great:  they  consisted  of 
about  forty-five  thousand  seamen,  and  about  sixty  thousand  land  forces, 
including  all  in  the  British  pay  at  home  and  abroad.  The  sun\s  required 
for  the  three  great  departments  of  annual  provision,  the  navy,  army,  and 

•  See  Mackintosh's  V'indlcln;  C.allicaf. 

f  See  parliamentary  reports,  3d  Mav,  1777. 

Vol.  VII.— 54 


426  HISTOUY  OF  tup:  Chap.  XVlll.— ir77. 

[Strictures  on  lord  North.     Unexpected  demand  from  Hesse-Cassel.] 

ordinance,  were  granted  without  a  division.  The  demands  of  the  year 
rendering  a  loan  necessary,  five  millions  were  voted;  the  new  taxes  for 
paying  the  interest  were,  a  duty  upon  male  servants  not  employed  in 
agriculture,  manufactures,  or  commerce;  on  auctioneers,  and  on  goods 
sold  by  auction;  and  additional  imposts  on  glass  and  stamps.  These 
being  all  taxes  which  could  not  be  charged  with  affecting  the  necessaries 
of  life,  or  extending  greatly  to  the  poorer  classes,  were  deemed  unob- 
jectionable as  measures  of  finance.  On  inspecting  the  accounts  of  ex- 
penditure during  the  preceding  year,  opposition  contended  that  they  were 
perplexed,  obscure,  and  nearly  unintelligible.  Besides  this  intricacy, 
which  they  imputed  to  them  generally,  there  were  in  various  instances 
great  sums  stated  in  the  gross  amount,  without  any  specification  of  items. 
This  objection  was  urged  with  peculiar  severity  against  the  charges  for 
contracts;  the  agreement  for  supplying  the  army  and  fleet  in  America 
with  rum,  afforded  an  ample  field  for  animadversion:  four  shillings  per 
gallon  had  been  allowed,  when  three  was  the  market  price;  and  the  con- 
tractor was  in  one  account  credited  with  thirty-five  thousand  pounds  for 
rum,  without  any  statement  of  the  quantity,  quality,  or  price  of  the  goods 
delivered :  the  same  person  had  also  the  benefit  of  a  very  objectionable 
contract  with  government  for  furnishing  horses.  In  discussing  these 
bargains,  lord  North's  dealings  with  contractors,  which  afterwards  con- 
stituted so  ca|)ital  a  subject  of  reprehension,  were  for  the  first  time  scru- 
tinized and  censured;  and  it  was  strongly  contended,  that  in  the  depart- 
ment of  his  business  which  respected  national  grants,  the  minister  was 
far  from  being  a  fritsral  stexcard  of  the  public  money.  But  the  animad- 
versions on  this  profusion  were  by  no  means  confined  to  economical 
considerations,  they  also  extended  to  political.  Opposition  charged  the 
minister  not  only  with  waste,  but  corruption:  several  contractors  had 
seats  in  parliament;  national  treasure,  it  was  observed,  was  squandered 
in  iniquitous  contracts,  and  the  contractor  was,  by  the  money  of  his 
constituents,  bri!)ed  to  betray  their  interests,  which  he  had  been  chosen 
to  protect.  Bad  and  unwliolesome  provisions  were  allowed  to  be  sent 
by  persons  receiving  a  price  much  beyond  the  market  value  of  provisions 
that  were  really  good  and  wholesome:  such  deleterious  fare  spread  dis- 
temper through  the  troops,  and  carried  off  many  more  than  actual  ser- 
vice. The  minister  endeavoured  to  defend  himself  from  these  charges  ; 
but  his  arguments,  though  plausible  and  dexterously  urged,  were  by  no 
means  cogent  and  convincing. 

The  payment  of  an  unexpected  demand  to  the  langrave  of  Hesse- 
Cassel,  for  a  debt  alleged  by  him  to  have  been  due  for  levj'  money  ever 
since  1755,  was  severely  censured.  The  minister  contended  that  the 
claim  was  fair,  though  from  the  distance  of  time  not  expected.  The 
Hessian  prince  was  in  justice  entitled  to  the  amount,  though  there  had 
been  no  late  treaty;  and  while  we  were  now  deriving  such  benefit  from 
his  troop.;,  policy  required  us  to  keep  on  the  best  terms  with  him,  by 
satisfying  his  just  demandi*. 

After  the  pecuniary  business  had  hccn  thought  to  be  entirely  at  aji 
end,  and  the  session  was  drawing  near  to  a  close,  a  message  was  deli- 
vered from  his  majesty,  informing  the  house  that  a  debt  of  G1S,00()/. 
had  been  incurred  by  the  civil  list.  The  minister  moved,  that  the  re- 
quisite sum  should  be  granted  for  discharging  the  amount;  and  that  a 
hundred  thousand  pounds  .should  be  added  amiually  to  the  eight  hundred 


1777— Chai'.  XVIII.  UEIGN  OF  GKUKGli  III,  427 

[Debt  on  the  civil  list.    Address  of  the  epeaker  to  llie  king.] 

thousand.     This  motion  was  strongly  opposed:  the  incumbrance,  it  was 
alleged,  w£^  owing  entirely  to  the  profusion  of  ministers,  and  liad  been 
contracted  for  the  sake  of  carrying  on  and  supporting  a  system  of  cor- 
ruption.    The  accounts  were,  as  usual  with  that  minister,  intentionally 
intricate,  obscure,  and  general ;  no  less  than  294,000/.  wa«  placed  to  the 
account  of  secret  service  money;  and  vast  sums  were  charged  for  foreign 
ambassadors  and  for  the  board  of  works,  without  any  particularization. 
It  was  inconsistent  with  the  duty  of  the  commons  to  their  constituents,  , 
to  vote  away  the  national  money,  without  any  evidence  of  value  receiv- 
ed ,  the  eight  hundred  thousand  pounds  was  sufficient  for  answering  the 
various  appropriations,  and  supporting  the  regal  dignity  and  splendour. 
The  desired  addition  was  peculiarly  unreasonable  at  the  present  time, 
when  the  nation  was  groaning  under  their  accumulated  burthens  to  pro- 
mote the  ruinous  projects  of  ministry,  and  to  encourage  their  extrava- 
gance and  corruption.     Ministers  argued,  that  the  present  debt,  and  the 
necessity  of  an  addition  to  the  income  of  the  civil  list,  arose  from  the 
same  cause,  the  diminished  value  of  money;   besides  the  royal  family 
had  increased  in  number.   The  greatest possihle  economij  (said  lord  North) 
always  had  been,  and  always  shoidd  be  employed,  while  lie  teas  at  the  head 
of  the  treasury.     The  motions  being  carried  through  both  houses,  the 
speaker,  a  few  days^after,  in  presenting  the  bill  to  the  king  for  assent, 
used  the  following  words:  "  In  a  time  sire,  of  public  distress,  full  of  diffi- 
culty and  danger,  their  constituents  labouring  under  burthens  almost  too 
heavy  to  be  borne,  your  faithful  commons,  postponing  all  other  business, 
have  not  only  granted  to  your  majesty  a  large  present  supply,  but  also  a 
very  great  additional  revenue,  great  beyond  example,  great  beyond  your 
majesty's  highest  expense;  but  all  this,  sire,  they  have  done  in  the  well 
grounded  confidence,  that  you  will  apply  wisely  what  they  have  granted 
liberally."  On  their  return  to  their  own  house,  the  commons  voted  unani- 
mous thanks  to  the  speaker.     Some  of  the  ministerial  party,  however, 
on  reconsidering  the  subject  were  greatly  displeased  with  what  he  had 
delivered,  as  it  appeared  to  them  to  contain  an  insinuation  not  favourable 
to  the  character  which  they  claimed  of  being  economical  stewards  for  the 
public.     Mr.  Rigby,  a  few  days  after,  declared  that  the  speaker  had  not 
expressed  the  sense  of  the  commons:  Mr.  Fox  immediately  moved,  that 
he  had  spoken  the  sense  of  the  house.    Lord  North  and  the  more  mode- 
rate part  of  the  ministerial  adherents,  though  they  wished  the  motion 
withdrawn,  finding  Mr.  Fox  would  not  comply,  to  avoid  altercation  voted 
in  its  favour;  and  on  the  8th  of  June,  parliament  was  prorogued. 


428  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.   XlX.—lTr?. 


CHAP.  XIX. 


Occupntions  of  Howe  iliiiiiic!:  winter — of  Washington. — Plan  of  the  campaign — 
its  late  commencement  l)y  g-encml  Howe — desultory  operations  in  the  Jerseys. 
— General  Howe  moves  from  winter  cjuarters — attempts  by  a  strataerein  to  bring 
■Washlnpton  to  liatile— failing  in  that  expedient,  evacuates  the  Jerseys. — Ex- 
pediiion  hy  seato  Philadelpliia. —  Ilattle  o(  Rrandywine. — Major  Ferguson  essays 
a  new  species  of  rifle,  invented  by  himself. — Capture  of  Pliiiadelphia — Battle 
of  Germantown — American  fortifications  on  the  river. — Red  Rank  and  Mud  Isl- 
and taken  — American  fleet  burnt. — Situation  of  the  Americans  at  White 
^larsh  and  Vailey  Forge  favourable  to  an  attack. — General  Howe's  inaction — he 
retiresearly  to  winter  quarters. — Conduct  of  p^eneral  and  troops  at  Philadel- 
phia.— Expedition  of  sir  Henry  Clinton  up  the  North  river. —  Capture  ofPrescot 
in  Khode  island. — ^  or'.hern  army — Hurgoyne  takes  the  command. — Carleton 
offended  with  the  appointment,  resigns  his  employment. — Rurgoyne  purchases 
the  aid  of  Indian  savages — number  of  his  troops. —  Expedition  of  c  )lonel  St, 
Leger. — 'I'lie  general's  manifesto. — Capture  of  Ticonderocja  and  Fort  Indepen- 
dt-nce. — Destruction  of  American  galleys — The  army  reached  the  [ludson. — 
Ouelties  of  the  Indians. — Defeat  at  l'>ennington. — Siege  of  Stanwix — raised. —  , 
Battle  with  general.  Gates  at  Stillwater.— Distressed  situation  of  the  army — de- 
sertion of  the  Indians — Burfjoyne  retreats — Battle  near  Saratoga — reduced 
state  of  tiie  army---troops  surrounded— convention  with  the  Americans  at  Sara- 
togfa. 

The  public  attention  was  now  turned  to  the  campaign  in  America,  and 
great  expectations  were  formed  that  it  would  terminate  in  the  complete 
reduction  of  the  colonies.  The  general  plan  was  nearly  the  same  as  in 
the  preceding  year ;  that  the  Canadian  army  .should  co-operate  with 
general  Howe,  and  thus  the  command  of  New-York  province  divide  the 
northern  from  the  .'southern  colonies. 

A  body  of  provincial  loyalists  was  formed  under  the  direction  of  the 
commander  in  chief;  they  were  allowed  the  same  pay  as  the  regulars, 
and  officered  by  gentlemen  who  had  been  obliged  to  leave  their  respec- 
tive habitations  for  their  attachment  to  the  royal  cause.  Inexperienced 
and  not  inured  to  military  discipline,  they  were  not  yet  fit  for  active  ser- 
vice and  were  therefore  so  stationed  as  to  allow  the  veterans  to  take  the 
field.  General  Howe  himself  enjoyed  evefy  luxury  at  New  York  which 
he  could  have  found  in  the  metropolis  of  Britain:  his  favotirite  occupa- 
tion was  gaming,  a  pastime  in  which  many  of  his  young  officers  became 
thoroughly  initiatffl.  There  were  routs,  balls,  and  assemblies  in  great 
abtmdance:  so  that  tiie  lioad-quartors  bore  the  appearance  of  a  gay  and 
voluptuous  city  in  tiie  time  of  peace,  rather  than  a  military  station  for 
watching  and  annoying  the  enemy  in  war.*  Such  were  the  pursuits  of 
the  Hritish  commander  from  December  to  June.  While  general  Howe 
thus  amused  himself  and  his  troops  with  llio  diversions  and  pleasures 
ofNew-Vork,  Wa.shington  was  very  diflercntly  employed.  The  diffi- 
culties which,  notwithstanding  the  forbearance  of  his  antagonist,  the 
American  commander  had  to  encounter,  were, extremely  arduous.  The 
provinciiil  forces  were  hitherto  but  a  militia,  both  in  their  discipline  and 

•  Stcdman's  History  of  the  Anaerican  war,  vol.  i.  p.  287^ 


1777.— Chap.  XIX.  liEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  429 

[Proceedings  of  Washington.     Expedition  to  Danbury,  &c.] 

the  tenure  of  their  service:  the  late  success  at  Trenton  promoted  the 
disposition  of  the  colonists  to  resist ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  the  severity 
of  the  season  suspended  their  nnihtary  ardour,  insomuch  that  about  the 
middle  of  February  the  colonial  army  did  not  exceed  four  thousand  men  ;* 
and  this  small  body  of  raw  peasants  was  moreover  sickly.   Nevertheless 
for  four  months  they  occupied  a  position  at  Morristown,  not  fifty  miles 
from  the  brave  and  numerous  veterans  of  the  royal  army,  where  they  not 
only  experienced  no  annoyance  from  general  Howe,|  but  harrassed  and 
distressed  the  British  posts  and  foraging  detachments.     Washington  did 
not  fail  to  profit  by  the  cessation  of  British  effort.     The  boundless  spirit 
of  individual  independence,  which  so  naturally  followed  the  American 
claims  and  assertions,  was  adverse  to  the  operation  of  authority,  and 
especially  to  that  prompt  and  implicit  submission  which  is  necessary  in 
military  bodies.     Washington  saw  that  the  powers  which  were  allowed 
iu  the  various  gradations  of  command,  were  inadequate  to  their  object: 
hitherto  the  commander  in  chief  himself  was  obliged  to  act  according  to 
the  specific  instructions  of  the  congress.     The  general  represented  the 
disadvantages  which  accrued  to  the  common  cause  from  authority  so 
fettered;  and  such  was  the  influence  of  his  known  wisdom  and  patriotism, 
that  he  was  vested  with  full  and  ample  powers  to  collect  an  army  of  foot 
and  horse  in  addition  to  those  which  were  already  voted,  to  raise  artillery 
and  engineers,  and  to  establish  their  pay.     Thus  empowered  to  organize 
an  army,  the  next  care  of  Washington  was  to  bind  the  troops  to  military 
fidelity  as  well  as  political  allegiance.     To  the  powerful  motives  of  con- 
ceived patriotism  and  freedom  lie  added  the  cement  of  religion,  and,  with 
the  approbation   of  congress,   proposed   an  oath  of  adherence   to   the 
provincial  cause.     Provisions  so  wise  produced  the  expected  success; 
the  colonists  soon  ceased  to  be  an  irregular  militia,  and  became  skilful 
and  disciplined  soldiers.     During  the  same  important  interval,  twenty 
thousand  stand  of  arms  arrived  from  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  before 
the  expiration  of  the  spring  the  hopes  and  spirits  of  the  Americans  were 
revived  and  invigorated  to  meet  the  dangers  of  the  approaching  cam- 
paign.    Such  were  the  efforts  of  Washington  during  the   momentous 
period  which  the  British  general  passed  in  pleasurable  quarters. 

Summer  being  commenced,  Howe  proposed  to  begin  the  operations 
of  the  present  campaign,  according  to  the  same  mode  in  which  he  termi- 
nated the  last,  and  to  send  out  detachments,  while  with  the  main  army 
he  continued  in  his  present  residence.  Upon  the  Hudson  river,  about 
fifty  miles  from  New  York,  on  the  western  shore,  is  a  place  called  Peek's 
Hill,  which  served  as  a  port  to  Courtland  Manor,  and  were  stores  ar»d 
provisions  were  received  for  the  American  army  :  to  distress  the  enemy, 
general  Howe  thought  it  adviseable  to  attempt  the  seizure  of  this  jwrt 
before  the  main  army  took  the  field.  Accordingly  he  detached  colonel 
Bird  with  five  hundred  men  upon  this  service.  On  the  approach  of  the 
British  corps,  the  Americans,  after  setting  fire  to  the  barracks  and  store- 
houses, evacuated  the  fort :  by  the  conflagration,  the  king's  troops  were 
prevented  from  seizing  the  expected  provision  and  ammunition,  but  they 
effected  the  chief  purpose  of  their  expedition  by  curtailing  the  resources 

•  Washington's  official  Letters,  vol.  ii.  p.  SI. 

f  Kanisay,  the  American  historian,  informs  us,  tiiat  Iiis  covuitrymen  were  aston- 
ished at  tlie  inaction  of  the  British  during  so  critical  a  period,  vol.  ii.  p  2. 


430  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIX.— 1777. 

[Howe  evacuates  Jersey.    Expedition  to  Pliiladelphia] 

of  the  enemy.  Another  detachment  of  two  thousand  men  was  sent,  un- 
der general  Tryon  and  sir  WilHam  Erskine,  to  Danbury,  in  the  confines 
of  Connecticut,  where  they  destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  stores  :  fatigued 
by  their  march,  they  were  attacked  by  the  enemy,  but  repulsed  the  as- 
sailants, tliough  with  the  loss  of  two  hundred  of  their  own  troops.  Lord 
Cornwallid  also  sur[)rised  and  defeated  a  body  of  colonists  near  Bruns- 
wick. The  Americans,  on  the  other  hand,^  destroyed  a  considerable 
quantity  of  our  provision  near  Sag  Harbour  in  Long  Island.  General 
Stevens  with  two  thousand  provincials  attempted  to  surprise  the  forty- 
second  regiment  cantoned  at  Piscataway,  amounting  to  less  than  a  thou- 
sand men ;  but  after  a  furious  engagement,  the  gallant  Highlanders, 
under  their  able  commander  colonel  Stirling,  completely  routed  the  ene- 
my. While  this  desultory  warfare  was  carried  on  by  detachments,  the 
commander  in  chief  remained  quiet  at  New  York  another  month.  His 
alleged  reason  for  beginning  the  campaign  so  late  was,  that  there  was  no 
green  forage  on  the  ground:*  there  was  plenty  of  corn  and  hay,  which 
persons  conversant  in  the  management  of  horses  affirmed  to  be  prefera- 
ble food  for  them  when  employed  in  active  service,  but  the  general  pro- 
fessed a  different  opinion. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  the  general  with  thirty  thousand  men  marched 
towards  Courtland  Manor,  where  the  enemy  were  posted  to  the  number 
of  eight  thousand.  The  position  of  Washington  appeared  to  the  British 
commander  so  strong,  that,  notwithstanding  his  great  superiority  both  in 
numbers  and  discipline,  he  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  venture  an  attack  ; 
after  in  vain  trying  to  bring  the  American  general  to  battle,  he,  on  the 
19 til  of  June,  pretended  to  make  a  precipitate  retreat.  The  Americans 
left  their  fastnesses  to  pursue  the  enemy  ;  Howe  marched  his  army  back, 
and  sent  lord  Cornwallis  to  secure  the  passes,  so  that  the  provincials  be- 
ing hemmed  in  might  be  compelled  to  fight.  On  the  26th,  his  lordship 
met  the  advanced  body  of  the  enemy,  attacked  them  with  great  fury,  and 
soon  put  them  to  route.  Washington,  finding  that  he  had  been  deceived 
by  a  feint,  immediately  returned  to  his  hilly  station,  and  occupied  the 
passes  before  lord  Cornwallis  could  arrive.  Not  having  succeeded  in 
this  stratagem,  general  Howe  somewhat  hastily  concluded  that  it  would 
be  useless  to  attempt  any  other  expedient  for  bringing  the  enemy  to  bat- 
tle ;  he  therefore  resolved  to  abandon  the  Jerseys,  and  crossed  with  his 
army  to  Statcn  Island.  The  general  himself  in  a  plan  of  o[)erations  sent 
to  lord  George  Germaine,  had  declared  his  intention  of  penetrating  to 
Philadelphia,  through  Jersey :  the  minister  had  approved  and  strongly 
enjoined  him  in  all  his  movements  to  have  in  view  co-operation  with  the 
northern  army.  Certain  military  critics  allowed,  that  if  he  had  continued 
in  the  Jerseys,  by  intercepting  Washington's  convoys  he  might  have 
compelled  him  cither  to  fight,  or  with  his  army  to  perish  by  famine  ;  that 
the  short  and  direct  road  to  Philadelphia  was  through  the  Jerseys,  and 
that  with  thirty  tiiousand  veterans  he  could  have  easily  forced  his  way 
through  eight  thoiisand  so  lately  levied.  Notwithstanding  these  con- 
siderations, the  weight  of  which  it  required  little  sagacity  to  perceive,  he 
determined  on  undertaking  an  expedition  round  the  coast ;  nautical  gen- 
tlemen represented  to  him,  that  at  this  season  of  the  year  the  winds  weic 
very  contrary  ;  the  admonitions  were  unavailing,  he  persisted  in  his  re- 

•   Stedman,  vol.  i.  p.  287. 


17?r.— Chap.  XIX.  UEIGN  OF  GEOHGE  III.  43J 

[Dieposition  of  the  British  forces.    New  rifle  invented  by  Fcrgusson.] 

solution.  Leaving  a  considerable  body  of  troops  under  general  Clinton 
to  guard  New  York,  he  embarked  the  rest  of  the  army  on  the  5th  of  July, 
but  by  some  unaccountable  delay  did  not  sail  till  the  23d.  Having  ar- 
rived at  the  capes  of  the  Delaware,  he  learned  (hat  the  enemy  had  blocked 
up  the  river,  he  therefore  proceeded  to  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  sailed 
up  the  Elk,  but  did  not  come  to  land  till  the  24th  of  August.  Thus, 
from  the  beginning  of  November  the  commander  in  chief,  with  thirty 
thousand  of  the  bravest  and  best  disciphned  troops,  opposed  by  less  than 
ten  thousand  undisciplined  recruits,  had  not  advanced  one  step  nearer 
the  object  of  his  appointment.  He  was  in  autumn,  by  a  circuitous  and 
difficult  route,  proceeding  to  a  city,  which  in  the  foregoing  winter  was 
ready  to  yield,  if  he  ha.d  advanced  by  a  short  and  then  unguarded  road  ; 
but  Philadelphia  was  to  be  captured  by  the  hardships  of  a  winter  cam- 
paign, and  not  by  luxurious  indulgence. 

On  landing  the  army,  sir  William  Howe  pubhshed  a  proclamation, 
offering  pardon  and  protection  to  all  who  should  surrender  themselves  to 
the  British  army,  and  assuring  the  inhabitants  that  the  soldiers  should 
observe  strict  order  and  discipline  on  their  march.  General  Washington 
informed  that  the  army  was  arrived  in  Pennsylvania,  crossed  the  Dela- 
ware with  his  army  on  the  11th  of  September.  The  British  troops  ad- 
vanced to  Brandywine,  a  river  which  running  from  the  west,  falls  into 
the  Delaware  below  Philadelphia.  On  the  left  bank,  next  to  the  city, 
the  Americans  posted  themselves,  and  erected  batteries  at  Chadsford, 
where  they  presumed  the  royal  army  would  attempt  to  pass  :  Under  co- 
ver of  their  batteries  a  body  of  them  also  occupied  the  right  bank.  Ge- 
neral Howe  detached  lord  Cornwallis  with  two  battalions  of  British 
grenadiers,  as  many  of  light  troops,  two  battalions  of  Hessian  grena- 
diers, two  British  brigades,  and  part  of  the  seventy-first  regiment,  to  cross 
the  river  farther  up,  and  thus  gain  the  enemy's  rear.  At  the  same  time, 
general  Knyphausen,  with  another  division,  marched  to  Chadsford, 
against  the  provincials  who  were  placed  there ;  in  this  service  the  Ger- 
man experienced  very  important  assistance  from  a  corps  of  riflemen, 
commanded  by  major  Patrick  Fergusson.  The  dexterity  of  the  provin- 
cials as  marksmen  had  been  frequently  quoted,  and  held  out  as  an  object 
of  terror  to  the  British  troops.  Fergusson,  a  man  ofgenius,  which  was 
exercised  in  professional  attainments,  invented  a  Hew  species  of  rifle, 
that  combined  unprecedented  quickness  of  repetition  with  certainty  of 
effect,  and  security  to  the  soldiers.  The  invention  being  not  only  ap- 
proved, but  highly  admired,  its  author  was  appointed  to  form  and  train 
a  corps  for  the  purpose  of  practice  ;  but  an  opportunity  did  not  offer  of 
calling  their  skill  into  action,  until  the  period  at  which  we  are  now  arriv- 
ed. Fergusson,  with  his  corps,  supported  by  Weiiiyss's  American  ran- 
gers, was  appointed  to  cover  the  front  of  Khyphausen's  troops,  and 
scoured  the  ground  so  effectually  that  there  was  not  a  shot  fired  by  the 
Americans  to  annoy  the  column  in  its  march.*     So  secured,  Knyphausen 

•  The  merritorious  conrluct  of  Fergusson,  was  acknowledged  by  the  whole 
army,  and  publicly  attested  by  order  of  the  commander  in  chief. 

Fergusson,  in  a  private  letter  of  which  Dr.  Adam  Fergusson  has  transmitted 
me  a  copy,  mentions  a  very  curioiss  incident,  from  whicli  it  appears  that  the  life 
of  the  American  general  was  in  imminent  danger.  While  Fergusson  lay  with  a 
part  of  his  riflemen  on  a  skirt  of  a  wood  in  front  of  general  Knyp!)auscn's  divi- 
sion, the  circumstance  happened,   of  which  the  letter  in  question  gives  the  fol- 


132  HISTORY  OF  THEfw  Chap.  XIX.— 1777- 

[Battle  of  Brandy  wine.     Defeat  of  general  Wayne.] 

was  enabled  to  advance  without  interruption,  attacked  the  enemy,  obliged 
them  (though  protected  by  their  batteries)  to  cross  the  river,  made  good 
the  passage  of  liis  own  division,  and  opened  the  way  to  the  rest  of  the 
army.  Meanwhile  lord  Cornwallis  crossed  behind  the  enemy's  rear ; 
and  general  ^Vashington,  informed  of  this  movement,  sent  general  Sulli- 
van witli  a  considerable  force  to  oppose  the  British  detachment.  The 
Americans  seized  the  heights  which  rose  from  the  banks ;  having  his 
rear  and  right  flank  covered  by  woods,  and  his  left  by  the  river.  The 
Brili^il  commander  began  the  attack  by  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  ; 
the  provincials,  after  a  very  obstinate  resistance,  werp  driven  into  the 
woods ;  and  posting  themselves  on  another  eminence,  made  a  second 
stand  still  more  vigorous  than  the  first :  they  were  again  dislodged,  and 
forced  to  retire  with  the  loss  of  a  thousand  killed  and  wounded,  and  four 
hundred  taken  prisoners.  The  main  body  of  the  British  army  had  now 
crossed  the  river;  sir  William  Howe  turned  the  right  of  Washington's 
troops,  Knyphausen  was  in  front,  the  Brandywine  on  the  left,  and  the 
Delaware  at  a  small  distance  in  the  rear.  Lord  Cornwallis,  after  his 
victory,  was  able  to  join  the  general.  The  only  way  by  which  the  pro- 
vincials could  escape  was  between  the  Delaware  and  the  division  under 
the  immediate  command  of  general  Howe ;  it  was  apprehended,  that  if 
the  conmiander  in  chief  had  advanced  farther  round  the  enemy's  flank, 
lie  might  have  enclosed  the  provincial  force  :  this  movement,  however, 
was  not  attempted,  and  general  Washington  drew  off  his  troops  during 
the  night  to  Chester,  near  Philadel[)hia.  Even  the  next  morning,  it  was 
alleged,  that  the  British  troops  might  have  intercepted  the  Americans ; 
but  the  experiment  was  not  tried.  General  Howe  remained  several 
days  at  Brandywine  after  the  enemy  had  retired.  ATashington  employed 
this  very  unexpected  cessation  in  collecting  his  dispersed  troops,  and 
supplying  from  his  magazines  the  stores  which  had  been  lost  in  the  bat- 
tle. On  the  20lh  of  September,  intelligence  being  received  that  general 
Wayne  was  concealed,  with  fifteen  hvmdred  men,  in  the  wood  on  the  left 
wing  of  the  British  army  ;  general  Howe  dispatched  major-general  Grey 
with  a  strong  body  to  surprise  and  dislodge  the  provincial  detachment. 
Proceeding  with  great  secrecy,  the  royal  troops  executed  this  project  so 


lowing;  account: — "We  had  not  lain  lonp;  wlien  a  rebel  officer  remarkable  by  a 
Hussar  dress,  passed  tovvuids  our  army,  witliiii  a  liiindred  yards  of  my  riglit  flank, 
not  perceivinj^  iis.  He  was  followed  by  another  dressed  in  dark  green  and  blue, 
nionnte<l  on  a  jjood  bay  horse,  with  a  remarkable  large  high  cocked  liat.  1  or- 
dered three  good  shots  to  steal  near  to  ihem  and  fire  at  them ;  but  the  idea  dis- 
gusted  nie  ;  I  recalled  the  order.  The  Hussar  in  returning  made  a  circuit,  but 
tlie  other  passed  witliin  a  hundred  yards  of  us;  upon  which  1  advanced  from  tlie 
wood  towards  liim.  Upon  my  calling  he  slopped;  but  after  looking  at  me 
proceeded.  I  again  drew  his  attention,  and  made  sign  to  him  to  slop,  levelling 
my  piece  at  him  ;  but  he  slowly  contirnicd  his  way.  As  I  was  within  that  distance 
at  which,  in  the  quickest  bring,  I  could  have  lodged  half  a  dozen  balls  in  or  about 
liim  before  he  was  out  of  my  reach,  I  had  only  to  determine  ;  but  it  was  not  plea- 
sanl  to  fire  at  the  back  of  an  nnoflcnding  individual,  who  was  acCjuitling  himself 
very  coolly  of  his  duly,  so  I  let  him  alone.  The  day  after,  I  had  been  telling  this 
story  to  some  wounded  officers  who  lay  in  the  same  room  with  me,  w  hen  one  of 
our  surgeons  who  lu»d  been  dressing  the  wounded  rebel  officers,  came  In  and 
told  us,  that  they  had  been  informing  him,  that  general  Washington  was  all  the 
morning  with  tin-  light  troops,  and  otdy  attended  by  a  French  officer  in  a  Hussar 
flress,  he  himself  dressed  and  mounted  in  every  point  as'  above  des<?ribed.  1  am 
not  sorrv  that  I  did  not  know  at  the  time  who  it  was."  . 


i7rr.--ciiAp.  XIX.  RRiGN  or  oiioitcE  111.  433 

[Capture  of  Pliiladelphia,     Battle  of  Germantown.] 

completely,  that  they  killed  or  took  about  four  hundred,  with  (he  loss  of 
only  seven  soldiers  and  one  officer.  On  the  22d  of  September,  sir  Wil- 
liam Howe  crossed  the  Schuylkill  with  his  whole  army  :  on  tiie  26th,  he 
advanced  to  Germantown  ;  and  the  following  day,  «ith  Cornwallis,  look 
possession  of  Philadelphia  without  opposition.  Being  thus  n)asters  of 
the  capital  of  North  America,  the  lirilish  commander  next  turned  hid 
attention  to  csta:)lish  a  communication  with  the  fleet,  by  removing  the 
obstructions  which  the  Americans  had  placed  in  the  river,  and  strengthen- 
ed it  by  forts.  There  were  disposed  rows  of  chevaux-de-fiize,  floating 
batteries,  and  gun-boats,  in  the  most  accessible  parts  of  the  river,  co- 
vered by  intrenchments  and  redoubts  on  the  banks.  General  Wash- 
ington, now  encamped  at  Skippach  Creek,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Schuylkill,  formed  the  design  of  surprising  the  British  camp  at  German- 
town.  The  3d  of  October  was  the  day  a[)pointed  for  executing  this  pro- 
ject :  Washington  advancing  with  his  force  divided  into  five  columns, 
attempted  to  separate  the  British  army  so  as  to  ensure  success  in  the 
different  flanks.  The  fortieth  regin.ent  and  colonel  Musgrave  having 
the  advanced  post  were  first  attacked,  bill  the  skill  and  activity  of  that 
officer,  together  with  the  determined  coura20  of  the  soldiers,  arrested 
the  progress  of  the  enemy,  prevented  the  separation  of  the  right  and  left 
flank,  and  gave  the  whole  army  time  to  form  the  line.  .  Major-general 
Grey  brought  up  a  division  w  ith  such  rapidity  and  force,  that  the  Ame- 
ricans w  ere  obliged  to  act  on  the  defensive  :  the  engagement  became  ge- 
neral, and  was  for  some  hours  very  warm  ;  at  length,  part  of  the  right 
wing  forced  the  enemy's  left  to  give  ground,  and  fly  with  great  precipi- 
tation. The  rest  of  the  provincials  also  retreated,  attempted  to  rally  on 
rising  grounds  near  the  scene  of  action,  and  pretended  to  renew  the  bat- 
tle ;  but  this  was  only  a  feint  to  secure  their  retreat.  In  their  flight  they 
were  favoured  by  a  fog,  which  prevented  the  British  troops  from  an  ef- 
fectual pursuit.  Though  the  king's  troops  drove  the  enemy  from  the 
field,  our  loss  was  very  considerable ;  six  hundred  were  killed  and 
wounded  ;  and,  among  the  former,  colonels  Agnew  and  Bird,  two  offi- 
cers of  very  high  character ;  the  killed,  wounded,  and  taken  prisoners 
of  the  enemy  amounted  to  about  twelve  hundred.  On  the  10th  of  Octo- 
ber, general  Howe,  withdrawing  his  army  from  Germantown,  encamped 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  whence  he  sent  detachments 
to  co-operate  with  the  fleet  in  the  Delaware.  One  of  the  strongest  of  the 
American  forts  was  at  Billing's  Harbour,  on  the  Jersey  side  of  the  river, 
thither  the  commander  in  chief  detached  three  regiments  under  colonel 
Stirling  to  attack  the  place  :  on  his  approach  the  works  were  abandoned. 
The  English  fleet  being  arrived  in  the  Delaware,  preparations  were  made 
for  attacking  the  water  force  of  the  provincials.  The  Americans  had 
constructed  a  very  strong  fortification  on  Mud  Island,  in  the  Delaware, 
off  the  mouth  of  the  Schuylkill ;  this  post  commanded  the  navigation  of 
the  river,  and  unless  reduced,  could  intercept  the  stores  and  provisions 
of  the  army  ;  opposite  to  this  place  was  Red  Bank,  which  commanded 
the  fort  on  the  east ;  while  Province  Island,  possessed  by  the  British, 
adjoined  in  the  west,  and  the  British  fleet  on  the  south.  Colonel  Stirling 
applied  to  general  Howe  for  leave  to  fortify  so  advantageous  a  position, 
the  general  did  not  think  proper  to  comply :  the  Americans  did  not  how- 
ever neglect  to  secure  so  important  a  means  of  defence,  and  with  great 
rapidity  raised  fortifications.  At  length  discovering  the  advantage  of 
Vol.  VII.— 55 


434  HISTORY  OF  TJIh  Chap.  XIX.— 177" 

[Red  Bank  and  Mud  Island  taken.     lnactl\  Ity  of  general  Howe.] 

Red  Bank,  general  Howe  i^ent  colonel  Donop  with  three  battalions  of 
Hessian  grenadiers  to  attempt  the  redoubt  by  assault.  The  German 
leader  setting  out  on  the  2Uih  of  October,  arrived  the  next  day  at  the 
place  of  destination.  Having  marched  up  in  the  face  of  the  enemy's 
fire,  not  only  tVoni  the  fort,  but  from  floating  batteries  and  galleys  on  the 
river  and  forces  in  an  extensive  outwork,  ttiey  arrived  before  the  redoubt, 
which  they  fuuiid  to  be  more  than  eight  feet  high,  with  a  parapet  boarded 
and  fraized,  and  impregnable  williout  scaling  ladders ;  for  the  comman- 
der in  chief  had  omitted  to  t'innish  tliem  witli  this  implement  so  necessary 
in  storming  a  f.)rt.  With  victory  witiiin  their  reach,  if  the  proper  pre- 
parations had  been  made,  they  were  through  this  negligence  obliged  to 
retreat  precipitately  through  the  triple  fire ;  and  lust  their  leader,  who 
was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  three  days  afler  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  Five  ships  of  war  had  attempted  to  second  Donop's  eflbrts,  but 
two  of  them  ran  aground  :  one  the  Augusta,  was  set  on  fire,  by  the  ene- 
my ;  and  the  other,  the  Merlin,  was  obliged  to  be  abandoned.  Mean- 
while preparations  were  going  on  for  attacking  Mud  Island  from  the 
western  shore,  but  the  batteries  were  not  opened  till  the  !Oth  of  Novem- 
ber ;  the  part  of  the  fleet  destined  to  co-operate  was  prevented  by  con- 
trary winds  from  advancing  till  the  fifteenth.  The  provincials  quitted  the 
fleet  the  following  night,  and  two  days  after  Red  Bank  was  also  aban- 
doned ;  a  few  of  the  American  galleys  escaped,  but  the  greater  number 
were  destroyed  :  a  communication  was  opened  between  the  fleet  and 
the  army. 

While  detachments  were  performing  these  services,  general  Howe, 
with  the  main  army,  continued  inactive  at  Germantown,  from  the  3d  of 
October  to  the  4th  of  December.  General  Washington  having  received 
a  re-enforcement  of  four  thousand  men  from  the  northern  army,  Howe 
hoped  he  would  venture  a  battle ;  with  this  view  he  marched  to  White 
Marsh,  where  the  American  general  was  encamped.  On  the  5th  and 
6th,  he  offered  battle  to  the  Americans,  but  they  would  not  come  from 
their  lines;  general  Howe  made  no  attempt  to  force  the  camp,  and  du- 
ring the  night  changed  his  position.  Columns  under  lord  Cornwallis  and 
general  Grey  dislodged  the  enemy  from  two  of  their  outposts  ;  the  gene- 
ral still  judged  it  imprudent  to  venture  the  safety  of  his  troops  by  attack- 
ing the  enemy  in  tlieir  intrenchments.  It  had  been  expected  that  the 
commander  in  chief  would  have  attacked  the  provincials  on  the  rear, 
where  their  fortifications  were  by  no  means  so  strong  as  in  the  front  and' 
flanks,  and  as  the  roads  in  that  quarter  were  very  excellent,  general 
Washington  himself  apprehended  that  such  an  attempt  would  be  made, 
but  he  was  mistaken.  Indeed,  the  principles  by  which  the  British  ge- 
neral direet«^d  his  military  operations,  were  such  as  baflled  even  the  sa- 
gacity of  Washington  to  discover.  The  general,  without  making  any 
attempt  on  the  practicable  part  of  the  enemy's  camp,  retired  with  his  ar- 
my to  Philadelphia.  General  Howe  began  the  campaign  in  1777  with 
thirty  thousand  veterans,  the  enemy  with  eight  thousand  recruits  :  by  all 
his  marches,  counter-marches,  detachments,  expeditions,  and  battles, 
he  got  fresh  winter  quarters,  without  impairing  the  force  of  his  enemy  : 
the  attainment  of  the  object  for  which  he  was  appointed  was  no  nearer 
than  when  he  sailed  from  Halifax.  Thus  closed  a  campaign,  with  (ew 
parallels  in  military  history  for  uniting  efficiency  of  force  and  multiplicity 


irrr.— CnAP.  xix.  kfaqn  of  george  ih.  435 

[Situation  of  tlic  Americans  at  Valley  Forge.     Expedition  up  North  river.] 

of  operation  with  futility  of  result.  Such  must  impartial  history  transmit 
to  posterity  the  warfare  of  jjeneral  Howe  in  America. 

The  commander  found  Pliiladelphia  equally  productive  of  pleasurable 
indulgence  as  New-Vork.  The  winter  was  spent  in  dissipation  of  every 
kind,  but  particularly  in  the  frenzy  of  gaming,  which  was  not  only  per- 
mitted by  the  general,  but  sanctioned  by  his  own  daily  practice.  A  Ger- 
man officer  kept  a  pharo  bank,  and  accumulated  a  considerable  fortune 
by  preying  on  the  British  youth,  who,  tiirough  want  of  employment  from 
the  professional  inaction  of  their  leader,  were  driven  to  fill  up  their  time 
with  this  pernicious  pastime,  and  encouraged  by  the  example  which  he 
exhibited.  Many  were  utterly  ruined,  and  obligcni  to  sell  their  commis- 
sions, because,  instead  of  pursuing  Washington  and  compelling  him  to 
fight  or  surrender,  general  Howe  sulTered  his  gallant  and  active  troops  to 
spend  the  winter  in  idleness  at  Philadelphia.  The  dissipation  spread 
through  the  army,  and  tended  as  usual  to  produce  indolence  and  want  of 
discipline,  which  relaxed  both  bodies  and  minds.  Washington,  apprised 
of  the  retirement  of  the  British  army,  quitted  his  camp,  and  took  a  posi- 
tion at  Valley  Forge,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  determined 
to  winter  there  in  a  camp,  instead  of  retiring  to  the  towns  of  Lancaster, 
York,  and  Carlisle,  at  a  greater  distance  from  Philadelphia  ;  by  which 
means  he  would  have  left  a  large  fertile  district  to  supply  the  royalists 
with  provisions.  Though  his  army  was  destitute  of  clothing,  and  many 
other  necessaries,  and  ill  provided  with  tents  and  other  accommodations 
for  rest,  yet  did  raw  and  undisciplined  troops  from  enthusiastic  attach- 
ment to  their  meritorious  general,  imitation  of  his  example,  and  ardent 
patriotism,  bear  all  those  hardships  without  repining.  Among  other  wants 
of  the  Americans,  was  a  great  scarcity  of  intrenching  tools ;  from  this 
cause  their  lines  were  much  weaker  than  usual :  the  approach  in  front 
was  almost  level  ground  ;  on  the  front  and  right,  there  was  a  ditch  six 
feet  wide,  and  three  in  depth  ;  and  a  mound  of  small  width,  that  could 
be  easily  broken  by  cannon.  On  the  rear  there  was  a  precipice,  impas- 
sable except  by  a  defile,  which  could  be  easily  occupied.  On  the  left 
was  the  Schuylkill,  which,  if  it  guarded  them  from  approach  on  that  side, 
also  cut  off  their  flight  if  successfully  attacked  on  the  front  and  right.* 
It  has  been  generally  agreed  by  military  judges,  that  if  the  British  com- 
mander had  made  the  attempt  during  any  part  of  the  winter,  there  was  a 
moral  certainty  of  crushing  the  whole  army  of  the  enemy,  but  from  De- 
cember to  May  he  suffered  them  to  be  unmolested. 

At  New-York  sir  Henry  Clinton  received  from  Europe  considerable 
re-enforcements,  to  undertake  an  expedition  up  the  Hudson  river  to  open 
a  communication  with  the  northern  army.  A  division  of  his  troops  hav- 
ing stormed  Fort  Montgomery,  he  himself  attacked  Fort  Clinton.  The 
approach  to  this  post  was  over  a  pass  of  about  one  hundred  yards  square, 
between  a  lake  and  a  precipice  that  overhung  the  river :  the  defile  was 
covered  with  felled  trees,  which  prevented  the  troops  from  advancing 
with  either  quickness  or  order  ;  and  from  the  fort  they  were  galled  with  a 
dreadful  fire.  Notwithstanding  the  dangers  and  difficulties  they  bad  to 
encounter  and  surmount,  the  soldiers,  both  British  and  foreign,  pressed 
forward  with  undaunted  courage  and  perseverance,  and  arrived  at  the  foot 
of  the  work.     The  Americans  defended  themselves  with  intrepid  coii- 

*  Stedman.  Andrews. 


436  HlSTOliY  OF   I'HE  (Jhap.  XIX.— 1777. 

[Capture  of  general  Prescot.     Expedition  of  general  Burgoyne.] 

rage,  but  at  length  were  overpowered  by  the  resolute  and  active  valour 
of  the  king's  forces;  and,  after  discharging  a  last  volley,  surrendered  at 
discretion.  In  no  acti(ni  tliat  occuriod  during  the  w.ir,  was  British  va- 
lour more  conspicuously  diplayed  than  in  tliis  expedition,  and  the  con- 
querors treated  thiir  prisoners  with  a  Uunianitv  equal  to  their  gallantry. 

This  advantage  having  been  achieved  by  land,  commodore  Ilotham, 
who  comnianded  the  naval  equipment,  was  no  less  successful  by  water^ 
and.  eitlier  under  his  own  immodiate  direction,  or  through  sir  James 
Wallace,  destroyed  the  greater  part  of  the  American  shipping  on  the 
river.  \  messenger  arriving  from  the  northern  army,  urged  general  Clin- 
ton to  penetrate  so  far  tiial  ho  might  co-operute  with  those  troops  ;  but 
he  deeming  the  attempt  impracticable,  returned  to  New- York.  "While 
Clinton  was  employed  on  the  North  river,  Barton,  an  American  colonel, 
formed  a  project  of -surprising  general  Prescot  at  Rhode  Island,  with  a 
view  to  exchange  him  for  general  Lee.  The  American  had  learned  that 
Prescot's  head-quarters  were  at  the  west  side  of  the  island,  near  t!ie  shore, 
and  that,  trusting  for  security  to  a  tiloop  of  war  which  anchored  in  the 
bav,  he  was  "uarded  Itv  onlv  one  sentinel,  and  was  about  a  mile  from  his 
troops.  Colonel  Barton,  with  some  ofiicers  and  soldiers,  landing  at 
night  unperccived  by  the  guard-ship,  efiecled  their  purpose,  and  by  this 
means  soon  procured  the  restoration  of  Lee  to  the  service  of  the  provin- 
cials. 

AVhile  in  the  south  the  British  arms  were  obtaining  unproductive  vic- 
tories, ultimately  di-astrous,  by  consuming  our  resources  and  impairing 
our  strength  ;  in  the  north,  tlicy  experienced  signal  defeat,  and  a  com- 
plete overthrow. 

The  object  of  the  Canadian  expedition  was  to  effect  a  co-operation 
with  the  principal  i'orce  :  and  the  command  of  the  armament  was  con- 
ferred on  ccneral  Bursnvne.  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  from  his  otficial  situation 
in  Canada,  his  conduct,  and  especially  his  defence  of  (Quebec,  might 
have  reasonably  expected  this  appointment;  he  v/as  an  older  general,  of 
more  military  experience,  and  better  acquainted  \\''A\\  the  country,  its  in- 
habitants, and  resources.  His  character  commanded  greater  authority 
than  Burgoyne's  had  hitherto  established  ;  the  professional  reputation  of 
Burgoyne,  indeed,  was  liable  to  no  objection,  but  he  had  not,  like  Car- 
leton, obtained  celebrity.  As  no  military  grounds  could  be  alleged  for 
superseding  Carleton  to  make  room  for  Buriroyne,  his  promotion  was  im- 
puted to  parliamentary  influence,  more  than  to  his  official  talents.  Car- 
leton, disgusted  Mith  a  preference  by  no  means  merited,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  of  the  appointment,  resigned  his  government.  The  event  was, 
such  as  might  be  expected  fr(mi  llie  delegation  of  important  trust,  from 
extrinsic  considerations  instead  of  the  fitness  of  the  trustee  for  the  service 
required. 

The  plan  of  the  expedition  through  the  wilds  of  America  v.-as  concert- 
ed in  London  between  pcneral  Burgoyne  and  lord  George  Germaine. 
It  was  agreed,  that  besides  regular  troops,  Indian  savages  should  be 
employed  by  the  British  commander ;  the  alleged  reason  for  calling  in 
8uch  auxiliaries  was,  ihiit  if  they  were  not  ei'.g.'iged  in  our  service  they 
would  join  the  provincials ;  they  would  be  useful  in  desultory  warfare, 
and  the  British  troops  would  modcnite  their  atrocity.  The  force  required 
by  Burgoyne  was  eight  thousand  regulars,  two  thousand  Cimadians,  and 
a  thousand  Indians.     Of  these  near  seven  thousand  two  hundred  vete- 


1777.-CnAr.XIX.  UEIGN  OF  GKORGE  HI.  43; 

[Procfamatlon.    Ticonderoga  abandoned.     Defeat  of  colonel  Francis.] 

rans,  including  Brunswick  mercenaries,*  a  considerable  part  of  the  Ca- 
nadian militia,  and  the  requisite  number  of  Indians,  were  ready  when  Bur- 
o-oyne  arrived  from  England  to  commence  the  campaign.  He  was 
besides  furnished  with  chosen  officers,  among  whom  were  generals  Phi- 
lips, Fraser,  Powel,  and  Hamilton.  Having  sent  colonel  St.  Leger  with 
a  body  of  light  troops  and  Indians  to  create  a  diversion  on  lake  Ontario 
and  the  Mohawk  river,  he  himself,  on  the  IGth  of  June,  set  out  from 
Fort  St.  John,  proceeded  up  lake  Cbamplain,  and  landed  near  Crown 
Point:  here  he  gave  the  Indians  a  war  feast,  at  which  he  made  them  a 
speech,  praising  and  stimulating  their  courage,  but  exhorted  them  to  re- 
press their  ferocity.  At  Piitiiiiui  Creek  he  judg.,d  it  expedient  to  pub- 
lish a  comminatory  manifesto,  in  which,  by  a  profusion  of  epitlicts  and 
rhetorical  ligures,  he  represented  the  Americans  guilty  of  the  most  fla- 
grant enormilios  ;  he  threatened  the  severest  punishments  against  those 
who  should  still  adhere  to  the  cause  of  rebellious  subjects  ;  he  should 
send  the  Indian  forces  to  overtake  the  hardened  enemies  of  Britain  and 
their  own  country  ;  he  declared  the  most  a-^sured  confidence  that  lie 
should  be  able  to  subjugate  all  stubborn  and  refractory  revolters.  After 
having  exputiated  on  the  wickedness  of  their  proceedings  and  the  ven- 
geance which,  if  they  did  not  repent,  they  must  expert  from  justice  armed 
with  his  irresistible  powers,  he  concluded  with  explaining  to  them  what 
the  penitent  might  hope  l>om  his  wise,  generous,  and  forbearing  mercy. 
It  required  no  great  sagacity  to  divine  that  men,  who  conceived  them- 
selves fighting  for  their  liberties,  and  for  two  years  had  shown  a  prompt- 
ness to  face  anv  dau'^er  on  accoiuit  of  so  valuaisle  an  oi'jccl,  were  nit 
to  be  frightened  from  their  purpose  by  high  sounding  words.  The  impo- 
licy of  this  declaratory  boasting  was  obvious,  f  and,  in  the  opinion  'of  im- 
partial men,  stamped  the  character  of  its  author  as  dehtiL'iit  in  souufi 
wisdom,  and  that  knowledge  of  human  nature,  without  which  neither  a 
general  nor  a  statesman  can  expect  to  succeed  in  arduous  undertakings  : 
his  denunciation  tended  only  to  excite  stroi.ger  resentment  in  tiiC  colo- 
nists, and  to  inspire  more  vigorous  exertions  to  defend  tiiemselves  from 
the  threatened  atrocities.  Gates  tlio  American  general,  replied  to  this 
production  in  a  very  plain  but  strong  manifesto,  which  formed  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  pompous  phraseoloiry  and  empty  gasconades  of  Bur- 
goyne's  performance. j;  The  Brhish  general  advancing  on  the  2d  of 
July,  reached  Ticonderoga,  vvhich,  with  another  fort  opposite  to  it,  re- 
cently built,  und(!r  tiui  name  of  Mount  Independence,  were  immediatelv 
abandoned  by  the  Americans.  S  Tiie  general  despatched  commodore 
Lutwitch,  with  the  naval  armament,  in  pursuit  of  tlie  enemy's  fleet  thai 
was  conveying  the  provisions  from  the  evacuated  garrison  to  Skenesbo- 
rough  ;  overtaking  them  near  the  place  of  their  destination,  he  captuieti 
some  of  their  galleys,  and  set  lire;  to  the  rest. 

On  the  Gth  of  July,  the  advanced  corps  of  grenadiers  and  liglit  infan- 
try, under  general  Fraser,  consisting  of  near  twelve  hundred  men,  came 
up  with  the  enemy's  rear,  commanded  by  eoJonel  Francis,  composed  of 

*  Stedman,  p.  550. 

f  See  Annual  IJegister. 

+  Speaking  of  the  profTerer]  mercy  immediately  after  the  threat  of  sending  In. 
dian  savages  upon  the  provincials,  he  said,  •«  the  tf-nder  mercies  of  the  Jnifian  town 
hatvk  we  w  ill  not  solicit."     See  in  state  papers  ]777,  both  the  manifestops. 

^  Stedman  and  IJamsav. 


438  HlSTOliY  OF  THE  Chap.  KlX.—irTT' 

[Dilatory  movements  of  Burgoyne.    Defeat  at  Bennington.] 

fifteen  hundred  of  their  chosen  troops.  Fraxcr,  notwithstanding  his  in- 
feriority, attacked  the  provincials,  who  received  him  witJi  tlie  firmest 
intrepidity.  The  hattie  was  long  doubtful,  hut  the  arrival  of  general 
Reidesel  witli  the  Brunswick  troops  detern7ined  the  event.  The  Ameri- 
cans, conceiving  that  the  whole  German  force  had  arrived,  retreated  with 
the  greatest  precipitation.  Tiiey  lost  two  hundred  killed,  as  tn.my  taken 
prisoner.^,  and  about  six  hundred  wounded,  of  whom  the  iireaiest  num- 
ber died  in  the  woods.  Of  the  British,  about  one  hundred  and  forty,  in- 
cluding twenty  officers,  were  killed  and  wounded.  Colonel  Hill,  with 
the  ninth  refxiinent,  was  sent  to  pursue  a  paity  of  the  enemy  that  had  re- 
tired to  Wood's  Creek.  Having  overtaken  them,  the  British  leader  per- 
ceived that  they  were  much  superior  in  numbers  to  his  corps  ;  he  never- 
theless engaged,  and  posted  his  men  .so  judiciously  as  to  prevent  their 
repeated  attempts  to  surro^md  him  by  their  numbers.  After  a  battle  oi 
three  hours,  the  provincials  v.cre  forced  to  retreat  with  great  slaughter. 
Schuyler,  the  American  general,  employed  a  stratagem  frequently  used 
afterwards  in  th"  course  of  t!ie  war ;  he  wrote  a  letter  to  general  Sullivan, 
intended  to  fall  iuto  the  hands  of  Burgoyne  ;  which  being  taken  and  pe- 
rused by  the  British  commander,  so  puzzled  and  perp!e.\od  him  as  to 
retard  his  operations  several  days,  before  he  could  determme  whether  he 
was  to  advance  or  retreat.  Ar  last  he  resolved  to  penetrate  to  Hudson 
river,  while  major-general  Philips  should  bring  the  stores  from  Ticonde- 
roga  along  lake  George  to  Fort  George,  whence  there  was  a  wagoa 
road  to  Fort  Edward  on  the  Hudson.  Military  critics  affirmed  that  it 
would  have  been  much  wiser  in  Burgoyne  to  have  crossed  the  country 
from  Skenesborough  to  lake  George,  embarked,  and  proceeded  a  consi- 
derable part  of  the  route  by  water,  than  to  have  marched,  by  land  through 
a  wild,  woody,  and  swampy  country.  Their  march  was  frequently  in- 
terrupted by  moras.ses,  impassable  without  bridges,  of  which  the  con- 
.strurtion  employed  a  considerable  time.  Burgoyne  alleged,  that  if  he 
had  returned  to  like  George,  the  retrogade  movement  would  have  damp- 
ed the  ardour  of  his  troops  :  but  the  necessary  .slowness  of  their  progress 
throuf^h  those  wilds  and  intricacies  was  more  likely  to  repress  their  |ani- 
matinrv.  It  was  the  30th  of  July  before  they  arrived  at  the  river;  there 
they  were  oblifjed  to  wait  several  (Jays,  until  their  provisions,  stores,  and 
other  necessaries  should  be  embarked.  Burgoync's  expedition  had  at 
first  struck  great  consternation  into  the  minds  of  the  Americans  ;  but,  on 
finding  his  advances  much  more  tardy  than  they  expected,  their  spirits 
be^an  to  revive,  and  they  made  various  dispositions  for  recruiting  their 
strenfth  :  re-enforcements  were  sent  to  general  Schuyler,  who  was  post- 
ed at  Saratoga  on  the  Hudson,  about  twenty  miles  north  from  Albany. 
They  sent  Arnold  to  watch  the  motions  of  colonel  St.  Legcr,  and  to  pre- 
vent his  co-operation  with  tlie  main  army.  8t.  Lcger  was  now  advanced 
to  Fort  Stanwix  on  tiic  Moiiawk  river  :  the  general  saw  it  was  necessary 
to  co-operate  with  that  officer,  and  to  move  rapidly  forward  ;  but  he  had 
a  very  larje  train  of  artillerv  :  horses  and  carrijiges  were  wanting,  pro- 
vi.sions  also  were  nearly  exiiausted.  Having  learned  that  the  Americans 
had  deposited  a  great  quantity  of  stores  at  Benniniiton,  about  twenty-four 
miles  east  from  Hudson  river,  Burgoyne  resolved  to  attempt  the  seizure 
of  this  masazine  :  and  despatched  colonel  Baurn,  a  German  officer,  on 
that  service,  with  six  hundred  troops,  including  dragoons.  It  was  re- 
presented to  the  general,  that  the  proposed  enterprise  would  require  no 


1777.— Cuxr.  XIX.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  ili  43CJ 

[Siege  of  Fort  Stanwix  raised.] 

loss  than  three  thousand  men  ;  and  that  Cermans,  from  the  slowness  of 
their  movement,  were  by  no  means  so  tit  for  surpri.sing  the  enemy  as  the 
Britisli ;  that  they  were,  besides,  totally  unacquainted  w  ith  the  country 
and  the  language,  so  that  they  could  receive  no  information  even  from 
friends  of  the  royal  cause.  The  general,  however,  persisted  in  his  reso- 
lution :  the  habitual  slowness  of  Gern)an  movements,  added  to  the  bad- 
ness of  the  roads  and  the  want  of  carriages,  rendered  Eaum's  advance  so 
tedious,  that  the  enemy  were  informed  of  his  approach,  and  prepared  lor 
his  reception.  When  he  arrived  at  Bennington,  he  found  the  enemy  so 
Strong,  that,  with  the  small  body  intrusted  to  him,  it  would  have  been 
madness  to  attempt  an  attack.  He  accordingly  fortified  himself,  and  sent 
a  message  to  the  genend,  that  the  scheme  would  be  impracticable  with- 
out a  re-enforcement.  Colonel  Breyman  was  sent  to  his  assistance,  with 
five  hundred  Germans,  who  advanced  with  their  usual  tardiness.*  Mean- 
while Starke,  an  American  general,  who  was  on  his  way  with  a  thousand 
men  from  New-llafrpshire  and  Massachusetts  to  join  the  provincial 
army  under  Schuyler,  hcarnig  of  Bauin's  expedition  to  Bennington,  turn- 
ed aside  to  second  the  eflbrts  of  Warner,  who  commanded  the  provin- 
cials at  that  place.  On  the  16th  of  August,  the  Americans  surrounded 
Baum,  who,  though  he  made  a  gallant  resistance,  was  overpowered  by 
numbers,!  himself  mortally  woundtd,  and  his  troops  put  to  the  route. 
Elated  with  their  victory,  the  provincials  marched  to  attack  Breyman, 
who  ignorant  of  Bauni's  defeat,  was  advancing  to  his  assistance.  Brey- 
man had  just  met  some  fugitives  fiom  Baum's  detachment,  when  the 
Americans,  before  he  had  time  to  order  a  retreat,  fell  upon  his  troops  : 
he  made  a  very  valiant  defence,  but  was  at  last  compelled  to  retire.  The 
loss  of  the  royalists  in  both  battles  amounted  to  six  hundred  men  :  this 
first  material  check  which  the  king's  troops  suffered,  is  imputed  to  the 
employment  of  Germans  on  a  service  requiring  rapid  expedition,  and  to 
the  smallness  of  their  number. 

Colonel  St.  Leger  invested  Fort  Stanwix,  a  small  fort,  defended  by- 
seven  hundred  men.  On  the  3d  of  August,  being  informed  that  a  thou- 
sand provincials  were  marching  to  its  relief,  the  British  leader  despatched 
sir  John  Johnson,  with  a  party  of  regulars  and  a  great  number  of  sav- 
ages, to  lie  in  ambueh  in  the  woods :  the  stratagem  succeeded,  the  pro- 
vincials were  unexpectedly  attacked  on  all  sides  by  the  fire  of  the  British 
troops,  and  the  tomahawks  of  the  Indians.  Having  made  a  very  brave 
resistance,  after  losing  half  their  number,  the  remainder  were  enabled  to 
retreat  with  some  degree  of  order.  Meanwhile  the  besieged,  being  ap- 
prised that  the  artillery  of  their  assailants  was  too  light  to  make  any  im- 
pression on  the  fort,  and  being  well  supplied  with  provisions,  rejected 
every  overture  to  induce  them  to  surrender.  A  man  belonging  to  the 
fort,  pretending  to  be  a  deserter,  came  to  the  British  camp,  and  told  St. 
Leger  that  Arnold  was  advancing  with  two  thousand  men,  and  ten  pieces 
of  cannon,  to  protect  the  fort,  and  that  general  Burgoyne's  army  had 
been  cut  to  pieces.  This  account  made  little  impression  on  the  colonel, 
but  produced  an  immediate  effect  on  the  savages,  of  whom  a  large  party 
instantly  left  the  camp,  and  the  rest  threatened  to  follow  if  the  British 

•  So  foclishly  attached  were  they  to  forms  of  discipline,  that  in  marchinj: 
through  thickets  they  stopped  ten  times  in  an  hour,  to  flrer-  ^hfir  ran'-i.  See  Sted. 
noan,  vol.  i.  p.  332. 

t  Stedman,  p.  333 


t-io  lusTOiiv  OF  THE  ijuAj'. XIX— irrr 

[Cmelty  of  the  savages  rouses  the  Americans  to  more  active  resistance.] 

commander  woulJ  not  begin  to  retieat.  St.  Leger  was  compelled  to 
abandon  liis  enterprise,  and  to  retieat  precipilatcly  with  the  loss  of  his 
artillery  and  stores.  The  failure  of  this  undertaking  so  soon  after  the 
«lofeat  at  IJenuingtou,  damped  the  spirits  of  the  royal  army,  and  elated 
the  Americans.  Tiio  conduct  of  their  savage  auxiliaries  was  extremely 
prejudicial  to  the  British  interest.  The  admonitions  of  Burgoyne  had 
lilile  m  )re  elfect  on  these  nuirderous  tribes,  tluin  if  lectures  on  humanity 
iiad  been  addressed  to  the  tigers  of  Hindostan  ;  and,  indeed,  the  expec- 
tations of  mildness  were  as  reasonahic  from  habitual  butcliery  as  from 
instinctive  ferocity ;  the  barbiritics  of  the  Indians,  like  those  of  their 
tour-footed  brethren,  were  totally  mdiscriniinatc  ;  loyalists  and  revolters, 
if  they  came  into  the  power  of  the  savages,  experienced  the  same  fate. 
An  instance  of  cruelty  which  happened  about  this  time  was  peculiarly 
alTli'-ting:  Mr.  Jones,  an  oflicer  in  the  British  service,  had  paid  his 
addresses  to  the  daughter  of  an  American  loyalist,  a  young  lady  in  the 
bloom  of  youthful  beauty  :  she  listened  to  his  suit  and  consented  to  be- 
come his  bride.  Anxious  tor  her  safety,  he  otiered  to  reward  with  a  bar- 
rel of  ruin  any  person  wlio  should  escort  her  from  her  father's  liouse  to  a 
place  where  he  was  himself  to  meet  her,  and  that  very  doy  receive  her 
hand.  Two  Indians  undertook  the  task,  and  liad  conducted  her  near  the 
appointed  spot,  when  a  dispute  arose  between  them,  which  should  pre- 
sent the  lady  to  her  lover.  Both  were  eager  for  the  reward,  and  the  one 
to  prevent  the  other  from  receiving  it,  murdered  the  blooming  innocent 
maiden;  and  the  youth,  instead  of  his  beloved  bride  found  a  mangled 
corpse.  This  and  other  instances  of  atrocity  inflamed  the  American 
people:  the  cruelties  of  the  Indians,  and  the  cause  in  which  they 
were  engaged,  were  associated  together,  and  presented  in  one  view 
10  the  alarmod  inhabitants.  They,  whose  interest  it  was  to  draw 
ibrth  the  mditia  in  support  of  American  independence,  strongly  ex- 
pressed their  execrations  of  the  army  which  submitted  to  accept  of 
Indian  aid,  and  they  loudly  condemned  that  government  which  could 
call  such  auxiliaries  into  a  civil  contest,  as  were  calculated  not  to  sub- 
due, but  to  exterminate  a  people  whom  they  atfected  to  reclaim  as 
subjects.  Their  cruel  mode  of  warfare,  by  putting  to  death,  as  well  the 
helpless  infant  and  defenceless  female,  as  the  resisting  armed  man,  ex- 
cited an  universal  spirit  of  resistance.  In  conjunction  with  other  circum- 
stances, it  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  a  general  conviction, 
that  a  vigorous  determined  opposition  was  the  only  alternative  for  the  pre- 
servation of  their  property,  their  children,  and  their  wives.  Could  they 
have  indulged  Ih",  hope  of  security  and  protection  while  they  remained 
peaceably  at  their  homes,  they  would  have  Ibund  many  excuses  for  de- 
clining to  assume  the  profession  of  soldiers;  but  when  they  contrasted 
the  dangers  of  a  manly  resistance  with  those  of  a  passive  inaction,  they 
chose  the  former  as  the  least  of  two  unavoidable  evils.  All  the  feeble 
aid  which  the  royal  army  received  from  their  Indian  auxiliaries  was  infi- 
nitely overbalanced  by  the  odium  it  brought  on  their  cause,  and  by  that 
iletermined  sj)irit  of  opposition  which  the  dread  of  savage  cruelties  ex- 
cited.* In  the  command  of  the  American  army  a  change  took  place 
which  proved  fatal  to  the  royal  interests;  genera!  Gates  was  appointed 
viommruider  in  chief  of  the  northern  forces.     The  British  commandej 

•  liamsay,  vol.  ii.  p.  38 


1777.— CuAP.  XIX.  RKIGN  OF  GEOJIGE  IIT.  441 

[Battle  of  Stillwater.     Retreat  of  JJurgoyne.] 

having  by  great  industry  collected  about  thirty  days  provisions,  and  con- 
structed a  bridge  of  boats,  on  the  14tli  of  September  crossed  the  river, 
and  occupied  the  heights  of  Saratoga,  about  thirty  miles  fronti  Albany. 
Thence  the  army  set  forward  in  a  southern  course;  but  the  march  was 
obstructed  by  the  difficulties  of  the  road  which  the  rains  had  almost  ren- 
dered impassable,  and  retarded  by  a  great  train  of  artillery,  which  required 
frequent  construction  of  bridges.  On  the  19th  of  September  they  arrived 
at  Stillwater,  where'the  enemy  were  encamped  ;  the  right  wing  was  com- 
manded by  general  Burgoync,  and  covered  by  general  Fraser,  with  the 
grenadiers  and  light  infantry ;  the  left  by  general  Philips  and  Reidesel. 
The  enemy  attempted  to  turn  the  right  wuig  of  the  king's  troops,  and  at- 
tacked them  in  the  river;  Fraser  with  his  brigade  holding  the  extreme 
position  on  that  side,  perceived  their  design,  and  prevented  its  execution. 
Changing  their  situation,  they  attacked  the  British  line  in  front  of  the 
right  division :  the  battle  began  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
continued  till  after  sunset.  The  right  wing  only  of  our  army  was  com- 
pletely engaged :  the  twentieth,  twenty-first,  and  sixty-second  regiments 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle  with  the  most  intrepid  firmness  and  enter- 
prising courage ;  they  were  very  hardly  pressed,  when  major-general 
Philips  found  means  to  send  artillery  through  a  thick  wood,  which  sup- 
ported and  aided  their  efforts.  The  twenty-fourth  regiment,  with  the 
grenadiers  and  light  infantry,  also  came  forward  to  assist  their  fellow- 
soldiers.  The  Americans  fought  with  no  less  coolness,  valour,  and 
skill:  at  last,  they  left  the  British  army  in  possession  of  the  field:  the 
loss  on  each  side  amounted  to  about  six  hundred  men.  Though  our 
troops  remained  masters  of  the  scene  of  action,  yet  the  battle  of  Still- 
water was  by  no  means  favourable  to  their  ultimate  success:  they  were 
far  advanced  in  an  enemy's  country;  their  numbers  were  diminishing, 
without  the  means  of  re-enforcement;  their  provisions  were  sufficient 
only  for  a  temporary  supply ;  the  army  of  the  enemy  was  daily  increasing, 
and  as  it  grew  in  force,  it  became  the  abler  to  prevent  our  troops  from 
successful  foraging.  The  savages  showed  an  inclination  to  leave  the  Bri- 
tish, from  the  time  the  hopes  of  plunder  were  disappointed;  and  it  was  ap- 
prehended they  would  become  enemies,  as  well  as  deserters:  a  few  days 
after,  the  Indians  actually  left  the  British  camp.  Burgoyne  had  advanced 
in  conformity  to  the  minister's  plan,  in  expectation  of  assistance  from 
generals  Clinton  and  Howe.  The  expected  aid  had  failed ;  and  without 
it,  the  project  was  no  longer  practicable.  Before  him  was  an  enemy 
already  strong  and  collecting  new  strength,  in  a  country  abounding  with 
difficulties:  the  only  means  of  saving  himself  and  his  troops  therefore 
from  destruction  appeared  to  be  a  retreat.  Generals  Gates  and  Arnold, 
well  informed  of  Burgoyne's  embarrassment,  projected  his  interception. 
For  that  purpose  they  sent  an  expedition  under  colonel  Brown,  who, 
from  his  activity  and  knowledge  of  the  country,  turned  the  British  rear, 
arrived  at  lake  George,  and  surprised  and  took  boats  that  were  convey- 
ing provisions  to  our  troops,  Burgoyne  began  his  retreat  towards  Sara- 
toga: his  difficulties  were  accumulating;  his  army  did  not  exceed  five 
thousand  men:  their  stores  were  almost  exhausted;  and  a  fresh  supply 
being  cut  off,  he  was  obliged  to  restrict  his  soldiers  to  a  reduced  allow- 
ance. The  enemy  had  augmented  their  forces,  and  nearly  surrounded 
him  on  all  sides;  it  was  necessary  to  dislodge  them  before  it  would  be 
possible  to  return  to  the  lakes.  To  eficct  this  purpose,  on  the  7th 
Vol.   VII.— 56 


442  '  '  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  CuAr.  XIX.— 1777 

[Battle  of  Saratoga.    Distressed  state  of  the  British  army.] 

of  Oclober  he  headed  fifteen  hundred  men  himself,  accompanied  by 
generals  Reidesel,  Philips,  and  Fraser.  This  body  had  arrived  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  enemy's  intrenchments,  when  a  furious  attack  was 
made  by  the  Americans  on  the  left  wing  and  centre  of  the  royal  army. 
Major  Auckland,  commanding  the  grenadiers,  sustained  their  first  onset 
with  great  resolution;  but  their  numbers  soon  enabled  the  enemy  to  ex- 
tend their  attack  along  the  whole  line.  The  right  had  not  yet  been  en- 
gaged ;  but  the  enemy  moving  round  to  prevent  a  retreat,  the  light  infan- 
try and  twenty-fourth  regiment  instantly  formed  to  defeat  their  purpose. 
Meanwhile  the  left  wing,  nearly  overpowered  bv  numbers,  attempted  to 
retire,  and  was  on  the  point  of  being  overwhelmed,  when  the  corps  sent 
to  the  assistance  of  the  right  division,  rapidly  changing  their  movement, 
endeavoured  to  secure  the  left  from  impending  destruction,  by  which 
timely  aid  they  at  last  made  good  their  retreat  to  the  camp.  The  right 
was  also  compelled  to  retire,  witli  the  loss  of  many  men  and  several 
pieces  of  cannon,  and  the  Americans  attempted  to  force  the  intrench- 
ments; on  that  side  the  engagement  was  a  long  time  doubtful,  but  Ar- 
nold being  wounded,  the  provincials  were  repulsed.  On  the  left  wing  of 
the  camp,  the  American  attack  was  more  successful :  they  carried,  sword 
in  hand,  the  lines  which  were  defended  by  colonel  Ikeyman  and  the 
German  troops,  and  also  took  the  baggage,  stores,  and  artillery.  In  this 
battle,  among  the  slain  were  colonel  Breyman  and  general  Fraser:  and 
a  considerable  number  of  officers  were  killed  or  wounded  on  both  sides. 
During  the  night,  the  general,  aware  that  in  his  present  position  the  ene- 
my would  in  the  morning  renew  the  battle  with  almost  certain  success, 
changed  his  position  with  his  whole  army,  and  occupied  a  very  strong 
post.  Convinced  that  nothing  less  than  a  decisively  successful  action 
could  extricate  him  from  his  difficulties,  the  next  day,  from  his  advan- 
tageous ground,  he  ollered  the  enemy  battle.  The  provincials,  however, 
were  projecting  measures  much  safer  to  themselves,  and  no  less  danger- 
ous to  their  adversaries.  They  advanced  strong  bodies  of  troops  be- 
yond Burgoyne's  right,  with  a  view  to  enclose  his  army.  Burgoyne, 
perceiving  this  operation,  resolved  to  hasten  his  retreat  to  Saratoga,  and 
accordingly,  during  that  night,  began  his  march.  He  did  not  reach  Sara- 
toga till  the  10th;  there  he  found  the  passes  before  him  secured  by  the 
enemy,  the  shores  of  the  river  lined  with  troops,  and  the  whole  naviga- 
tion entirely  in  their  power.  He  attempted  to  retreat  to  Fort  George, 
to  make  a  rapid  march  along  the  western  bank  of  the  river,  and  cross  by 
the  ford  at  Fort  St.  FdvwTrd's,  but  received  intelligence  that  both  the  fort 
and  road  were  beset  by/  the  enemy.  The  condition  of  the  British  army 
waa  now  most  deplorah'lc :  worn  down  by  incessant  exertion  and  obstinate 
contest,  disappointed  of  expected  aid,  in  their  distress  deserted  by  their 
auxiliaries,  compelled  to  abandon  their  object  without  any  prospect  of  a 
safe  retreat,  witli  their  numbers  reduced  from  eight  thousand  to  three 
thousand  five  hundred,  their  provision  exhausted,  surrounded  by  an  army 
four  times  their  nurnher,  nnd  exposed  to  continual  cannonade,  fast  lessen- 
ing their  before  impaired  force.*  This  dismal  situation  they  bore  with 
the  constancy  of  British  soldiers;  they  eagerly  wished  for  a  battle  to  ex- 
tricate themselves,  or  die  in  the  attempt;  but  this  alternative  the  enemy 
would  not  aflbrd. 

•  Sledman,  Andrews,  and  llanisay. 
I 


1777.— Chap.  XIX.  KEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III,  443 

[Surrender  of  Burgoyne.     State  of  Ireland.] 

On  the  13th  of  October,  Biirgoyne,  seeing  every  hope  of  relief  vanish- 
ed, look  an  exact  account  of  provisions,  and  found  there  was  subsistence 
only  for  five  days.  He  called  a  council  of  war,  and  that  he  might  obtain 
the  sense  of  the  army  as  generally  as  possible,  with  the  higher  officers 
were  included  the  captains.  The  result  was  an  unanimous  determina- 
tion to  open  a  treaty  with  general  Gates.  That  very  night,  at  nine 
o'clock,  a  messenger  was  despatched  to  the  enemy's  camp,  and  the  next 
morning  was  appointed  for  commencing  the  negotiation.  The  British 
army,  equally  incapable  of  subsisting  in  its  present  situation,  or  making 
its  way  to  a  better,  lay  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy.  The  terms 
proffered  in  those  circumstances  were  very  moderate;  besides  the  arti- 
cles that  related  to  the  maintenance  and  accommodation  of  the  army  on 
its  wav  to  Boston,  the  principal  conditions  were,  that  the  troops  should 
be  allowed  to  march  out  of  the  camp  with  all  the  honours  of  war,  to  a 
fixed  place  where  they  were  to  deposit  their  arms,  and  to  sail  from  Bos- 
ton to  Europe,  on  a  promise  not  to  serve  again  in  America  during  the 
present  war;  the  baggage  was  not  to  be  searched  or  molested,  but  pri- 
vate property  was  to  be  held  sacred:  all  persons  of  whatever  country 
were  to  be  included  in  the  capitulation,  and  the  Canadians  to  be  returned 
to  their  own  country,  subject  to  the  conditions  of  the  convention.  On 
this  melancholy  occasion,  general  Gates  conducted  himself  with  the 
greatest  humanity  and  generosity,  and  not  only  treated  the  wounded  with 
the  most  feeling  care  and  kindness,  but  was  so  considerately  benevolent, 
that  when  the  British  were  laying  down  their  arms,  he  would  suffer  none 
of  his  soldiers  to  be  present  at  so  mortifying  an  operation. 

Such  was  the  conclusion  of  Burgoync's  expedition,  from  which  the 
most  important  advantages  had  been  predicted  by  ministers  and  their 
supporters.  So  untoward  an  issue  in  the  usual  course  of  human  opinions 
produced  charges  of  erroneous  judgment,  ill  digested  plans,  inadequate 
preparations,  and  unskilful  conduct.  The  train  of  artillery,  it  was  said, 
that  Burgoyne  carried  with  him,  was  superfluous,  and  retarded  move^ 
ments,  the  success  of  which  depended  on  a  rapidity  that  should  have 
given  the  enemy  no  time  to  collect  an  opposing  force.  Neither  horses 
nor  carriages  were  provided  until  the  army  was  ready  to  take  the  field; 
and  this  circumstance  detaining  the  forces  too  long  at  Fort  Edward,  was 
ultimately  one  cause  of  the  disaster  at  Bennington,  the  prelude  of  greater 
misfortunes.  After  the  failure  at  Bennington  and  Fort  Stanwix,  it  w^as 
urged  that  Burgoyne  ought  to  have  abandoned  the  project  of  penetrating 
to  Albany,  and  by  no  means  to  have  crossed  the  Hudson:  he  should 
have  secured  himself  at  Fort  Edward,  where,  according  to  the  co-ope- 
ration which  he  received  from  the  south,  he  might  have  either  advanced, 
or  retreated  to  Canada.  These  censures  of  Burgoyne,  if  just,  rest  en- 
tirely on  his  judgment  and  skill,  and  thus  ultimately  fall  upon  the  dis- 
cernment of^  the  ministers  from  whom  he  received  his  appointment. 
There  was  no  charge  of  neglecting  obvious  opportunities,  remitting  per- 
sonal efforts,  relaxing  military  discipline,  or  sacrificing  professional  duty 
to  pleasurable  indulcence.  If  the  failure  of  an  expedition  proceeded 
from  want  of  skill  in  the  commander  in  chief,  the  obvious  question  is, 
why  was  a  person  employed,  who,  neither  by  any  particular  act,  nor  his 
general  character,  had  discovered  sufficient  military  abilities  for  con- 
ducting so  important  an  undertaking? 

While  the  political  counsels  of  England  produced  war  with  her  colo- 


444  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIX.— 1777. 

[Question  concerning  mtmey  bills.    Ministerial  policy  towards  Ireland.] 

nies,  and  military  operations  proved  either  inefi'icient  or  destructive,  the 
state  of  Ireland  was  by  no  means  tranquil.  The  octennial  act,  as  a  co- 
temporary  historian  observes,  was  no  longer  an  object  of  exultation  than 
while  it  was  recent.*  The  greater  expenses  attending  elections  were 
severely  felt ;  the  constant  residence  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  which  now 
first  became  a  part  of  his  duty,  gave  offence  to  many,  who  found  their 
power  and  inthience  diminished,  and  a  strong  opposition  was  speedily 
formed,  (rovernment  proposed  a  very  considerable  addition  to  the  mili- 
tary establishment,  and,  through  the  inlliience  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  a 
bill  to  that  effect,  after  violent  contests,  was  passed  into  a  law :  but  the 
opposition  was  powerful ;  their  arguments  making  a  deep  impression  on 
the  people,  increased  the  discontents  ;  and  the  exertions  of  the  anti- 
ministerial  party  soon  proved  successful  in  the  parliament  itself. 

From  the  settlement  of  Ireland  by  king  William,  money  bills  had  ori- 
ginated in  the  privy-council,  by  whom  they  were  proposed  to  the  com- 
mons. Agreeably  to  this  usage,  in  November  17G9,  ministers  framed  a 
bill  for  a  supply,  and  having  introduced  it  into  the  house,  their  opponents 
reprobated  the  proposition  as  trenching  on  the  rights  of  the  national  re- 
presentatives. The  court  party  quoted  precedent,  while  their  adversa- 
ries asserted  the  principles  of  the  constitution :  the  popular  champions 
prev^ailed,  and  the  bill  was  rejected.  To  demonstrate  that  they  were 
actuated  by  a  regard  for  their  rights,  and  not  by  parsimony,  the  commons 
granted  an  aid  much  Greater  than  had  been  required  ;  instead  of  a  supply 
for  three  months  which  ministers  had  proposed,  they  provided  a  propor- 
tionable amount  for  two  years.  The  liberality  of  the  grant  did  not,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  viceroy,  compensate  tlie  deviation  from  the  customary 
mode.  Regarding  precedent  as  law,  in  a  speech  to  the  houses  he  con- 
tended that  the  procedure  had  violated  the  just  rights  of  the  crown,  and 
protested  against  the  claim  of  the  commons  to  the  origination  of  money 
bills  ;  but  finding  that  the  delegates  of  the  people  were  not  to  be  swayed 
by  his  asseverations  contrary  to  their  own  judgment  and  will,  Townshend 
prorogued  parliament. 

The  j)ri»rogation  of  the  national  council  soon  after  the  commencement 
of  its  deliberations,  and  on  account  of  an  assertion  of  constitutional 
right,  rapidly  and  widely  augmented  dissatisfaction.  The  popular  lead- 
ers employed  the  recess  in  increasing  their  strength,  concerting  plans, 
and  consolidating  efforts.  Unity  of  character  exhibited  internal  evi- 
dence, sullicicnt  to  evince  that  the  same  heads  and  hearts  which  admin- 
istered the  affairs  of  liritain,  directed  the  government  of  Ireland  :  in  the 
counsels  of  rulers  were  to  be  seen  the  general  causes  which,  in  other 
operations,  we  have  boon  contemplating; — weakness  of  conduct  exem- 
plified in  fluctuating  and  inconsistent  measures,  and  a  desultory  alterna- 
tion of  |)recipitate  violence  and  concdiatory  attempt.  Actuated  by  resent- 
ment, the  counscllriis  of  the  king  dc^prived  of  their  offices  two  of  the 
most  powerful  favourites  of  the  people,  lord  Shannon  and  Mr.  Ponson- 
by,  and  thereby  drove  them  to  the  anti-ministerial  side.  During  the 
whole  year  1770,  the  parliament  did  not  meet,  and  the  public  dissatis- 
faction continued  to  ferment.  I'^arly  in  the  following  year,  government 
essayed  a  conciliatory  experiment:  parliament  was  assembled,  and  ad- 
dressed by  the  viceroy  in  a  mild  and  soothing  speech.     Measures,  he 

•  See  Adolphus,  vol.  i.  p.  409. 


1777.— Chap.  X[X.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  445 

[Violence  against  government.    Ascendency  of  opposition  in  parliament.] 

said,  wero  adopted  and  carried  into  execution  for  promoting  the  manu- 
factures and  trade  of  the  kin<fdoni ;  through  the  economy  of  government 
no  new  aids  would  be  required,  and  every  thing  argued  prosperity  to 
Ireland,  if  harmony  in  the  senate  permitted  them  to  devise  the  best  mea- 
sures for  stimulating  the  industry  of  the  people.  This  attempt  to  atone 
by  general  professions  of  good  will  for  specific  violence,  was  not  suc- 
cessful ;  no  mention  being  made  of  the  prorogation  of  parliament  and 
its  cause,  the  source  of  popular  discontent  still  remained.  The  vehe- 
ment ardour  of  the  Irish  character  burst  forth  in  outrage  against  govern- 
ment and  its  adherents  ;  a  mob  armed  with  clubs  and  cutlasses  surround- 
ed the  parliament  house,  attempted  to  impose  an  oath  upon  ministerial 
members,  and  proceeded  to  such  violence  as  required  military  force  to 
repress.  In  parliament,  opposition  was  powerful  and  strenuous;  instead 
of  agreeing  to  the  address,  they  proposed  an  amendment,  reprobating 
the  general  system  of  administration,  and  desiring  ihe  recall  of  the  lord- 
lieutenant.  Though  this  proposition  was  negatived,  yet  the  anti-minis- 
terial party  was  formidable  by  rank  and  talents,  and  supported  by  the 
voice  of  the  country  ;  a  supply  of  money  not  being  wanted,  the  chief 
subject  of  contention  was  dormant,  and  the  session  was  short  and  unim- 
portant. During  the  recess  the  discontents  continued  to  glow,  while 
popular  writers  fanned  the  flame,  and  the  Irish  became  more  violently 
incensed  against  the  ministerial  party,  especially  the  lord-lieutenant. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  year,  parliament  was  again  assembled.  The 
viceroy  opened  it  with  a  speech,  which  was  severely  reprobated  in  both 
houses.  In  the  peers,  the  duke  of  Leinster  and  lord  Moira  very  strongly 
represented  the  distressed  and  discontented  state  of  the  country,  and 
imputed  it  to  the  viceroy.  The  same  arguments  were  supported  in  the 
house  of  commons  with  such  force  and  effect  that  government  carried 
the  address  by  a  majority  of  only  five.  On  the  grand  question  of  a  mo- 
ney bill,  the  popular  party  proved  victorious.  The  commons  framed  a 
proposition  of  supply,  which  was  adopted  by  the  lords.  The  lord-lieuten- 
ant sent  the  bill  to  England,  whence  it  was  returned  with  three  material  al- 
terations by  the  British  council.  The  commons  of  Ireland  saw  that  the 
amendments  were  in  themselves  expedient,  but  indignantly  reprobated 
their  origination.  A  debate  ensued,  of  that  animated  eloquence  which 
generous  breasts  pour  out  on  questions  concerning  their  freedom.  Ope- 
rating on  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  the  popular  speeches  were  so  impress- 
ive, that  in  favour  of  ministry  there  was  not  even  a  division  ;  and  thus  the 
vigorous  efforts  of  the  votaries  of  liberty  still  farther  approximated  the 
constitution  of  Ireland  to  the  constitution  of  Britain,  by  ascertaining  that 
the  contributions  of  the  people  must  originate  with  the  commissioners 
chosen  by  the  people.  Ireland  had  long  been  the  source  of  donatives  to 
the  creatures  of  administration  not  only  connected  with  herself,  but  be- 
longing to  Britain  ;  and  many  pensions  on  the  Irish  establishment  were 
bestowed  on  persons  from  whom  no  benefit  appeared  to  the  Irish  them- 
selves to  have  accrued  to  their  country.  The  reason  frequently  alleged 
by  government  for  such  grants  was,  that  the  receivers  or  their  connexions 
had  been  beneficial  to  the  whole  empire,  and  consequently  to  Ireland  as 
well  as  every  other  part.  The  Irish  patriots,  in  a  great  number  of  in- 
stances, denied  this  allegation,  and  aflirmed  that  a  large  portion  of  the 
sums  paid  for  Irish  pensions  was  without  any  adecpiate  advantage  to  their 
island,  or  indeed  to  Britain.    This  objection  they  in  a  certain  degree  ex- 


446  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  \IX.~1777. 

[Effects  of  the  American  contest  on  IrelanJ.    Wise  government  of  Harcourt.] 

tended  to  placemen:  various  holders  of  nominal  offices  with  real  salaries, 
receiving  their  emohiments  from  Ireland,  resided  in  England  ;  the  popu- 
lar advocates  alleged  that  persons  so  circumstanced  were  mere  pension- 
ers under  another  name.  Ahout  this  time  the  customs  and  excise  were 
placed  under  dilVerent  boards,  in  consequence  of  which  there  was  a  great 
increase  of  revenue  officers.  Opposition  proposed  a  resolution  for  ex- 
pressing a  disapprobation  of  the  change  :  objecting  to  this  motion,  minis- 
ters contended  that  the  alteration  was  extremely  beneficial  in  preventing 
frauds  and  depredations.  Their  adversaries  replied,  that  many  of  the 
persons  who  were  nominated  officers  under  these  boards,  and  received 
salaries,  actually  resided  in  England,  and  contended  that  persons  resi- 
dent in  Britain  could  not  prevent  contraband  trade  in  Ireland.*  These 
arguments  appearing  to  a  majority  not  without  weight,  the  resolution  was 
carried,  and  though  inefficient  as  to  any  legislative  purpose,  manifested 
the  disposition  of  the  commons  to  confhie  grants  within  the  bounds  of 
utility,  without  allowing  reins  to  ministerial  largesses.  While  patriotic 
senators  endeavoured  to  free  the  country  from  useless  incumbrances, 
ignorant  barbarians  carried  dissatisfaction  to  turbulent  outrage :  a  ban- 
ditti, associating  under  the  name  of  hearts  of  steel,  perpetrated  horrid 
atrocities,  and  alarnied  the  whole  country  during  many  months.  The 
intervention  of  the  military  strength  restrained,  but  did  not  totally  sup- 
press desperadoes. 

Such  was  the  state  of  Ireland  in  October,  1772,  when  lord  Townshend 
was  recalled,  and  lord  Harcourt  appointed  viceroy.  This  nobleman  was 
individually  very  popular  among  the  Irish  ;  but  the  discontents  still  pre- 
vailed, and  when  the  contest  with  the  colonies  came  to  a  crisis,  Irish 
dissatisfaction  raged  with  augmented  fury.  The  disputes  between  the 
popular  party  and  administration  in  Ireland,  naturally  excited  in  the  sister 
kingdom  a  very  warm  interest  concerning  their  American  fellow-subjects, 
whom  the  discontented  in  Ireland  regarded  as  labouring  under  a  similar 
oppression  with  the  grievances  of  which  they  themselves  complained. 
They  considered  the  British  government  proposing  to  render  both  Ire- 
land and  America  mere  provinces  of  Britain.  These  sentiments  were 
eagerly  promoted  by  American  agents,  who  represented  Ireland  as  toil- 
ing, that  England  might  wallow  in  luxury ;  the  labours  and  manufactures 
of  Ireland,  like  those  of  the  silk-worm,  were  of  little  moment  to  herself, 
and  served  only  to  decorate  the  idle.  Such  suggestions  exactly  coinciding 
with  their  own  notions,  deeply  impressed  the  Irish,  who  observed  the  va- 
rious schemes  of  American  policy,  military  efforts,  and  turns  of  fortune, 
with  an  anxiety  almost  sympathetic :  of  the  people  of  all  ranks,  a  much 
greater  proportion  in  Ireland  were  friendly  to  the  colonies,  than  in  Eng- 
land. Great  numbers  appeared  ripe  for  even  imitating  the  example  of 
the  revolted  provinces ;  but  the  wisdom  of  Harcourt  avoiding  the  infatu- 
ation of  British  ministers,  employed  moderation  without  timidity,  and 
firmness  unnjixod  with  violence.  Proceeding  in  a  course  directly  oppo- 
site to  that  which  lord  North  and  his  coadjutors  followed,  he  produced 
totally  contrary  effects;  while  they  lost  America,  he  saved  Ireland.  Dis- 
satisfaction indeed  continued,  but  from  the  time  of  his  government  the 
object  of  the  disaffected  was  not  separation  from  Britain,  but  a  participa- 
tion of  benefits  through  a  closer  connexion.    At  the  period  to  which  the 

•  See  Irish  parliamentary  reports. 


1777.— Chap.  XIX.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  447 

[State  of  Scotland.    Consequences  of  the  union,  etc.] 

history  has  reached,  the  principal  subject  of  complaint  among  the  Irish 
was  the  restrictions  under  which  their  manufactures  and  trade  laboured, 
from  the  illiberal  and  impolitic  system  of  British  monopoly.* 

During  the  first  seventeen  years  of  the  present  reign,  Scotland 
made  considerable  advances  in  various  departments  of  industry  and 
improvement.  Her  progress,  however,  was  such  as  rather  to  afford 
materials  of  reflection  to  the  philosophical  contemplator  of  general  re- 
sults, than  remarkable  events  for  the  recording  pen  of  the  historian. 
The  acquirements  of  Scotland,  doubtless,  were  originally  owing  to 
the  ability,  virtue,  and  enterprise  of  her  people,  but  favourable  inci- 
dents and  measures  tended  powerfully  to  call  her  energies  into  effec- 
tual action.  The  prime  source  of  the  benefits  which  poured  upon 
Scotland  during  the  later  periods  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  the 
union;  hence  arose  her  commerce  and  her  manufactures,  or  rather 
her  access  to  commerce,  and  excitement  to  manufactures.  Scotland 
was  not  locally  more  distant  from  the  scenes  of  valuable  trade  than 
England,  but  she  wanted  naval  force  to  protect  her  traffic,  and  secu- 
rity to  her  nautical  enterprise  she  derived  from  the  navy  of  England. 
When  the  interests  of  the  poorer  country  were  identified  with  the 
interests  of  the  richer,  the  former  became  opulent  through  her  cha- 
racteristic industry  and  perseverance,  while  her  exertions  were  be- 
neficial to  her  partner  as  well  as  herself.  The  able  and  skilful  capi- 
talist, and  the  able  and  skilful  adventurer,  thus  acting  in  concert,  pro- 
moted reciprocal  and  mutual  benefit.  If  participation  of  English  trade 
brought  riches  to  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh,  Perth  and  Dundee,  Mont- 
rose and  Aberdeen,  the  demands  of  these  cities,  and  the  appendant 
towns  and  districts,  enlarged  the  call  for  the  productive  labour  of 
England  ;  and  the  advantages  were  interchanged  by  action  and  re- 
action. Time  must  elapse  before,  in  a  new  system,  beneficial  causes 
produce  a  correspondent  effect  :  the  union  very  early  evinced  its  be- 
nefits to  the  Scottish  nation  ;t  and  during  the  reign  of  George  I.  and 
II.  Scotland  considerably  rose  in  commerce  and  opulence;  political 
dissensions,  however,  impeded  her  advancement,  and  much  of  that 
ardour  and  perseverance  which  have  since  been  exercised  in  enter- 
prises profitable  and  honourable  to  individuals  and  the  community, 
were  then  suspended  by  contest,  or  wasted  in  a  hopeless  cause.  Sus- 
pected, if  not  convicted,  of  adhering  to  principles  and  interests  hostile 
to  liberty  and  the  English  constitution,  Scotchmen  were  regarded 
with  a  jealous  eye,  and  avenues  which  political  establishment  had 
opened  to  profit  and  honour  were  obstructed  by  local  projudice.  The 
ruin  of  rebel  hopes  proved  eventually  advantageous  to  the  great  body 
of  Scotchmen,  and  the  impediments  to  honourable  ambition  and  emo- 
lument were  removed.  The  comprehensive  policy  of  the  present  so- 
vereign regarded  neither  place  of  nativity  nor  political  party;  the 
empire  increasing  in  commerce,  the  means  of  opulence  and  aggran- 
dizement, Scotchmen  as  well  as  Englishmen  came  in  for  their  share  ; 
wealth  flowed  on  that  Recently  poor  country,  not  only  from  her  own 
mercantile  residents,  but  from  bold,  keen,  and  assiduous  adventurers 

•  See  Wealth  of  Nations, /jomm. 

f  Insomuch  tiiat  in  the  rebellion,  1715,  its  vehement  opponents,  the  jacohites, 
stipulated  with  the  pretender  adherence  to  tlie  union,  if  lie  should  prove  success- 
ful.   See  SmoUet  and  Cunningham. 


448  HISTORY  OF  the  Cuap.  XIX.—177T. 

(Abolition  of  heritable  jurisdictions.    State  of  the  hi^^hlands] 

Avhoni  she  sent  to  distant  regions  of  the  globe.  The  proceeds  of  Hin- 
dostan  manufactures  aflorded  capitals  that  stimulated  the  industry  of 
Paisley ;  the  produce  of  the  Ghauts  cultivated  the  Grampians ;  and 
the  enriching  inundations  of  the  Ganges  fertilized  the  banks  of  the 
Tay.  While  such  an  opening  to  Scottish  adventure  enlarged  the  ca- 
pital that  nurses  the  useful  and  lucrative  arts,  other  consequences  re- 
sulting from  the  union  were  especially  favourable  to  Scottish  agri- 
culture. This  momentous  treaty  paved  the  way*  for  the  abolition  of 
the  heritable  jurisdictions,  which  formerly  enabled  Scottish  lords  to 
exercise  arbitrary  power  within  their  own  districts,  and  to  be  separate 
tyrants,  instead  of  being  an  order  of  men  enjoying  certain  privileges 
for  the  good  of  the  state. 

This  emendation  was  extremely  beneficial  to  agriculture  ;  formerly 
the  vassals  had  bestowed  a  servile  attendance  on  their  chieftain,  at 
whose  call  they  had  been  obliged  to  repair  to  his  castle,  and  neglect 
their  own  private  affairs.  In  that  dependent  state  they  had  estimated 
themselves  and  each  other  according  to  their  place  in  the  favour  of 
their  liege  lord,  and  their  chief  occupation  had  been  to  court  his  good 
graces  by  being  lounging  retainers  about  his  mansion.  Emancipated 
from  thraldom,  they  attended  to  the  cultivation  of  their  lands :  the 
generous  pride  of  personal  independence  succeeded  the  contemptible 
vanity  which  had  been  gratified  by  second  hand  importance.  To  in- 
dependence the  surest  road  was  industry;  the  subject  for  the  em- 
ployment of  their  industry  was  their  hitlierto  neglected  land  ;  to  their 
inferiors  tliey  communicated  a  portion  of  that  independence  which 
they  possessed  and  began  to  enjoy  ;  they  let  their  farms  upon  long 
leases,  and  dispensed  with  the  most  humiliating  services ;  by  the  se- 
curity of  their  tenures  the  tenants  were  stimulated  to  unusual  indus- 
try. With  this  deliverance  from  feudal  servitude,  no  doubt,  the  in- 
crease of  manufactures  and  commerce  very  powerfully  co-operated  to 
the  promotion  of  agriculture  :  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce, mutually  and  reciprocally  advanced  each  other,  and  conjointly 
tended  to  form  that  middling  class,  which,  though  not  before  existing 
in  Scotland,  has  in  England  proved  the  most  efficacious  supporters 
of  our  laws,  liberty,  and  constitution.  As,  however,  the  operation  of 
political  caviscs  is  generally  gradual,  the  progress  of  husbandry  was 
not  hitherto  universal  in  Scotland  ;  in  the  lowland  districts  it  had 
made  such  considerable  advances  as  to  equal  most  counties  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  highland  frontiers  gentlemen  were  beginning  to  know 
the  use  of  fertilixing  composts  adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  and 
climate,  and  by  means  of  these  to  establish  a  regular  rotation  of  crops  : 
but  opinion  and  usage  surviving  institution,  the  encouragement  to 
farmers  was  in  those  districts  inadequate.  The  tenements  were  too 
small  to  admit  an  accumulation  of  capital  siiflicient  for  the  purposes 
of  improvement ;  and  few  leases  being  granted,  the  precarious  depen- 
dence of  the  tenure  |)revented  every  expendiluie  that  was  not  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  the  productiveness  of  a  single  year.  Some  landed 

•  The  dcRtniction  of  feudal  vassalage  never  Could  have  ha])|>ene(l  had  Scotland 
retained  a  sepaiate  lejjislaliirc ;  because  most  of  the  nieinber.s  of  that  parliaaieni, 
from  vanity,  pride,  and  arnl)ilion,  wiiuM  have  opposed  a  measure  uliicli  rednccil 
them  from  Ijciujj  petty  princes  on  their  own  estates,  to  an  equal  submissiion  to  liic 
I'iws  with  tlieir  vabbais  and  even  poorc:il  tenants. 


1777.— Chap.  XIX.  KEIGN  OF  GL'.ORGR  III.  44?) 

[Effort*  for  improving  the  state  of  the  people.] 

proprietors,  however,  among  the  valiics  of  the  Grampians  exercised 
a  liberal  and  wise  policy  in   the  allotment  of  their  farms,  by  letting 
such  quantities  of  land  as  to  admit  the  full  employment  of  the  tenant's 
skill,  and  tjranting  leases  which  stimulated  his  industry.    The  benefi- 
cial   effects   which  accrued  to  such  jvulicious  landlords,  influenced 
others,    and  the   prospect  of  agricultural  improvement  in  those  dis- 
tricts was  favourable.     A  succession  of  cold  seasons  some  years  be- 
fore, had  damped  the  spirit  of  agricultural  improvement ;  but  these 
terminated  in  1773,*  and  were  followed  by  fruitful  seasons.     In  more 
remote  and  barren  parts  of  the  highlands,  during  the  yeai's  of  scarcity, 
extreme  indigence  prevailed,  and  the  evils  were  dreadfully  aggrava- 
ted by  subordinate  oppression.    Though  dissolved  by  law,  the  feudal 
system    here  continued  in    fact,   without  the   patriarchal   sentiments 
-which  had  rendered  the  chieftain  and  his  retainers  one  large  family. 
The  proprietors  having  assigned  their  lands  in   large  allotments  to 
tack.i7nen,  who,  both  in  situation  and  conduct,  bore  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  the  middle-men  who  are  so  oppressive  to  the  Irish  peasantry, 
great  emigrations  took  place.    For  improving  the  state  of  the  people, 
the  only  effectual  means  of  repressing  this  spirit,  attempts  were  made 
to  stimulate  the  inhabitants  of  the  coasts  to  seek  from  the  ocean  those 
riches,  which  the  coldness  of  the  climate  and  the  barrenness  of  the 
soil  denied  to  their  industrious  efforts.    Various  projects  were  formed 
for  promoting  the  fisheries,   but  hitherto  with  very  partial   success. 
The  influence  of  the  union  began  to  extend  even  to  the  remote  high- 
lands: gentlemen  in  the  army  or  other  professions  became  conversant 
■with  English  sentiments  and  principles,  learned  a  respect   for  the 
rights  and  happiness  of  their  fellow  men,  and  perceived  that  by  en- 
couraging activity  and  enterprise   among  their  tenants,  they  would 
eventually  render  them  more  productive.    But  this  spirit  was  not  yet 
become  general  ;  many  of  the    lower  proprietors,  as   well  as  of  the 
higher  class,  whose  range  of  observation,  thought,  and  sentiment  was 
narrowed  within  the  circle  of  their  domains,  preferred  lordly  supre- 
macy over  humble  dependants,  to  all  the  benefits  accruing  to  a  land- 
lord from  an  independent  cultivator  of  his  lands  on  the  terms  of  fair 
reciprocity  between  man  and  man.    Light  and  civilization  required  to 

•  Here  I  think  it  will  not  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  mention  a  theory  which 
was  formed  by  the  peasants  of  Alhol,  a  district  of  Perthshire,  concerninsj  the  se- 
vere years,  the  natural  cause  of  iheir  continuance  and  termination,  as  it  illustrates 
the  cliaracter  and  notions  of  our  Icllow-subjects  in  an  extensive  and  populous  dis- 
trict. Acute  and  intelligent,  with  their  time  not  fidiy  occupied  by  rural  business, 
the  highlanders  are  much  addicted  to  sjieculation,  especially  on  physical  sul>jects, 
which  make  a  forcible  impression  on  their  senses  and  observation.  The  cold  sea- 
sons that  had  sterilized  their  fields  were  naturally  the  chief  topics  of  their  dis- 
course. Desirous  of  ascertaining  the  cause,  in  the  want  of  facts,  like  much  deeper 
philosophers,  they  had  recourse  to  conjecture.  The  favourite  hypothesis  was, 
that  Scotland  had  revolved  within  the  influence  of  a  frozen  star,  and  would  become 
colder  and  colder  as  long  as  this  attraction  lasted.  In  the  year  17"4,  the  kin.g'a 
astronomer,  Mr.  Maskelyne,  came  to  that  country,  with  the  view  of  making  obser- 
vations from  one  of  the  highest  mountains;  Shichallion  vvas  accordingly  chosen. 
The  theorists  apprehended  his  object  was  to  melt  the  frozen  star:  the  season 
proved  at  first  extremely  rainy,  which  they  imputed  to  the  dissolution  of  the  frost, 
but  it  afterwards  became  warm  and  genial',  which  they  attributed  to  the  complete 
success  of  the  experiment.  Such  was  their  belief  at  the  time,  and  long  after,  as  I 
myself  know ;  and  I  have  heard  that  among  the  old  it  continues  to  this  day. 

Vol.  VII.— 57 


450  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Cuai-.  XIX.— 17rr. 

[Ecclesinstical  disputes  agitate  Scotland.] 

be  much  more  perfectly  difTused,  before  the  energies  of  tlie  high- 
laiulcrs  were  employed  to  the  degree  of  advantage  of  which  their 
combined  talents,  resolution,  and  enterprise  are  susceptible. 

Tlie  lower  ranks  in  Scotland  have  a  greater  proportion  of  know- 
ledge, than  corresponding  classes  in  many  other  countries.  One  great 
branch  of  the  smdy  even  of  peasants  and  mechanics,  (strange  to  say  !) 
is  metaphysical  divinity.  The  equalizing  spirit  of  prcsbyierianism,  in 
matters  of  faith  pays  much  less  regard  to  human  authority,  than  is  be- 
stowed by  the  votaries  of  hierarchical  establishments;  and  nothing  is 
more  common  than  to  find  a  day  labourci'  contending  with  the  parson 
of  the  parish  concerning  interpretations  of  scripture  and  jjoints  of  or- 
thodoxy. Connected  with  this  anxious  care  for  the  doctrines  of  the 
church,  is  a  no  less  vigilant  watchfulness  for  her  government.  While 
England  was  so  much  occupied  by  Wilkes  and  the  colonies,  Scotland, 
without  being  regardless  of  these,  was  chiefly  agitated  by  questions 
concerning  the  source  of  clerical  appoiiumenis.  The  law  of  the  land 
established  patronage,  either  of  the  crown,  public  bodies,  or  indivi- 
duals :  a  great  body  in  the  church,  headed  by  Robertson,  supported 
the  continuance  of  the  law  as  it  stood  ;  a  smaller  but  considerable  bo- 
dy in  the  church,  supported  by  numerous  votaries  among  the  people, 
desired  an  abolition  of  the  law  of  patronage  ;  and  until  that  should  be 
effected,  such  a  modification  in  its  execution  as  would  eventually 
amount  to  popular  election.*  After  the  re-establishment  of  the  law  of 
patronage  in  1712,  the  clergy  found  the  people  extremely  averse  to 
the  revived  mode,  which  they  considered  as  a  remnant  of  episcopacy, 
and  even  of  popery  ;  and  many  of  their  own  body  entertained  a  similar 
opinion.  It  was  a  maxim  in  prcsbyterian  government,  from  John 
Knox  downwards,  that  a  presentee,  although  perfectly  well  qualified, 
and  unexceptionable  in  life  and  doctrine,  was  nevertheless  inadmissi- 
ble to  his  clerical  office,  till  the  concurrence  of  the  people  who  were 
to  be  under  his  ministry,  had  l)een  regularly  ascertained.  The  form 
of  expressing  tliis  coricurrence  was  by  the  subscription  of  a  paper 
termed  a  cally  and  many  of  the  clergy  would  refuse  the  lawful  pre- 
sentee, unless  he  had  in  his  favour  this  expression  of  parochial  appro- 
bation; thus  the  mode  intended  and  ordained  by  the  law  of  the  land 
was  transgressed,  and  the  people  were  gratified  by  a  violation  of  the 
statute.  During  the  first  years  cf  the  present  reign  this  subject  was 
very  strongly  debated  under  two  views,  judicial  process  in  the  pre- 
sent circumstances,  and  the  expediency  of  application  for  a  total  re- 
peal of  the  law.  On  the  first  question  wliich  came  before  almost  every 
meeting  of  the  general  assembly  in  some  case  of  appeal,  the  support- 
ers of  calls  argued  from  the  maxims  of  presbyterianism  and  repeated 
practice,  which  ilicy  endeavoured  to  establish  as  usage  and  common 
law;  and  from  the  general  spirit  of  liberty.  The  advocates  of  patron- 
age aigued  fiom  the  express  statute,  which  every  judge  is  bound  to 
follow,  whatever  may  be  his  own  private  or  individual  maxims  or 
opinions;  and  contended  that  practice  never  can  be  pleaded  in  opposi- 
tion to  positive  law.  A  great  majority  of  the  people,  as  might  be  na- 
turally expected,  adhered  to  those  clergy  who  proposed  to  allow  such 

•  See  Dr.  Hill's  paper  on  tl)is  subject,  as  quoted  by  Mr.  Stewart  in  his  Life  of 
Robertson,  p.  159,  &c.,  which  exhibits  a  very  masterly  view  of  this  question,  but 
in  more  detail  than  it  would  suit  the  purposes  of  this  history  to  transcribe. 


1777.— CaAP.  XIX.  KEIGN  OF  GEOUGK  III.  451 

[Literature.    Character  and  writing-s  of  Hume] 

weipjht  to  popular  suffrage,  and  the  clerical  opponents  of  patronage 
were,  as  a  body,  the  chief  favourites  of  the  multitude.     Among  them 
there  were  many  individuals  of  respectable  talents,  and  some  of  trans- 
cendent abilities  ;*  but  tiie  great  mass  of  clerical  erudition,  and  the 
brightest  luminaries  of  literary  genius,  were  on  the  side  of  existing 
law.    Against  particular  exercises,  as  well  as  the  general  principle  of 
patronage,  an   outcry  was   raised,   which   disturbed   Scotland    much 
longer  than  the  Middlesex  election  agitated  England.     In    1766,  the 
leaders  of  the  popular  party  proposed  an  application  to  the  legislature 
for  the  abolition  of  patronage  ;  but  after  a  very  able  debate,  their  mo- 
tion was  rejected.    From  that  time  no  regular  attempt  was   made  to 
change  the  law,  although  on  every  judicial  question  within  its  opera- 
tion it  continued  to  be  reprobated  by  the  votaries  of  popular  election, 
Scotland,  during  this  period,  was  peculiarly  distinguished  for  literary 
effort.     In  the  preceding  yearf  died  David  Hume,  whose  writings  must 
occupy  such  an  important  share  in  a  history  of  the  learning  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.     As  a  profound  and  comprehensive  philosopher,  Hume 
had  few  equals.     The  powers  of  his  understanding  were  extraordinary 
in  natural  acuteness  and  strength,  and  sharpened  and  invigorated  by  as- 
siduous exercise  ;  his  knowledge  was  extensive,  accurate  and  multifari- 
ous ;   his  faculty  of  communication  was  proportioned  to  his  talents  and 
acquisitions  ;  his  language  is  plain,  easy,  varying  with  the  subject,  fre- 
quently elegant,  and  always  strong,  without  any  apparent  efibrt.     Such 
intellectual  abilities,  however,  even  though  accompanied  by  integrity  and 
benevolence,  were  not  uniformly  directed  to  the  real  benefit  of  mankind. 
With  valuable  good  that  accrued  from  this  sage,  there  was  mixed  an 
alloy  of  evil.     His  enmity  to  the  religion  of  his  country,  was  pernicious 
in  proportion  to  the  ingenuity  of  his  sophistry,  and  the  extent  of  bis 
fame.  His  Treatise  upon  Human  JVature,  from  false  principles,  by  a  sub- 
tle system  of  inferences,  endeavoured  to  establish  conclusions  contra- 
dictory to  common  sense,  and  rarely  has  greater  genius  been  exerted  in 
discovering  important  and  beneficial  truths,  than  are  here  exercised  to 
impress  extravagant  absurdities  :   seldom  has  mind  more  powerfully  dis- 
played its  energies  than  in  trying  to  disprove  its  own  existence.  J    Wild 
and  visionary  as  the  system  is,  yet  there  are  many  observations  of  the 
highest  value  :  and  the  author's  mode,  together  with  his  example,  stimu- 
lated readers  to  a  degree  of  intellectual  exercise  which  strengthened 
their  understandings  ;  the  examination  of  false  or  erroneous  subtlety 
eventually  facilitated  the  attainment  of  truth.     The  publication  of  these 
notions  was  moreover  of  signal  service  to  the  science  of  pneumatology, 
in  the  answers  which  they  called  forth.     Of  these  the  most  distinguished 
were  Beattie's  Essay  upon  Truth ;  which  in  a  popular,  animated,  and 
impressive  manner,  expatiated  on  the  wild  theories  that  Hume  support- 
ed ;  and  Reid's  Inquiry  into  the  Human  Mind  on  the  Principles  of  Com- 
mon Sense.     By  rousing  the  investigating  powers  of  this  very  profound 
philosopher,  Mr.  Hume  has  been  the  means  of  enlarging  man's  know- 
ledge of  his  own  faculties.     The  infidelity  of  Hume,  mischievous  as  it 

•  Such  as  Drs.  Ersklne.and  Webster  ;  but,  beyond  all,  Dr.  Dick.    See  Stewr- 
art's  Life  of  Robertson, 
t  August,  1776. 
t  See  Hume's  theory  of  ideas  and  impressions,   Treatise  of  Human  JVature. 


452  IIlSTOItY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XIX.— 1777. 

[Excellence  of  liis  English  history.] 

is  in  itself,  has  incited  the  friends  of  religion  to  add  new  muniments  to 
the  Christian  faith.  The  Essay  on  Miracles,  and  the  Natural  History 
of  Religion,  produced  from  the  ability  and  learning  both  of  Scotland* 
and  Englandf  answers  which  constitute  valuable  additions  to  rational 
theology  ;  and  thus  the  aberrations  of  genius,  corrected  by  sound  reason- 
ing and  wisdom,  serve  to  promote  the  cause  of  truth.  The  impression, 
however,  of  the  Humean  infidelity  was  by  no  means  efiaced  :  so  re- 
nowned an  author  gave  a  currency  to  his  opinions  which  they  long  re- 
tained, and  at  the  period  before  us  they  were  extremely  prevalent  among 
youthful  men  of  letters.  I'he  moral  .system  of  the  philosopher,  though 
far  less  objectionable  than  his  religion,  is  not  without  its  defects  ;  pro- 
buhlv  less  in  the  intention  of  the  author,  than  the  interpretation  which  his 
principles  may  admit.  Identifying  virtue  with  utility,  and  not  exactly 
marking  the  boundaries  of  that  utility  which  he  denominates  virtuous,  he 
has  misled  inferior;};  theorists  into  very  absurd  and  pernicious  conclu- 
sions. His  scheme,  implicitly  and  indiscriminately  adopted,  tends  to 
render  indefinite  expediency,  private  interest,  and  state  policy,  the  springs 
of  human  conduct,  instead  of  conscience  and  religion  ;  but  though  this 
treatise  cannot  be  admitted,  at  least  by  the  votaries  of  revealed  or  even 
natural  theology,  as  a  just  and  salutary  system  of  morals,  the  illustra- 
tions and  incidental  remarks  contain  a  portion  of  wisdom,  which,  apart 
from  his  other  works,  would  be  sutiicient  to  evince  the  profound  ability 
of  the  author.  The  politics  of  Hume  are  differently  estimated  accord- 
ing to  the  previous  opinions  which  their  examiners  have  formed.  One 
observation  is  obvious,  that  though  he  verges  to  the  notions  of  the  tories 
concerning  government,  he  inculcates  his  doctrines  on  a  very  difterent 
principle.  Far  from  having  recourse  to  divme  rigiit,  he  only  carries  his 
moral  doctrine  of  expediency  to  affairs  of  state  ;  and  infers,  that  in  the 
usual  course  of  conduct,  it  is  safer  for  the  individual  and  society  to  ac- 
quiesce in  partial  abuses  than  to  attempt  correction  by  force,  and  this  is 
the  whole  extent  of  Hume's  toryism  ;  so  that,  according  to  him,  com- 
pliance or  refusal  comes  to  be  a  mere  question  of  prudence  in  the  exist- 
ing case.§ 

Writings  contrary  to  the  observation  and  experience  of  mankind  are 
rarely  lasting.  The  metaphysical  paradoxes  of  this  extraordinary  man 
are  not  the  foundation  of  his  permanent  fame  ;  the  work  which  conse- 
crates Hurne  to  immortality  is  that  monument  of  his  genius,  which  leav- 
ing speculative  subtlety,  descends  to  be  the  vehicle  of  practical  wisdom. 
His  history  is  probably  the  first  composition  of  that  important  species 
which  is  to  be  found  in  ancient  or  modern  times  ;  not  less  penetrating 
and  profuund  than  Tacitus  and  Thucydides,  he  has  chosen  a  subject  that 
admitted  of  greater  extent  and  variety  than  either  of  these  illustrious 
writers;  he  has  exhil)ited  man  as  progressively  advancing  from  barba- 
rism and  ignorance  to  civilization  and  knowledge  ;  and  in  all  these  silua- 
ti'^ns,  employments,  and  exertions,  which  develop  his  intellectual  and 
moral  character;  the  narrative  is  interesting  and  deeply  engages  the 
reader ;  the  materials  are  arranged  with  the  clearness  of  a  mind  thatsur- 

•  Dr.  C.impbell.  f  Dr.  Hurd. 

i  See  Godv.i'i's  Political  .liistice,  pasidm. 

%  Hence  Dr.  Johpson  calls  Hunie  a  tcry  by  accident,  and  not  from  principle. 
See  Doswell. 


1777.— CuAP.  XIX.  REIGN  OF  GF.OllGE  HI  453 

[Robertson.     Gibbon,     Political  economy.     Eloquence.] 

veyed  every  part  and  the  whole  of  its  subject;  the  civil,  ecclesiastical, 
political,  and  literary  features  of  the  times  are  exactly  and  strongly  de- 
lineated ;  throughout  this  grand  production,  we  perceive  the  critic  of  com- 
bined taste  and  science,  the  philosopher,  the  politician,  the  successful 
investigator  and  exhibitor  of  active  man.      Every  friend  to  Christianity 
must  regret  that  there  is,  in  such  an  estimable  work,  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  matter  which  is  really  inimical  to  religion,  though  professedly  in- 
tended to  expose  to  ridicule,  contempt,  and  censure,  some  of  the  su- 
perstitions that  assumed  its  liame ;  but  the  sceptical  impressions  that 
render  such  strictures  dangerous,  are  only  temporary  ;  whereas  the  be- 
nefit of  the  illustrious  lessons  of  wisdom  will  endure  as  long  as  the  lan- 
guage that  conveys  them  is  knov/n,  and  as  judgment  exists  to  appreciate 
excellence.    With  the  Corypheus  of  Scottisli  literature  many  others  were 
nearly  cotemporary.     Having  founded  his  fame  in  the  former  reign,  Ko- 
bertson,  in  the  present,  raised  a  splendid  superstructure ;  the  historian 
of  Charles  V.  traced  the  connexion  between  ancient  and  modern  man, 
in  the  old  world  ;  then  winging  his  flight  to  the  new,  he  exhibited  the 
spectacle  of  savage  life  in  a  more  just  and  striking  form  than  is  elsewhere 
to  be  found.     On  nations  in  the  cradle  of  society  he  bestowed  a  patient 
investigation  and  able  deduction  in  exhibiting  the  wants  and  character  of 
their  infant  state;  by  unity  of  design,  skilful  selection,  and  masterly  exe- 
cution, he  presented  an  exact,  glowing,  and  interesting  picture  ;  he  be- 
stowed on  his  story  and  characters  almost  dramatic  animation  ;  while  the 
impressive  description  of  the  poet  did  not  preclude  the  truth  of  the  his- 
torian, or  the  reflection  of  the  philosopher.     In  his  inquiries  into  the 
bodily  constitution  of  tlie  Americans  ;  the  qualities  of  their  minds  ;  their 
domestic,  civil,  and. political  state  and  institutions  ;  their  arts,  their  re- 
ligion, their  manners,  and  their  customs  ;  he,  instead  of  imputing  their 
character  and  condition  to  physical  nature,  with  vigorous  sense,  and 
sound  philosophy,  ascribes  them  to  moral  and  political  causes.     The 
success  of  Hume  and   of  Robertson  stimulated  historical  adventure  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  contributed  to  rouse  a  writer  fitted 
for  transmitting  to  posterity  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  first  volumes  excited  a  curiosity  and  expectation  which  it  required 
historical  powers  of  the  highest  kind  to  gratify  in  the  subsequent  eflxirts. 
These  illustrious   writers  chose  some  specific,  though  grand  portion  of 
story,  as  the  subject  of  their  exhibition  of  human  nature.     Ferguson  pre- 
sented man  under  a  more  general  view ;   The  Essaij  on  civil  Society 
traced  the  species  through  all  the  varieties,  progression,  and  declension 
of  the  social  state  ;  from  the  first  perceptions  of  sense  to  the  general  con- 
clusions of  science;  the  earliest  operations  of  sentiment  and  reason  to 
the  heights  of  moral  and  political  knowledge ;  and  following  barbarity 
through  various  stages,  conducted  it  to  refinement ;  until  politeness  de- 
generated into  enervation,  and  effeminate  vice  destroyed  what  manly  vir- 
tue had  acquired.     Smith  unfolded  the  philosophy  of  political  economy, 
and  promulgated  the  rules  and  conduct  by  which  individuals  and  nations 
might  arrive  at  opulence,  and  the  various  species  of  productive  industry 
might  be  exerted  with  .the  greatest  success.    Blair  gave  to  the  public  the 
tirst  volume  of  sermons  which  decorated   christian  morality  w  ith  all  the 
charms  of  refined  taste  and  polished  composition,  and  by  persuasive 
eloquence  impressed  beneficial  truth.    Home  introduced  the  tragic  muse 


454  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XIX.— 17rr. 

[Encourag-ement  of  genius.] 

into  the  Scottish  woods,  rendered  the  banks  of  the  Carron  as  interesting 
as  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  and  engaged  the  lieart  for  sir  Malcolm's 
Matilda  as  if  she  had  been  Priiili's  Belvidera.  These  were  among  the 
most  distinguished  efTorts  in  philosophy,  history,  and  poetry,  by  which 
Scotland  aspired  at  literary  fame,  not  utiworthy  of  the  partner  with  whom 
she  was  now  happily  united  ;  whose  liberal  munificence  springing  from 
the  energy  of  freedom,  affords  to  every  species  of  beneficial  talents  the 
strongest  motives  for  exertion  and  display. 


mr^Cair.  XX.  KKIGN  OF  GEOKGE  111.  455 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Conduct  of  France  and  Spain. — Changing  sentiments  of  the  French — Meeting 
of  parliament. — King's  speecii  declares  the  necessity  of  continuing  tlie  war. — 
Debates  on  the  address. — Inquiries  into  tlie  state  of  the  nation. — Lord  Chatham 
takes  an  active  part  in  parhament. — Renewal  of  the  law  for  detaining  suspected 
persons. — Mr.  Fox's  grand  plan  of  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  nation — allow  ed 
under  modifications — News  arrives  of  Uurgoyne's  fate. — Different  conduct  of 
lord  North  and  lord  George  Germaine. — Operations  of  ministers  during  the  re- 
cess— Vohnitary  contributions  for  levying  new  regiments. — Propriety  of  these 
discussed  in  parliament. — Mr.  Fox's  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  nation. — Mr. 
Burke's  motion  respecting  the  employment  of  Indians. — Lord  North's  plan  of 
negotiation  witii  the  colonies. — Commissioners  appointed. — Hostile  intimation 
from  France. — Mr.  Fox's  proposed  inquiry  thereon  into  the  state  of  tlie  navy. — 
His  inquiry  into  the  plan  and  preparations  of  the  Canada  expedition. — Schism 
in  opposition,  on  the  question  of  American  independence. — Discussion  on  the 
subject  in  the  house  of  peers — Last  efforts  of  lord  Chatham. —  His  illness,  death, 
and  character. — Tributes  of  respect  and  gratitude  paid  to  his  memory  by  par- 
liament.— Application  to  parliament  in  favour  of  Ireland. — Consideration  post- 
poned.— Repeal  of  king  William's  act  respecting  Roman  catholics. — Supplies. — 
Ways  and  means,  and  taxes. — Motion  for  an  inquiry  respecting  expenditure — 
rejected. — Dignified  speech  of  his  majesty  at  the  close  of  the  nation. 

While  Britain  was  engaged  in  so  momentous  a  contest,  her  Eu- 
ropean neighbours  anxiously  watched  operations  and  events.  France 
and  Spain  opened  their  ports  to  American  ships  so  early  as  1776,  and 
treated  the  colonists  in  every  respect  as  an  independent  people.  The 
laws  for  prohibiting  commerce  between  Britain  and  her  opponents, 
ultimately  punished  only  Britain  herself:  precluded  from  trade  with 
the  parent  state,  the  provincials  supplied  the  deficiency  from  the 
markets  of  our  rivals.  Not  contented  with  reaping  the  benefit  of  the 
new  traffic,  the  great  Bourbon  kingdoms  abetted  the  revolters  in  their 
hostilities ;  their  privateers  were  openly  received,  and  their  prizes 
publicly  sold,  in  the  French  and  Spanish  ports.  The  French  furnished 
the  provincials  with  artillery  and  all  kinds  of  warlike  stores  ;  their  en- 
gineers and  officers  carried  skill  and  discipline  to  the  American  ar- 
mies. Two  principles  prompted  our  potent  neighbours  to  assist  the 
revolted  colonies;  the  ancient  spirit  of  rivalry  determined  the  court, 
and  the  modern  sentiments  of  liberty  instigated  the  people.  The  lite- 
rary efforts  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV,  had  been  chiefly  employed  on 
works  of  fancy  and  taste,  or  of  physical  research,  but  now  began  to 
take  a  different  direction,  and  to  investigate  theological  and  political 
philosophy.  It  required  little  penetration  to  perceive,  that  both  the 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  establishments  of  France  were  extremely  de- 
fective ;  that  they  nourished  superstition  instead  of  true  religion,  and 
sought  the  gratification  of  the  court  instead  of  the  welfare  of  the  peo- 
ple. Having  discovered  these  iinperfections,  many  now  ran  into  the 
contrary  extreme  :  Voltaire,  D'Alembert,  Helvetius,  and,  above  all, 
Rousseau,  gave  the  tone  to  fashionable  literature :  great  numbers  of 


45G  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XX.— 1777. 

[American  mission  to  France.    Franklin.] 

the  nobilily  and  gentry  became  deists  and  republicans;  and  as  the 
friends  of  a  commonwealth,  they  were  easily  induced  to  favour  the 
revolters  from  a  monarchical  government.  Mild,  gentle,  and  indo- 
lent, if  left  to  himself,  the  king  would  have  been  little  inclined  to  hos- 
tilities :  but  those  who  iiad  the  greatest  influence  with  him  were  of  a 
very  different  character  :  his  queen,  Marie  Antoinette  of  Austria,  hav- 
ing the  enterprising  spirit  of  her  mother,  was  desirous  of  promoting 
the  glory  and  power  of  the  crown  to  which  she  was  afliiinced,  and 
humbling  its  rival.  Tlie  duke  de  Choiseul,  always  an  enemy  to  the 
enterprising  rival  of  France,  eagerly  promoted  the  cause  of  the  Ame- 
ricans against  England.  Sartine,  the  naval  minister,  hoped  that  a  war 
with  England,  when  so  nuich  of  her  strength  was  employed  against 
her  late  subjects,  would  attain  his  favourite  object,  the  exaltation  of 
the  French,  and  the  depression  of  the  British  navy.  These  disposi- 
tions were  promoted  by  the  American  ambassadors  ;  first,  partially  by 
Messrs.  Silas  Dean  and  Arthur  Lee,  and  afterwards  more  effectually 
and  completely  by  the  illustrious  Franklin.  Having  reached  the  high- 
est distinctions  as  a  natural  philosopher,  this  sage  eclipsed  the  glory 
of  his  physical  theories  by  iiis  political  practice  ;  patriotically  devoted 
to  his  native  country,  he  was  warmly  attached  to  the  British  interest, 
while  he  considered  it  as  compatible  with  the  welfare  of  America.  He 
had  sojourned  many  years  in  the  metropolis,  and  from  his  extraordi- 
nary talents  was  connected  with  able  men  of  all  ranks  :  he  strenuously 
deprecated  the  measures  of  government,  and  uniformly  foretold  that 
the  consequences  would  be  fatal.  Finding  the  proceedings  of  admi- 
nistration daily  more  hostile  to  the  colonies,  and  that  no  petitions 
■would  be  received  or  regarded,  he  withdi^fe*  to  assist  his  native  land, 
preparing  for  war,  which  he  now  deemed  un'i^idable.  He  encouraged 
her  efforts,  increased  her  resources,  and  presided  in  arranging  her 
plans  and  forming  her  government.  Having  employed  his  inventive 
genius  and  profound  wisdom  in  providing  the  means  of  internal  secu- 
rity to  his  country,  he  next  undertook  to  procure  her  the  most  useful 
foreign  assistance.  Arrived  at  Paris,  Franklin  was  courted  by  all 
ranks  as  the  philosoi)her,  the  politician,  the  enemy  of  England,  and 
the  friend  of  liberty.  He  succeeded  in  determining  the  court  of 
France  to  a  war  apparently  pregnant  with  discomfiture  and  distress 
to  Britain,  but  destined  eventually  to  recoil  on  the  aggressor.  The 
state  of  France  was  at  this  time  favourable  to  financial  resources  :  in 
1776,  M.  Neckar  being  placed  at  the  head  of  the  treasury,  by  his 
skill  and  industry  so  much  reduced  the  national  expenditure,  and  im- 
proved the  revenue,  that  the  king  saw  himself  in  a  condition  to  en- 
counter England  without  subjecting  his  people  to  new  taxes.  Great 
warlike  preparations  were  carried  on  during  the  year  1777;  but,  as 
the  prophetic  wisdom  of  Chatham  had  foretold,  France  continued  to 
abstain  from  actual  hostility,  until  the  event  of  the  contest  with  the  co- 
lonies should  be  ascertained.  Thoroughly  informed  of  the  mighty 
force  which  Britain  was  employing  in  America,  from  her  experience 
of  British  valour  and  conduct  she  could  not  reasonably  anticipate  the 
ineffectual  result  of  partial  success,  or  the  decisive  completion  of  dis- 
aster. The  hopes  of  England,  she  knew  from  the  late  campaign,  had 
been  extremely  sanguine  ;  but  they  had  in  no  quarter  been  fulfilled, 
and  in  one  had  entirely  been  blasted. 


1777.— Chkv.  XX.  REIGN  OF  GKORGli  III.  457 

[Parliament.    Speech  oftlie  king.    Debates  on  the  address,  j 

The  calamity  of  Saratoga  finally  decided  the  counsels  of  France; 
the  momeni  of  humiliation  and  debasement  was  chosen  by  tiie  court  of 
Versailles  to  f^ive  a  fatal  blow  to  the  formidable  power  of  her  rival. 
Spain  was  no  less  favourable  to  the  cause  of  the  Amercans :  but  ha- 
rassed and  I'atigucd  by  her  wars  with  the  baibai'ians  of  Alrica,  though 
as  prone  to  hostilities  with  England  as  the  elder  branch  of  the  liour- 
bons,  she  was  not  equally  prepared  for  immediate  commencement. 

Parliament  met  the  20lh  of  November;  at  that  time  intelligence 
had  not  been  received  of  the  disastrous  fate  of  Burgoync's  expedition; 
and  the  progressive  advantages  of  general  Howe,  with  the  force  under 
his  command,  justified  the  expectation  of  much  more  signal  and  im- 
portant successes,  than  those  that  were  actually  attained,  when  the 
general,  instead  of  pursuing  Washington,  closed  the  campaign  in  the 
dissipation  of  Philadelpliia.  His  majesty's  speech  spoke  hope  and  con- 
fidence. Having  afforded  his  servtmts  the  means  of  victory,  the  king 
concluded  that  they  would  be  employed  with  effect.*  The  powers  (he 
said)  committed  by  parliament  to  the  crown  had  been  faithfully  ex- 
erted ;  and  he  trusted,  that  the  conduct  and  courage  of  the  officers, 
with  the  si)irit  and  intrepidity  of  the  soldiers,  would  be  attended  with 
important  success.  Persuaded  that  both  houses  would  see  the  neces- 
sity of  preparing  for  such  further  operations  as  the  contingencies  of 
the  war  and  the  obstinacy  of  the  rebels  might  render  expedient,  his 
majesty  was  for  that  purpose  pursuing  the  proper  measures  for  keep- 
ing the  land  forces  complete  to  their  present  establishments  ;  if  he 
should  have  occasion  to  increase  them,  a  reliance  was  placed  on  the 
zeal  and  public  spirit  of  parliaunent  to  enable  him  to  make  the  requi- 
site augmentation.  Although  repeated  assurances  were  received  of 
the  pacific  disposition  of  foreign  powers,  yet,  as  the  armaments  in  the 
ports  of  France  and  Spain  were  continued,  he  judged  it  advistible  to 
make  a  considerable  ad>lition  to  our  naval  force  ;  it  being  equally  the 
determined  resolution  of  the  king  not  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe, 
and  to  be  a  faithful  guardian  of  the  honour  of  his  crown,  and  the 
rights  of  his  people.  He  informed  the  commons,  that  the  various  ser- 
vices which  had  been  mentioned  would  uiuivoidubly  require  large  sup- 
plies ;  and  assured  them  that  nothing  could  relieve  his  mind  from 
the  concern  which  it  felt  for  the  burthens  imposed  on  his  subjects, 
but  a  conviction  that  they  were  absolutely  necessary  fi>r  their  honour 
and  safety.  His  majesty  was  resolved  to  pursue  the  measured  in 
which  they  were  now  engaged  for  the  re-establishment  of  constitu- 
tional subordination,  and  still  hoped  that  the  deluded  nmltitude  would 
return  to  their  duty.  The  restoration  of  peace,  oider,  and  confidence^ 
to  his  American  colonies,  he  would  consider  as  the  greatest  happiness 
of  his  life,  and  the  chief  gloi^y  of  his  reign.  The  addresses,  as  usual, 
echoed  the  speech  ;  and  their  supporters  not  only  jusiified  the  mea- 
sures of  government,  but  expatiated  on  the  btnijinal  cons'-guenccf! 
which  they  had  produced,  and  on  the  flourishing  state  of  public  af- 
fairs. The  opponents  of  ministers  prop.jsed  an  amendment,  request- 
ing his  majesty  to  adopt  some  measures  to  accommodate  the  differ- 
ences with  America:  and  recommending  a  cessation  of  all  hostilities, 
in  order  to  efi'cctuaie  so  desirdble  a  purpose.  We  were  now,  they 
said,  in  a  much  worse  situation  than  when  we  began  the  war ;  fifty 

•  See  state  papers,  17T7, 
Vol.  VII.— 58 


458  HISTORY  or  the  cuap.  xx.-irr? 

[Renewal  of  the  law  for  detaining  suspected  persons  ] 

thousand  land  forces,  a  hundred  ships  of  war,  and  thirty  millions  of 
increased  debt,  had  not  advanced  tlie  attainnicnt  of  our  object.  Minis- 
ters had  asserted  that  we  were  flighting  ./"/r  a  rcvcnu-,  and  thus  had 
deluded  the  country  gentlemen  and  others  into  an  approval  of  their 
system  :  was  the  accumulation  of  mortgaj^es  the  means  of  meliorating 
income  ?*  The  ministerial  assertions  concerning  tlie  prosperity  of  the 
nation  were  totally  unfounded  in  truth.  The  loss  of  our  American 
trade  was  in  itself  such  a  diminution  of  opulence  and  strength,  as 
must  have  severely  and  visibly  affocted  the  greatest  and  wealthiest 
state  that  ever  existed;  but  w!\en  to  tiiis  was  added  the  consequent 
ruin  brought  on  our  West  India  islands,  the  annihilation  of  our  Medi- 
terranean. African,  and  Levant  commerce,  with  the  failure  of  our  fish- 
eries, arising  from  the  same  cause,  could  our  circumstances  be  justly 
said  to  be  flourishing  ?  The  depreciation  of  landed  estates,  the  rise  of 
interest,  the  fall  of  slocks,  and  the  multiplicity  of  bankruptcies,  were 
barometers  which  plainly  indicated  the  commerciid  and  political  fall 
of  British  jirosperity.  Were  these  the  documents  from  which  minis- 
ters could  evince  the  truth  of  their  position?  If  such  already  were 
the  consequences  of  the  contest  with  our  coi(;nies  only,  what  were  wc 
to  expect  when  the  house  of  Bouibon  contributed  its  combmed 
strength  and  resources?  Let  parliament  reflect  on  the  situation  to 
which  they  had  brought  the  country  by  their  support  of  ministerial 
counsels,  and  change  a  system  so  often  demonstrated  to  be  perni- 
cious, but  of  which  the  mischiefs  had  far  exceeded  the  predictions  of 
warning  wisdom.  The  carl  of  Chatham  took  a  very  activo^  share  in 
adducing  and  supporting  these  arguments  :  and  whereas  ministers  in- 
sisted that  both  the  honour  and  interest  of  Great  Britain  required 
perseverance,  he  denied  that  it  was  truly  honourable  to  persist  in  a 
hopeless  undertakmg,  or  advantageous  to  seek  an  impracticable  ob- 
ject by  destructive  means.  Such  was  the  reasoning  by  which  the  ce- 
lebrated orators  and  statesmen!  of  opposition  simplified  and  exhibited 
the  state  of  the  country  and  the  conduct  of  administration,  in  order  to 
show  that,  to  recover  our  former  gieatness,  it  was  necessary  to  aban- 
don those  measures  by  whicii  our  distresses  had  been  incurred.  They 
■were,  however,  unavailing;  the  proposed  amendments  were  rejected, 
and  the  addresses  carried  by  considerable  majorities,  thougli  not  so 
orreai  as  those  which  had  voted  with  the  minister  at  the  commence- 
iTient  of  the  war.  In  the  house  of  commons  especially,  the  country 
gentlemen  began  to  perceive,  that  the  promises  of  American  revenue 
to  relieve  them  from  their  burthens,  were  so  far  from  l)eing  realized, 
that  the  imposts  were  rapidly  accumulating:  they  indeed  did  not  vote 
agiiinst  ministry,  but  were  very  cold  in  their  svipport. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  session  was  a  renewal  of  the  law  for  de- 
taining suspected  persons.  In  discussing  this  proposition,  the  oppo- 
nents of  adminiitration  contended,  that,  as  its  principle  was  uncon- 
stitutional, so  its  operation  had  been  found  to  be  useless  :  in  fact, 
no  occasion  had  occurred  for  carrying  it  into  eff'ect.  Ministers  ar- 
gued, that  its  cause,  the  American  rebellion,  still  continued,  and 
thereby  rendered  its  renewal  necessary  ;  it  had  been  originally  in- 
tended   less  to  punish,  than  to  prevent  treason.     The  circumstance 

•   Sec  parliamentary  debates,  1777. 

t  See  speeches  of  Fox,  Burke,  and  Chatham,  with  others  in  the  debate 


17r7.--CiiAr.  XX.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  117,  439 

[Motion  of  Mr.  Fox  for  an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  nation] 

from  which  opposition  endeavoured  to  demonstrate  its   uselessncss, 
really  arose  from  its  preventive  efficacy  :  disaffected  men  were  by  the 
feat  s  of  tliis  law  restrained  from  actinij  accordintj    to   their  disposi- 
tions, hy  abetting  and  cherishing  revolt.    The  law  was  renewed.  From 
the  debate  with  which  the  session  commenced  to   the   Christmas  re- 
cess, the  great  object  of  opposition  was  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the 
nation.    After  several  incidental  and  prelusive  debates,  the  conduct  of 
this  momentous  question  was  undertaken  by  the  comprehensive  ge- 
nius of  Mr.  Fox.      The  penetrating  and  expansive  understanding  of 
this  extraordinary  man  conceived  and  proposed  a  plan  adequate  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  object.    "  It  was  useless  (he  said)  to  waste  time  in 
vain  declamation  ;   let  us  establish  general  facts  by  an  accurate  induc- 
tion of  particulars.    The  great  que->tion  concerning  the  propriety  of 
perseverance  in  the  American  war,  depends  on  the  experience  which 
Ave  already  possess,  and  a  calculation  of  the  means  which  remain  to 
the  nation  for  the  attainment  of  this  favourite  object."    The  principal 
premises  of  his  projected  investigation  he  reduced  to  the  following 
general  heads:  1st,  the  expensesof  the  war,  and  the  resources  which 
the  nation  possessed  to  raise  the  supplies  necessary  for  its  continu- 
ance ;  2dly,  the  loss  of  men  from  that  vvai' :  3dly,  the  situation  of  trade, 
both  with  respect  to  America  and  the  foreign  markets  :  4thly,  the  pre- 
sent condition  of  the  war,  the  hopes  that  might  be  rightly  entertained 
from  its  continuance,  the  conduct  and  measures  of  the  present  admi- 
nistration,  the  means  of  obtaining  a  lasting  peace,  and  our  present 
state  with  regard  to  foreign  powers ;  5thly,  what  progress  the  com- 
missioners hud  made,  in  conseqticnce  of  the  powers  with  which  they 
were  entrusted  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  a  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.     These   inquiries   would  include  a 
great  variety  of  questions,  and  would  demand  the  production  of  a 
multiplicity  of  documents.    If,  he  said,  on  fully  exploring  our  situa- 
tion, it  should  appear  dangerous  and  disgraceful,  and  to  have  arisen 
from  the  misconduct  of  ministers,  a  new  set  must  be  necessarily  ap- 
pointed ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  state  of  the  country  be  flourish- 
ing and  glorious,  as  its  advantages  and  splendour  are  confessedly  owing 
K)  the  present  ministers,   they  must  be  supported.    By  inquiry  only 
can  it  be  ascertained  wliat  our  condition  is,  and  how  far  their  conduct 
has  been  wise  or  foolish.    The  more  complete  the  communication  of 
documents  may  be,  the  more  thoroughly  can  we  estimate  the  merit  or 
demerit  of  ministers.    If  they  are  conscious  that  their  measures  are 
right,  they  will  court  discussion  :  if  they  are  aware  they  are  wrong, 
they  will  either  oppose  a  scrutiny,  or  endeavour  to  defeat  its  purpose 
by  garbled  or  imperfect  information.     Lord  North  easily  perceived, 
that  such  strong  reasoning  could  not  be  dii-ectly  contioverted  ;  and 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  admission  of  the  proposition  in  its  full  ex- 
tent would  be  neither  expedient  nor  agreeable  to  administration  ;  he 
therefore  endeavoured  to  please  both  parties.    He  professed  to  sup- 
port Mr.  Fox's  motion,    it  would,  he  said,  afford  ministers  an  oppor- 
tunity of  justifying  their  conduct,  and  proving  the  nation  to  be  in  a 
flourishing  state  :  he  wished,  however,  to  reserve  to  himself  the  right 
of  withholding  such  papers  from  the  house,  as  it  might  be  inconve- 
nient, dangerous,  or  prejudicial  to  government,  to  expose.    Mr.  Fox 
readily  perceived  the  object  and  latitude  of  this  discretionary  excep- 
tion, and  soon  put  the  real  intentions  of  ministry  to  the  test.   A  m\lU 


460  lllSroliV   Ul-   Tllt,  Chap.  XX.— l???". 

[Surrender  of  Burgoyne  announced  to  pariiament.] 

tiplicity  ot"  papers  being  at  his  instance  produced,  he  proposed  that 
they  should  be  referred  to  a  committee  of  tlie  whole  house,  which 
should  sit  two  months  after  that  day,  on  tlie  2d  of  February,  to  afford 
time  for  the  production  of  the  required  papers,  lists,  and  accounts. 
These  propositions  beintij  carried,  he  moved  for  an  address  to  his  ma- 
jesty, for  copies  of  all  the  papers  relative  to  steps  taken  in  conformity 
to  the  prohibitory  act  of  1776,  for  i^ranling  peace  to  those  who  should 
submit  to  the  king's  authority.  'I'he  minister  saw  that  the  object  of 
this  motion  was  to  prove  that  the  prohibitory  act  had  estranged  the  co- 
lonies, as  opposition  had  predicted,  instead  of  conciliating  them,  as 
ministers  had  prophesied.  He  therefore  vehemently  opposed  the  mo- 
lion,  as  tending  to  produce  discoveries  which  would  be  unwise  and 
prejudicial  to  the  country.  Without  proving  this  assertion,  he  re- 
peated it  with  such  a  variety  of  illustration,  as  by  many  mennbers  was 
received  ior  proof;  and  the  papers  were  withheld.  In  the  house  of 
peers,  however,  very  much  to  the  surprise  of  both  parties  in  the  com- 
mons, on  a  similar  motion,  the  required  papers  were  ordered,  without 
a  debate.  From  this  grant  of  the  ministerial  lords,  of  what  was  refus- 
ed by  their  colleagues  in  the  other  house,  opposition  conceived  the 
grounds  of  their  opinions  strengthened,  respecting  the  want  of  con- 
cert among  the  members  of  administration. 

But  the  arrival  of  intelligence  from  America  soon  presented  the 
state  of  the  nation  in  a  more  dismal  light,  than  the  sagacity  of  a  F'ox, 
a  Burke,  or  a  Chatham,  had  anticipated.  On  the  3d  of  December, 
despatches  were  received  at  the  secretary  of  state's  office,  announcing 
the  fate  of  the  northern  army.  Uncertain  rumours  being  spread  in  the 
course  of  the  morning,  as  soon  as  parliament  met  the  secretary  was 
questioned  respecting  the  intelligence.  Rising  up  slowly  from  his 
seat,  l>e,  in  a  low  voice  and  sorrowful  accent,  acknowledged  that  ge- 
neral Burgoyne  and  his  army  were  prisoners  of  war.  For  a  considera- 
ble time  after  the  fatal  tidings  were  delivered,  a  dead  silence  over- 
spread the  house  ;  shame,  consternation,  and  dismay,  from  the  de- 
clared issue  of  their  boasted  armaments,  did  not  more  closely  enchain 
the  tongues  of  the  promoters  of  the  war,  than  astonishment  and  grief 
at  so  signal  a  calamity  overwhelmed  the  thoughts,  feelings,  and  utT- 
terance  of  their  opponents.  The  stillness,  however,  of  amazement 
and  grief  at  length  gave  way  to  the  loudness  of  lament  and  the  fury 
of  indignation.  All  the  charges  and  censures  that  ever  had  been  or 
could  be  adduced,  were  repeated  and  accumulated  against  the  aulhors 
of  a  war  so  unjust  in  principle,  and  so  inexpedient  in  policy  ;  against 
conductors  so  deficient  in  wisdom  of  plan,  vigour  of  execution,  and 
skilful  and  effectual  application  of  the  multifarious  resources  allowed 
them  by  the  misplaced  confidence  of  parliament,  and  the  credulity  of 
the  country.  As  ministers,  it  was  said,  they  displayed  gross  igno- 
rance, despicable  incapacity,  and  infatuated  obstinacy,  in  all  and  every 
part  of  their  measures.  After  having,  by  a  long  and  uniform  series  of 
mismanagement  and  folly,  brought  their  country  from  exaltation  to 
distre:ss,  they  crowned  the  mischief  of  their  system  by  a  most  dreadful 
disaster.  This  ruinous  expedition  flowed  entirely  from  the  same 
source  as  the  whole  of  their  pernicious  system  ;  confidence  in  false 
reports  and  gross  exaggeration,  which  could  not  once,  much  less  re- 
peatedly and  even  constantly,  have  imposed  upon  understandings  in 
fhe  smallest  degree  discriminating,  unless  they  had  been  blinded  by 


1777.— CUAP.XX.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  II»  46  J 

[Different  conduct  of  lords  Nortli  and  Germaine.J 

their  wishes.  The  secretary  had  projected  the  northern  expedition  in 
his  closet.  Sitting  in  Westminster,  he  ventured  to  direct,  not  only 
the  !:^enerul  operations,  but  the  particular  movements  of  an  army  tra- 
versing the  deserts  of  America:  there  were  rumours  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Albany  would  co-operate  with  the  British  army,  and  ministers 
had  formed  their  Canadian  plan,  aceording  to  their  usual  practice,  on 
implicit  faith  in  idle  reports.  A  junction,  it  had  been  said,  was  de- 
signed between  the  armies  of  generals  Burgoyne  and  Howe.  To  ef- 
fect this  purpose  by  sea  would  have  been  easy,  but  by  land  would  have 
occupied  a  whole  campaign  :  before  the  armies  could  have  joined,  the 
season  for  united  exertions  must  have  been  past.  General  Howe,  in- 
stead of  co-operating  with  Burgoyne,  was  ordered  to  betake  himself 
to  thQ  south  ;  and  Burgoyne  and  his  brave  soldiers  being  commanded 
to  advance  into  the  wilds  of  the  enemy's  country,  had  fallen  a  sacrifice 
to  the  ill-advised  directions  of  ministers. 

Lord  North,  in  the  mildness  of  his  disposition,  acknowledged  mis- 
carriage, but  deprecated  blame;  his  intention  had  been  to  promote 
the  honour  and  interest  of  his  country;  he  had  counselled  and  acted 
according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment ;  he  had  always  been  the  adviser 
and  promoter  of  peace,  and  would  gladly  relinquish  his  office,  if  his 
resignation  woukl  facilitate  its  honourable  attainment.  He  had  been 
forced  into  a  situation  of  the  highest  responsibility  by  the  circumstan- 
ces of  the  times  and  obedience  to  his  sovereign,  and  had  not  accepted 
the  appointment  from  choice.  He  had  found  American  affairs  in  a 
state  which  he  by  no  means  approved  ;  from  the  dispositions  of  the 
Americans,  he  saw  the  difficulty,  danger,  and  unproductiveness  of  tax- 
ation, and  had  therefore  proposed  and  carried  a  clause  of  repeal  ;  in 
his  subsequent  measures,  he  had  been  driven  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances, inste&d  of  being  led  by  his  own  deliberate  approbation.  This 
gentle  reply,  which  was  belter  calculated  to  disarm  resentment  than  to 
confute  argument,  diminished  the  asperity  of  invective,  without 
weakening  the  efforts  of  reasoning.  Whatever  his  motives  or  wishes 
might  be,  (said  his  censurers,)  the  measures  actually  proposed  by 
him,  and  adopted  through  his  ministerial  influence  with  such  obsti- 
nacy of  perseverance,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  and  uniform 
warnings  that  he  had  received,  had  in  four  years  brought  enormous 
debt,  flagrant  disgrace,  and  direful  calamity  on  his  country.  If,  there- 
fore, his  intentions  were  so  pure  and  faultless  as  he  represented,  he 
incurred  a  charge  of  incapacity,  which  ought  immediately  to  deprive 
him  of  his  siiuation. 

Lord  George  Germaine  was  not  so  explicit  as  his  colleague  :  he 
merely  requested  the  house  should  suspend  its  judgment,  until  the 
facts  were  properly  examined.  He  also  insinuated  that  the  conduct 
of  the  minister  and  general  should  undergo  a  scrutiny,  before  a  just 
and  accurate  opinion  could  be  formed.  This  observation  being  con- 
strued to  imply  censure  against  the  absent  general,  revived  the  flame 
of  rage  which  the  mildness  of  lord  North  had  cooled;  and  produced 
acrimonious  violence,  witii  personal  retrospections,  totally  irrelevant 
to  any  business  before  the  house. 

£ail  Chatham  frequently  attended  in  parliament  this  session,  which 
was  destined  to  be  his  last :  he  moved,  on  the  5th  of  December,  that 
copies  of  all  the  orders  issued  to  Burgoyne  relative  to  the  northern 
expedition,  should  be  laid  before  the  house.    After  pouring  out  his 


4G2  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XX.-17rr 

[Counsels  of  ministers  during  tlie  recess] 

eloquence  against  the  pernicious  system,  blundeis,  and  miscarriages 
of  ministry,  the  spirit  of  delusion,  he  s;tid,  had  gone  forth  ;  the  minis- 
ters had  imposed  on  the  people,  parliament  hud  been  induced  to 
sanction  the  imposition,  and  false  lights  had  been  held  out  to  the 
country  gentlemen;  by  a  promised  diminution  of  tax,  they  had  been 
seduced  to  the  support  of  a  most  destructive  war  ;  but  the  visionary 
phantom,  which  had  been  thus  conjured  up  for  the  basest  deception, 
was  now  about  to  vanish,  and  the  conduct  of  ministers  ought  to  be 
piobed.  llis  lordship's  motion,  eloquently  and  foicibly  as  it  was  sup- 
ported, was  carried  in  the  negative.  On  the  lOih  of  b';cember,  Mr. 
Wilkes  proposed  a  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  laws.  Opposition  gave  him 
little  support  ;  it  was  now,  they  conceived,  too  late  to  expect  concili- 
ation from  such  a  tardy  concession,  and  measures  must  be  adopted 
more  seasonable  in  the  existing  circumstances.  On  the  1  lib  oT  De- 
cember, an  iidjouinmcnt  to  the  20ili  of  January  was  moved  and  car- 
ried, contrary  to  the  strenuous  remonstrances  of  opposition,  wlio,  in  a 
situation  of  such  emergency,  were  extremely  inimical  to  so  early  and 
long  a  recess  :  and  ministers  employed  this  interval  in  forming  and 
arranging  incasures  adapted  to  the  present  reverse  of  fortune. 

The  loss  of  the  northern  army  appeared  to  have  entirely  counteract- 
ed the  schemes  of  administration  for  subjugating  America.  The  ad- 
vantages obtained  under  general  Howe  were  far  from  being  decisive  ; 
he  had  taken  towns,  but  had  not  conquered  the  enemy's  troops.  No 
additional  force',  could  be  expected  from  the  German  princes,  and  it 
would  be  with  diiricully  that  their  corps  in  our  service  would  be  re- 
cruited to  their  full  complement.  The  bad  success  which  had  already 
attended  our  clforls,  was  very  inimical  to  the  increase,  or  even  sepa- 
ration, of  our  armies  fiom  our  own  country.  These  actual  difBculties 
were  enhanced  by  expected  dangers  ;  the  conduct  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon  was  so  openly,  and,  indeed,  so  glaringly  adverse  to  Britain, 
that  war  apjjeared  probable,  4f  not  certain.  In  such  circumstances, 
many,  not  ii/nnical  to  ministers,  conceived,  that  perseverance  in  our 
attempts  would  be  infatuated  obstinacy,  instead  of  magnanimous  fiim- 
ness,  and  expected  that  they  would  desist  from  such  a  hopeless  enter- 
prise; but  these  expectations  were  totally  disappointed;  it  was  re- 
solved to  persist  in  the  system  of  compulsion.  Lord  Noith  was  de- 
sirous of  olTerin;..;  some  terms  of  conciliation  ;  but  he  agreed  with  his 
Golleagues,  that  if  these  did  not  produce  the  intenrled  effect,  it  was 
incumbent  on  Britain  to  persist  in  her  plans  of  force. .  And  if  this  de- 
termination be  not  altogether  consonant  to  political  wisdom,  it  was 
perfectly  conformable  to  the  general  series  of  ministerial  conduct. 
From  a  review  of  the  measures  and  proceedings  lor  the  last  four 
years,  it  is  evident  that  they  had  not  considered  the  great  subject  of 
their  thoughts  and  policy  so  comprehensively  and  acutely,  as  to  ex- 
amine, compare,  and  estimate  the  value  of  the  object,  with  the  trou- 
ble, expense,  and  danger  of  the  means,  but  narrowed  their  thoughts 
to  the  probability  of  success.  Continuing  this  imperfect  and  partial 
mode  of  appreciatixjn,  liiey  still  entertained  hopes  that  they  might  ul- 
timately prevail.  The  force  which  they  had  furnished  was,  they  al- 
leged, sufficient  for  the  object,  if  it  had  been  properly  employed. 
Much  more  effectual  advances  might  have  been  made  by  an  army  so 
powerful,  and  so  well  supplied,  against  such  an  inferior  enemy.  By 
wise  and  judicious  eflbrts,  the  British  army,  if  properly  recruited  and 


1777.— Chap.  XX,  KEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  453 

[Voluntary  levies  of  new  regiments.] 

repaired,  must  be  victoiious ;  but,  although  the  necessity  of  raisint^- 
a  cotisiderab^c  body  of  new  troops  was,  on  this  ground  of  policy,  suf- 
ficiently evident,  the  means  were  not  so  obvious.  Tiie  late  misfoilune, 
and  the  little  apparent  room  for  hope,  which  now  remained,  of  better- 
ing our  condition  by  force,  allowed  no  encouragement  for  an  applica- 
tion to  parliament ;  the  ministers,  therefore,  had  recourse  to  the  per- 
sons and  classes  who  had  shown  the  greatest  eagerness  in  the  prose- 
cution of  the  American  war,  and  professed  to  afford  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  testifying  their  peculiar  attachment  and  loyalty  to  the  crown. 
They  proposed,  tiiat  individuals  and  corporations  should  raise  regi- 
ments, and  being  allowed  the  bounty  money  given  by  government  in 
the  time  of  peace,  should  defray  the  recruiting  expenses  beyond  tiiat 
sum  ;  in  return  for  which,  the  contracting  parties  should  have  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  officers,  who,  it  was  not  doubted,  would  willingly 
undertake  to  levy  a  number  proportioned  to  their  respective  commis- 
sions ;  such  a  quota  of  men  would  make  up  the  requisite  supply.  In 
the  former  war,  Mr.  Pitt  had  experienced  many  important  advantages 
from  Scotch  highlanders.  Actuated  by  a  mistaken  zeal,  these  cou- 
rageous, hardy,  and  enterprising  mountaineers  had  twice  struck  ter- 
ror into  the  bravest  British  veterans,  and  the  most  populous  parts  of 
England;  but  had  shown,  in  Flanders,  Germany,  and  America,  that, 
when  properly  instructed  and  guided,  they  could  fight  as  well  for 
their  king  and  country,  as,  when  misinformed  and  misled,  they  had 
fought  against  our  constitutional  law  and  government.  Part  of  the 
present  plan  was,  to  bring  great  bodies  of  highlanders  into  his  ma- 
jesty's service.  Of  a  migratory  and  adventurous  disposition,  and,  in 
those  days  of  unimproved  agriculture,  possessing  scanty  means  of 
livelihood,  those  ntien  were  much  more  inclined  to  the  military  pro- 
fession, than  people  in  richer  countries,  and  of  stationary  habits.  Be- 
sides, there  had  been  a  succession  of  cold  and  withering  seasons, 
which  had  greatly  diminished  their  usual  resources  from  pasturage. 
Distress  combined  with  courage  and  the  spirit  of  adventure  to  dis- 
pose them  to  be  soldiers.  In  addition  to  these  motives,  another  prin- 
ciple was  addressed ;  the  attachment  of  the  peasantry  to  the  chief- 
tains, so  prevalent  in  all  feudal  countries;  and  whicli,  in  the  higli- 
lands,  combined  patriarchal  with  seignorial  relations.  Tiie  noblemen, 
and  other  chiefs  of  the  greatest  power  and  influence,  undertook  to 
raise  regiments.  From  the  north,  the  Mackenzies  brought  two  thou- 
sand, and  the  Gordons  one  ;  from  the  northwest  and  the  isles,  the 
Macdonalds  brought  one  thousand;  from  tiie  west,  the  duke  of  Ar- 
gyle  two  thousand  ;  from  the  southwest,  the  duke  of  Hamilton  one 
thousand;  and  from  the  southern  frontiers  of  the  highlands,  the  duke 
of  Athol  one  thousand.  To  this  powcrfid  suppoit  from  the  lunded 
proprietors,  commercial  wealth  added  its  ellbrts:  the  city  of  Edin- 
burgh raised  a  regiment  equally  numcious  and  w£ll  appointed  as  the 
others  :  nor  was  Glasgow,  though  she  had  suffered  very  much  from 
the  American  contest,  behind  her  eastern  neighbour.  In  England, 
Manchester  and  Liverpool  preceded  other  mercantile  towns,  in  per- 
forming the  same  service.  But,  in  order  to  render  the  efibrts  t>f  mo- 
nied  opulence  generally  employed  and  extensively  beneficial,  it  was 
ardently  wished,  though  not  so  sanguinely  hoped,  that  London  would 
lake  the  lead ;  the  city  and  corporation  were  not,  indeed,  so  violently 
inimical  to  the  court,  as  they  had  been  some  years  before ;  of  the 


464  mSTOKV  OP  THE  Chap.  XX.— 1778. 

[Discu^ion  of  the  voluntary  levies  in  parliament.] 

popular  leaders,  sonic  were  dead,  and  others  had,  from  various  causes, 
lost  much  of  their  former  influence.  The  {general  sentiiiient  was  not 
so  completely  changed  as  to  give  ministers  a  majority  in  the  munici- 
pal councils  of  the  metropolis  :  sir  James  Esdaile,  the  lord  mayor, 
Avas  friendly  to  administration  ;  but  his  authority  was  not  sufficiently 
great  to  clctcrininc  the  livery  ;  and  his  motion  for  corporate  efforts  to 
recruit  his  majesty's  forces  was  negatived.  A  private  association, 
however,  was  formed,  to  collect  the  contributions  of  individuals,  and 
considerable  sums  were  raised.  The  same  mode  was  adopted  at  Bris- 
tol, with  proportionate  effect.  In  various  parts  of  England  similar  at- 
tempts were  made,  but  with  trifling  success  :  the  great  source  of  con- 
tribution, confidence  in  the  ministers  that  were  to  dispose  of  the  pro- 
duct, appeared  to  be  most  frequently  wanting.  The  troops  levied  in 
this  manner  amounted  to  about  fifteen  thousand  men,  ten  thousand  of 
whom  were  raised  in  Scotland. 

When  parliament  assembled  after  the  recess,  the  contributions  by 
individuals  or  bodies,  for  repairing  the  exhausted  army,  were  repre- 
sented by  opposition  as  illegal  and  unconstitutional;  illegal,  because 
men  and  money  had  been  raised  without  consent  of  parliament;  un- 
constitutional, because  such  levies  were  indefinite  as  to  number,  and 
might  be  employed  to  deprive  the  country  of  its  liberties.  The  law 
lords,  and  commoners  connected  with  administration,  argued,  tliat  the 
king,  by  his  prerogative,  was  empowered  to  levy  men,  and  to  raise  un 
army.  When  the  new  levies  were  reported  to  parliament,  it  was  the 
duty  of  that  body,  if  they  approved  of  the  measure,  to  provide  for 
their  subsistence  :  if  otherwise,  to  refuse  a  supply,  which  in  effect 
would  disband  the  troops.  The  money  raised  was  offered  by  indivi- 
duals and  bodies,  who  had  a  right  to  present  their  own  money  to  the 
king  as  well  as  to  any  other  person.  Voluntary  contributions  of  either 
Mien  or  money,  or  both,  had  been  frequently  offered  in  times  of  emer- 
gency; as  for  instance,  in  the  rebellion  of  1745,  and  the  beginning  of 
the  seven  years  war,  which  were  highly  approved  by  men  most  dis- 
tinguished for  attachment  to  the  constitution  ;  in  the  former  of  these 
eras,  by  the  lord-chancellor  Hardv/icke  ;  and  the  latter,  by  Mr.  se- 
cretary Pit,t.  That  the  offers  of  individuals,  in  times  of  national  dif- 
ficulty, to  contribute  their  utmost  efforts,  either  by  men  or  money,  to 
the  oarication  of  their  country,  were  not  laudable,  and  ought  not  to 
be  received,  opposition  leaders  were  too  able  to  affirm:  without  dis- 
cussing the  general  principle,  they  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  the 
cases  were  totally  different  ;  and  that  the  only  means  of  relief  from 
our  present  calan)iiies  was,  to  abandon  coercive  measures,  and  with- 
draw our  troops  from  America.  But,  if  the  augmentation  was  at  all 
necessary,  it  should  have  been  effected  by  filling  up  the  old  regiments 
to  their  full  compleinent ;  which  would  be  both  more  conducive  to 
military  discipline,'  by  attaching  new  recruits  to  veterans;  and  more 
economical,  by  saving  immediately  the  pay,  and  ultimately  the  half- 
pay  of  the  officers.  'I'he  mode  now  adopted,  raised  many  gentlemen 
of  no  experience,  to  appointments  fit  only  for  veteran  officers.  The 
distribution  of  military  trust  bore  much  more  the  appearance  of  mi- 
uisteiidl  jobs  to  increase  their  patronage,  than  the  policy  of  statesmen 
to  strengthen  the  national  force.  These  objections  being  canvassed 
by  the  supporters  of  administration,  the  question   was  proposed  for 


1778.~Chap.  XX.  RBIGN  OF  GEORGK  HI.  465 

(Speech  of  Mr.  Fox  on  the  expediency  of  terminating  the  war.] 

granting  the  sums  that  were  required  for  the  new  troops,  and  carried 
in  the  anirmative. 

The  time  appointed  for  inquiring  into  the  state  of  the   nation  now 
drawing  near,  various  motions  were  made  for  the  presentment  of  pa- 
pers; especially   the  in^structions  given  to  the  generals  in  America; 
the  correspondence  that  had  passed  between  the  commanders  respect- 
ively ;  and  also  for  accounts  of  the  troops,  artillery,  and  stores,  wliich 
were  in  the  various  parts  of  America  in  the  beginning  of  1774,  or  sent 
thither  since  that  time.    The  papers  required,   were   cither  not  pro- 
duced at  all,  or  so  imperfectly,  as  to  withhold  in  a  great  degree  the 
desired  information.  From  the  materials,  however,  incomplete  as  they 
were,  Mr.  Fox  attempted  to  establish  one  great  proposition:  not  only 
the  expediency,  but  the  absolute  necessity,  of  bringing  the  American 
war  to  the  speediest  possible  conclusion  ;  and  of  restoring  harmony, 
upon  a  broad  and  equitable   foundation,  between  the  mother  country 
and  her  colonies.    He  comprehended  and  exhibited  in  one  view,  the 
whole  series  of  ministerial  counsels  ;  the  detail  of  means,  and  the  par- 
ticulars and  amount  of  the  result ;  ministers,  he  argued,  and  the  ma- 
jority in  parliament,  had  prefened  coercive  to  conciliatory  measures; 
in  consequence    of   that   preference,  Britain   had   gone  to  wai'  with 
America;  that   war  had  lasted  a  certain  uumber  of  years,   had  been 
prosecuted  with  a  specified  force  by  sea  and   land,   attended  with  a 
stated  expense  of  money  and  lives,   and  our  utmost  efforts  in  three 
years  had  not  produced  any  material  advantage.   The  army  of  Britain, 
in  the  course  of  hoMtiliiies,  had  been  much  more  numerous  and  strong, 
and  the  army  of  tiie  enemy  less  num«ious  ar.d  weaker,  than  they  were 
at  present:  it  was  nearly  impossible  to  place  our  troops  in  America 
on  the  same  relative  footing  to  the  forces  of  the  colonies,   with  these 
which  had  already  failed  ;  and,  after  the  repeated  and  continued  fail- 
ure of  a  very  great  force,  we  could  not,  consistently  with  probability 
and  common  sense,  succeed  witli  a  much  smaller.    He  enumerated 
the  details  of  expense  incurred  by  the  war,  stated   the   resources  of 
the  country,  and  denied  that  the  nation  could  support*  the  continu- 
ance, much  less   the   increase   of  expense,    which  perseverance  in 
coercion   wotjld   demand :    repeating,    in    detail,    the    various  politi- 
cal measures  of  government,  from  the  Boston  port  bill  downwards, 
he  contended,  that  they  had  so  much  alienated  the  minds  of  the  Ame- 
ricans, that  a  much  greater  army  would  have  been  necessary  to  reduce 
them  to  submission  than  Britain  had  sent,  or  could  send.    Ministers 
had  not  assisted  force  by  policy  :  negotiatif)ns,  it  is  true,  had  been 
tried,  but  the  obnoxious  laws,  rejection  of  petitions,  and  the  very 
overtures  themselves,  had  rendered  them  unavailing.  From  this  chain, 
of  positions  he  inferred,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  reduce  America 
by  ariTis;  and  our  situation  respecting  France  made  it  necessary  to 
employ  a  strong  force  for  the  security  of  our  own  country,  and  ot  our 
garrisons  in  Eiirope.  He  moved,  therefore,  that  the  committee  should 

•  An  impnrtial  reader  may  probably  disapprove  of  Mr.  Fox's  circumscription 
of  the  possible  resources  of  his  couiury:  as.  In  the  fii-st  place,  erroneous  in  pomt 
of  fact,  since  they  were  soon  found  equal  to  much  greater  expenditure  ;  and,  se- 
condly, not  proper  to  be  publicly  declared.  Disagreement  ot  opinion,  however, 
concernini?  the  general  extent,  is  perfectly  compatible  with  the  most  exact  coin- 
cidence ot  ju.igment,  concerning  the  impolicy  of  employing  any  part  ot  them  m  an 
attempt  to  subjugate  America,  after  the  disaster  at  Saratoga. 

Vol.  VII.— 59 


456  Hlsr(JRY  OV  the  <Jhap.  XX.— 1778. 

«        [Mr.  Biivke's  motion  on  the  employment  of  Indians.] 

address  his  majesty,  that  no  part  of  the  old  established  national  forces 
in  these  kingdon^s,  or  in  the  garrisons  of  Gibraltar  or  Minorca,  should 
be  sent  to  Anicrica.  To  the  j^i-cat  siir|)rise  of  fne  public, 'no  answer 
was  made  either  to  tiie  speech  or  motion  ;  the  question  bein;^  called 
for  without  a  debate,  Mr.  Fox's  proposition  was  rejected  by  a  majority 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  five. 

From  the  silence  of  ministers,  it  was  conceived  that  a  new  scheme 
was  in  agitation  respecting  Anierica,  which  determined  them  to  ab- 
stain from  that  subject,  \M)til  they  should  be  ready  to  lay  their  plans 
before  parliament.  While  the  pid^lic  was  anxiously  expecting  the  re- 
sult of  ministerial  deliberations,  Mr.  Fox  proposcii,  and  explained  to 
the  committee  on  the  stale  of  the  nation,  twelve  motions,  framed 
agreeably  to  the  principles  and  outlines  which  he  had  already  stated 
and  drawn.  Their  object  was,  to  particularize  the  force  employed, 
the  numbers  lost,  the  sums  expended,  and'progress  made;  and  to 
establish,  as  a  general  position,  that,  in  every  view  of  tliis  improvi- 
dent and  destructive  war,  they  should  bear  constantly  in  mind,  that,, 
besides  our  having  suffered  such  disgraces  in  its  progress  as  this 
country  never  before  experienced,  all  those  thousands  of  lives,  and 
millions  of  money,  had  not  only  been  thrown  away  to  no  manner  of 
purpose,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  vast  expense  of  blood  and  trea- 
sure had  rendered  cont  illation  much  more  difficult,  and  consequently 
our  situation  as  a  nation  infinitely  worse,  than  if  the  sword  had  never 
been  drawn.  Ministers  objected  to  the  several  motions,  as  tending  to 
disclose  our  situation  to  the  enemy,  and  being  in  otiier  respect*  hurt- 
ful to  the  country.  Resolutions  of  a  similar  import  were  moved  in 
the  house  of  peers  by  the  duke  of  Richmond,  and  experienced  the 
same  fate. 

In  reviewing  the  conduct  of  the  war,  Mr  Burke  moved  an  inquiry 
into  the  cmployiDcnt  of  the  Indians.  Detailing  the  horrid  massacres 
of  these  savages  with  all  his  animation  and  force  of  description,  he 
contended,  that  the  infliction  of  individual  pain,  more  than  the  politi- 
cal annoyance  of  their  enemies,  was  their  object;  and  thence  argued, 
that  their  mode  of  hostility  was  not  conducive  to  the  purposes  of  ci- 
vilized nations  engaged  in  a  war  ;  these  not  being  torment,  but  re- 
duction and  pacification.  Nothing  but  necessity  could  excuse  the 
employment  of  such  savage  warriors;  the  reasons  that  were  in  force 
in  the  war  between  the  French  and  English,  did  not  now  exist.  The 
Indian  tribes  had  formerly  been  powerful  states,  relatively  to  the  Eu- 
ropean settlers;  it  was  then  necessary  to  cultivate  aniily  with  them, 
in  order  to  prevent  their  murderous  incursions  ;  but  now  their  num- 
bcrs  were  reduced,  and  there  remained  no  motive  or  reason  for  seek- 
ing their  alliance.  To  the  purposes  of  conquest  or  coercion,  they 
were  totally  inefiicacious  ;  their  employers  might,  through  them,  ob- 
tain partial  butcliery,  but  could  derive  no  itnportant  advantage  :  on 
the  appearance  of  danger,  they  would  immediately  desert  every  other 
commander,  as  they  had  abandoned  Burgoyne.  The  employment  of 
the  savages  was  also  farther  objectionable  as  a  measure  of  economy, 
one  Indian  soldier  cost  as  much  as  five  of  the  best  regular  troops  ; 
even,  therefore,  were  their  mode  of  warfare  unexceptionable  in  other 
respects,  the  service  did  not  nearly  repay  the  expense.  It  was  said  by 
ministers,  that  if  we  had  not  employed  the  Indians,  the  Ameiicans 
would  have  employed  them  against  us ;  but  there  was  no  proof  that 
they  ever  entertained  any  such  intention;  and  if  they  had,  the  crtieltv 


1778.— Chap.  XX.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  HI.  4^7 

[Lord  Nortli's  plan  of  neg-otiation  with  the  colonies.] 

would  not  have  been  so  destructive  against  regular  embodied  sol- 
diers, who  could  so  easily  repel  those  undisciplined  murderers,  as 
against  scattered  and  defenceless  women  and  children.  The  attempt 
also  to  incite  an  insurrection  of  I  he  negro  slaves  in  tlie  southern  colo- 
nies, he  reprobated,  as  equally  barbarous  and  impolitic,  as  farther  ir- 
ritating the  .Americans  by  the  attempt,  and  being  in  the  execution  in- 
effectual :  and.the  motion,  after  a  long  debate,  was  negatived. 

Lord  North  had  frequently  afforded  ground  for  an  opinion  that  he 
was  by  no  means  so  eager  for  coercive  measures,  as  some  of  his  col- 
leagues. He  had  made  several  attempts  to  produce  conciliatory  plans, 
and  had  shown  himbelf  not  indisposed  to  concession,  until  he  was  re- 
called by  his  coadjutors  to  the  coercive  tone  of  the  court.*  Although, 
in  compliance  with  the  more  obstinate  and  imperious  members  of  the 
cabinet,  he  expressed  a  determination  to  persevere  in  the  attempt, 
agreeably  10  his  own  disposition  as  well  as  to  the  policy  which  his 
judgment  iipproved,  he  once  more  made  a  conciliatory  essay,  and  on 
the  17th  of  February,  1778,  he  proposed  to  the  house  of  commons  a 
plan  for  that  purpose.  He  repeated  his  uniform  conviction  of  the  in- 
efficiency of  American  taxation  as  a  measure  of  finance;  and  thereby 
virtually,  though  not  expressly,  acknowledged  the  false  reasoning  of 
those  colleagues  or  supporters  who  proposed  by  war  with  America  to 
increase  our  revenue.  He  had  wished  to  keep  the  discussion  of  taxa- 
tion as  a  right  as  much  as  possible  out  of  parliament,  being  convinced 
that  its  exercise  would  neither  be  productive  nor  expedient.  Circum- 
stances and  events  had  forced  the  subject  upon  the  legislature,  and 
the  uncomplying  conduct  of  the  colonists  had  rendered  war  unavoida- 
ble. The  success  of  the  hostilities  had  been  totally  different  from 
what  the  country  had  reason  to  expect,  from  the  great,  well  appoint- 
ed, and  amply  provided  force,  which  had  been  furnished  by  govern- 
ment. In  the  whole  course  of  the  last  campaign,  sir  William  Howe, 
in  the  number  and  goodness  of  his  troops,  and  all  manner  of  supplies, 
had  been  hitherto  juuch  superior  to  the  army  of  Washington.  Gene- 
ral Burgoyne,  until  the  disaster  of  Bennington,  was  nearly  twice  as 
strong  as  Gates.  The  issue  of  this  expedition  was  totally  different 
from  the  expec  a  ions  that  were  reasonably  formed;  but  to  events, 
and  not  to  hopes,  their  plans  must  be  adapted.  He  moved  to  bring  in 
two  bills,  one  to  declare  the  intentions  of  parliament  concerning  the 
exercise  of  the  right  of  taxing  America ;  and  another,  to  enable  his 
majesty  to  appoint  commissioners  for  quieting  the  disorders  now  sub- 
sisting in  the  colonics.  Five  commissioners  were  to  be  appointed, 
any  three  of  whom  were  empowered  to  treat  with  the  congress,  or 
any  other  assembly  of  men,  and  even  with  individuals  in  America, 
concerning  grievances  existing  in  the  government  of  the  colonies,  or 
in  the  laws  of  Great  Britain  that  extended  to  them  ;  and  contributions, 
or  any  other  regulations  which  might  be  for  the  common  good  of  both 
countries;  with  a  proviso,  however,  that  such  agreements  should  not 
be  binding  until  ratified  by  parliament.  The  commissioners  were  to 
be  invested  with  absolute  power  for  proclaiming  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties by  sea  and  land,  opening  an  intercourse  with  the  mother  country, 
suspending  the  operation  of  all  acts  of  parliament  relating  to  the 

•  See  this  volume,  chap.  xiv.  and  pamm       "" 


'465  A"  mSTOUY  of  the  CaKP.  XX— 177», 

[Reception  of  llie  plan  by  parliament — passed  with  amendments.] 

North  American  colonies  passed  since  the  10th  of  February,  1763, 
and  granting  pardons  to  every  description  of  persons. 

In  viewing  these  propositions  of  lord  North,  one  remark  is  very  ob- 
vious :  if  tlic  measure  now  oflcred  was  right,  it  ought  to  have  been 
adopted  sooner;  cither  the  minister  evinced  want  of  knowledge  and 
wisdom  in  incurring  the  danger  and  expense  of  war  without  an  ade- 
quate object ;  or  want  of  firmness  and  perseverance  in  too  readily  suc- 
cumbing under  misfortune.  To  wise  and  magnanimous  nations,  the 
hour  of  distress  is  not  the  hour  of  submission  ;  and  the  present  offers, 
after  the  threats  and  denunciations  of  ministers,  were  very  natui'aily 
and  fairly  construed  to  be  the  concessions  of  discomfited  boasting. 
Very  mortifying  it  was  to  the  feeling  of  every  patriotic  Briton',  that 
his  country,  which  haH  so  often  dictated  to  the  most  powerful  nations 
of  Europe,  and  had  lately,  under  the  auspices  of  Pitt  acquired  such 
greatness  and  glory,  was  now  so  far  changed  and  humiliated  as  to  be 
the  solicitor  of  peace  from  her  receiit  subjects  :  galling,  indeed,  these 
reflections  were  to  the  generous  pride  of  patriotism  ;  it^was,  however, 
the  province  of  wisdom  to  attend  less  to  feeling  than  to  real  interest. 
If  it  be  the  highest  office  of  prudence  to  avoid,  in  any  material  case, 
error  of  judgment  conducive  to  pi'cjudicial  conduct,  its  employment 
next  in  importance  is  recantation  and  reform.  Dearly  purchased  ex- 
perience had  taught  us,t!iat  coercion  would  not  succeecl,  at  least  with- 
out sacrifices  greater  ilian  the  vahie  of  the  object;  conciliation  was 
therefore  expedient.  Jjut  the  proposed  system  bore  the  geneial 
character  of  its  author,  wisiiing  to  please  all  paities,  and  satisfying 
none  ;  defeating  the  purposes  of  benevolent  disposition  and  acute  un- 
derstanding, by  the  want  of  firmness  of  temper.  It  was  stamped  with 
the  same  mixture  of  natural  conciliation  and  udvenlilious  coercion, 
the  same  imperfectncss  of  comprehension,  which,  in  the  conunenc- 
ing  act  of  its  ministry,  after  proposing  the  repeal  of  the  other  obnox- 
ious duties,  reserved  tiic  three- i>enny  tax  upon  tea. 

The  speech  •with  which  his  lordship  introduced  his  plan,  and  the 
propositions  themselves,  were  heard  with  profound  attention,  but 
without  marks  of  approbation  from  any  party,  class,  or  individual  in 
the  house.  The  minister  declared,  that  his  present  sentiments  were 
those  which  he  had  always  cntertnined,  and  an  accurate  and  minute 
examiner  of  his  conduct  and  character  could  discover,  that  the  change 
Ijere  supposed  was  perfectly  conformable  to  the  unifoim  tenor  of  his 
indecision  and  fluctuation.  But  the  greater  iniinijcr  of  his  hearers 
had  attended  to  acts,  rather  than  to  the  mind  and  circumstances  in 
which  they  originated,  and  though  surprised  at  his  plan,  wondered 
much  more  at  the  declarations  by  which  it  was  prefaced.  He  had 
been  considered  by  parliament,  aixl  represented  to  the  nation,  as  the 
person  the  most  tenacious  of  those  rights  which  he  was  now  willing 
to  resign,  and  the  most  averse  from  that  submission  which  he  now  pro- 
posed to  offer.  The  minister  received  the  earliest  support  from  those 
who  had  most  vigorously  conjbated  his  preceding  measures,  but  ex- 
pressed their  feats  that  the  coiu  essions  were  too  late,  and  that  thty 
had  waited  till  l-i-ance  had  probaljly  completed  a  treaty  with  the  Ame- 
rican provinces;  they  would,  however,  voic  for  any  scheme  that  tend- 
ed to  retonetliatioM.  The  principal  bill  underwent  various  animad- 
versions fro'o  the  usual  suppo.ters  of  the  minister.  After  i.cveral  ma- 
terial corrections  and  modifications,  it  passed  in  both  houses  without 


1778.— CHir.  XX.  IIEIGN  OF  GEORGE   Ul-  469 

[Hostile  intimations  from  France.] 

a  division.  After  its  amendments  being  expressed,  the  new  bill  was 
as  follows  :  "  An  act  for  removing  all  doubts  and  appiehensions  con- 
cerning laxalioii  by  tlie  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  in  any  of  the  co- 
lonies, provinces,  and  plantations  in  North  America  and  the  West  In- 
dies; and  for  repealing  so  much  of  an  act  made  in  the  sevfenth  year  of 
the  reign  of  his  present  majesty,  as  imposes  a  duty  on  tea  imported 
fiom  Great  IJritain  into  any  colony  or  plantation  in  America,  or  re- 
lates thereto."  The  second  bill,  wliich  was  a  corollary  from  the  first, 
passed  with  little  opposition.  The  commissioners  were,  the  com- 
mander in  chief,  lord  Howe,  the  earl  of  Carlisle,  William  Eden,  esq. 
and  governor  Johnstone.  The  able  and  learned  Adam  Fergusson  was 
secretary  to  the  mission. 

In  the  beginning  of  March,  tlie  duke  of  Grafton  informed  the  peers 
that  lie  had  leceived  well  attested  intelligence,  that  a  treaty  was  con- 
cluded and  actually  signed  between  France  and  Ameiica  ;  and  demand- 
ed from  ministers,  either  an  acknowledgment,  or  denial,  of  this  im- 
portant act  Loid  Weymouth,  secretary  of  state  for  the  southern  de- 
partment, protested  that  he  had  licard  no  accomit  of  such  alliance  l)e- 
Ing  foimcd,or even  intended  :  Init  within  a  week  after  this  declaration,* 
a  message  was  delivered  to  each  house  !)y  the  respective  ministers,  to 
the  following  efi'ect :  ''His  majesty  having  been  informed,  by  order  of 
the  French  king,  that  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  has  been  signed 
between  the  court  of  France  and  certain  persons  employed  by  his  ma- 
jesty's revolted  subjects  in  North  America,  has  judged  it  necessary 
to  direct,  that  a  copy  of  the  avowal  delivered  by  the  French  ambassa- 
dor to  lord  viscount  Weymouth  be  laid  before  parliament :  and  at  the 
same  time  to  acquaint  them,  that  his  majesty  has  thought  proper,  in 
consequence  of  th.is  oifensive  communication  on  the  part  of  France, 
lo  send  orders  to  his  minister  to  withdraw  from  that  court :'  his  ma- 
jesty is  persuaded,  that  the  justice  and  good  faith  of  his  conduct  to-. 
wards  foreign  powers^and  the  sincerity  of  his  wishes  to  preserve  the 
tranquillity  of  Europe,  will  be  acknowledged  by  all  the  wo:  Id  ;  and 
his  majesty  trusts  thai  he  shall  not  stand  responsible  for  the  disturb- 
ance of  tranquillity,  if  he  should  find  himself  called  upon  to  resent  so 
unprovoked  and  so  unjust  an  aggression  on  the  honour  of  his  crown, 
and  the  essential  interests  of  his  kingdom,  contiary  to  the  most  solemn 
assurances,  subveisive  of  the  law  of  nations,  and  injurious  to  the  rights 
of  every  sovereign  power  in  Europe.  His  majesty,  relying  with  the 
firmest  confidence  on  the  zealous  and  afi'ectionitie  support  of  his  faith- 
ful people,  is  determined  to  be  prepared  to  exei't  all  vhe  force  and 
resoirces  of  his  kingdoms,  which  he  trusts  will  be  found  adequate  to 
repel  every  insult  and  attack;  ^wul  to  maintain  and  uphold  the  power 
and  reputation  of  his  country.."  The  niiniste.r  moved  an  address  to 
the  throne,  which,  besides  conforming  to  the  principal  positions  of  the 
messLigc,  declared  liie  strongest  indignation  and  icbentinenl  at  the 
unjust  and  urprovoked  conduct  of. France,  arising  from  tliat  restless 
and  dangerous  spiric  of  ambition  and  agij:rand)zcment  whic'u  had  so 
often  mvaded  the  rights  and  thre-Uuned  the  liberties  of  F.urope.  It 
concluded  witii  the  strongest  assarauces  of  the  most  zealous  assistance 
and  support,  and  declared  the  firmest  confidence  that  the  whole  na- 
tion wc'tld  contribute  every  possiole  exertion  for  the  honor  and  digni- 
ty of  thfc^r.n.i,  and  iht  just  rignis  and  esscnlial  interests  of  these 
iingdon,  . 


470  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XX.— I7r8. 

[Proposition  for  the  removal  of  ministers.] 

In  the  hoiisc  of  commons  an  amendment  was  proposed,  that  his 
majesty  ihoukl  remove  from  his  councils  those  ministers,  in  whom, 
from  expeilL-nce  of  the  |icrnicious  effects  of  their  past  measures,  his 
people  could  i)luce  no  confidence  in  the  present  momentous  situation 
of  public  aff"airs.  TJie  chief  arguments  for  the  amendment  were,  that 
it  would  l)c  extremely  foolish,  and  no  less  dangerous,  to  confide  the 
management  of  the  most  arduous  war  in  whicli  Britain  had  ever  en- 
gaged, to  ministers  whose  comluct  had  been  a  series  of  ignorance, 
rashness,  and  weakness,  and  had  already  brought  the  country,  from  a 
high  pitcii  of  power  and  glor),  to  its  present  humiliation  and  distress; 
who,  having  found  the  kingdom  in  peace,  by  tlieir  counsels  and  mea- 
sures had  changed  that  stale  of  happiness  and  prosperity  into  all  the 
liorrors  and  mischicf>j  of  an  unnatural,  cruel,  and  destructive  civil 
war  :  and  whose  ignorance  and  obstinacy,  disdaining  all  warning,  had 
plunged  this  nation  into  all  its  present  danger  and  calamity.* 

There  could  not  be  a  more  glaring  or  criminal  instance  of  minis- 
terial uegligeiKe  and  imbecility,  than  that,  in  times  of  peace,  they 
could  not  discover  the  desii^ns  and  transactions  of  France,  until  they 
were  openly  avowed.  Ministers  had  shown  themselves  totally  unfit 
for  managing  our  affairs;  therefore  they  ought  not  to  be  trusted  with 
the  conduct  of  greater  and  more  difficult  situations.  The  enemy  pre- 
sumed on  the  notorious  weakness  and  instability  which  had  long  cha- 
racterized the  British  counsels.  They  knev/,  that  if  the  ministers  had 
been  pensioners  of  France  they  could  not  have  promoted  the  interests 
of  that  country  more  effectually,  than  tliey  had  actually  done.  It 
would  be  useless  to  offer  any  support  to  his  majesty,  without  inform-- 
ing  him  at  the  same  time  of  the  incapacity  of  those  to  whom  he  had  in- 
trusted the  management  of  public  affairs.  After  such  repeated  in- 
stances of  folly,  neglect,  and  incapacity,  the  nation  could  repose  no 
confidence  in  bis  present  ministers  ;  and  their  removal  alone  could 
realize  any  offers  of  support,  and  revive  the  drooping  spirit  of  the 
people.  That  single  measure  would  strike  more  terror  into  the  ene- 
mies of  this  country,  than  all  the  warlike  preparations  which  we  were 
capable  of  making  under  the  present  notorious  imbecility  of  our  coun- 
cils and  conduct.  Against  these  arguments  the  minister  and  his 
friends  did  not  offer  lefutalions  equally  strong;  but  they  contented 
themselves  witli  asserting  their  conduct  to  have  been  unblamable, 
and  the  best  which  the  state  of  affairs  could  possibly  admit;  and  re- 
peated tlieir  asseverations,  of  the  flourishing  state  of  the  country,  and 
its  ability  to  defend  itself,  and  inflict  punishment  on  our  enemies  for 
their  unprovoked  attack.  The  course  of  the  debate  brought  forward 
the  f|uestion  of  American  independence,  and  manifested  that  diversity 
of  opinion  on  the  subject  between  certain  members  of  opposition 
which  had  before  begun  to  discover  itself,  and  eventually  rendered 
them  distinct  and  even  oppobiie  parties.  By  a  part  of  opposition,  the 
immediate  tickuowlcdgmeni  of  the  independence  of  America  was  con- 
sidered not  only  as  the  wisest,  but  the  only  measure  which  could  ex- 
tricate us  from  the  present  evils,  without  still  greater  losses,  and  with 
any  probable  prospect  of  deriving  future  advantage  from  our  colonies. 
This  was  the  opinion  held  by  the  duke  of  Richmond,  the  marquis  of 
Rockingham,  Messrs.  Burke,  Fox,  and  other  members  of  that  parly  ; 

*  Parliamentary  reports 


mS— Chap    XX.  IJKIGN  OF  GKORdK  III.  47I 

[Proposed  inquiries  of  Mr  Fox  into  the  state  of  the  navy,  etc.] 

but  the  earls  Chatham,  Temple,  and  Shelburne,  and  lord  Camden, 
Messrs.  Duiinin}^  and  liurre,  with  some  other  members  of  both  houses, 
were  totally  averse  from  the  independence  of  America.  Such  a  con- 
cciion  they  considered  as  the  greatest  of  all  political  and  national 
evil^,  and  as  including  the  utter  degradation  and  final  ruin  of  Britain. 
The  other  division  of  opposition  admitted  the  evils  to  be  great,  but 
not  equal  to  those  which  must  be  incurred  in  endt-HVouriuvg  to  prevent 
its  completion,  and  thought  that  no  effort  for  that  purpose  would  be 
ultimately  successful. 

After  the  hostile  declaration  of  France,  the  inquiry  into  the  state  of 
the  nation  was  principally  directed  to  the  condition  of  the  navy.  On 
the  I  itii  of  March,  Mr.  Fox  having  taken  a  view  of  our  naval  force  in 
the  various  harbours  of  this  country  and  the  different  stations  abroad, 
as  the  result  of  the  whole  proposed  a  motion,  importing  that  the  pub- 
lic had  paid,  in  the  last  eight  years,  for  the  ordinaries  and  cxtraordi- 
naries  of  the  navy,  though  the  greater  part  of  that  period  was  free  from 
hostilities,  about  double  the  sum  to  which  the  estimates  for  the  same 
service  atnounted  in  the  eight  years  commencing  with  175  5  and  end- 
ing with  1762,  which  included  the  whole  of  the  late  war;  uiid  that, 
notwithstanding  the  immeri^e  increase  of  cost,  the  present  naval  force 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  was  inadequate  to  the  very  dangerous 
crisis  of  public  affairs.  Ministers  neither  endeavoured  to  confute  the 
assertions,  nor  to  overturn  the  arguments,  of  their  formidable  adversa- 
ry :  the  force  which  ihcy  could  not  combat,  they  endeavoured  to  elude  ; 
the  motion,  they  said,  was  impolitic,  as  it  tended  to  expose  to  the  ene- 
my the  sta'e  and  disposition  of  our  maritime  strength  ;  and  by  this 
oornmon  objection,  they  prevailed  on  parliament  to  stifle  inquiry. 

The  g^  cat  statesman  of  opposition  having  failed  in  his  endeavour  to 
investigate  the  futuie  efficiency  of  our  fleet?*,  was  not  deterred  from 
prosecuting  his  inquirie?,,  which  he  now  turned  to  the  past  direction 
and  conduct  of  our  ar.nies,  and  on  the  19th  of  March  he  proposed  to 
the  committee  the  consideration  of  the  Canada  expedition.  He  under- 
took to  demonstrate  that  the  plan  wusimpolitic,  unwise,  and  incapable 
«f  producing  any  good  effect  ;  that  the  provision  made  for  it  was  in- 
adequate to  the  o!)ject,  anrl  that  general  Burgoyne  had  acted  agreea- 
bly to  the  tenor  of  his  instructions  :  if  he  established  these  three  posi- 
tions, (he  said,)  he  would  deduce  from  them  a  motion  concerning  the 
conduct  of  lord  George  Gerniaine.  The  ministers  opposed  the  in- 
quiry chieflv  for  the  same  reason  that  they  had  resisted  a  former  at- 
tempt of  a  smilar  tendency,  the  absence  of  one  of  the  parlies  ;  they, 
however,  entered  more  into  the  actual  merits  of  the  plan  than  on  the 
pre  eding  occasion,  and  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  northern  ex- 
pediiion  was,  in  tue  first  place,  a  wise  and  necessary  measure  ;  that  it 
was  copublc  of  s\iccess,  and  the  design  evidently  practicable;  and  that 
the  noble  s-ci  ecary,  in  whose  department  it  lay,  had  omitted  nothing 
which  couid  be  done  by  an  attentive  minister  to  insure  its  success. 
Although  ;hey  did  not  fully  enter  upon  this  justification,  yet  they 
brought  forward  that  which  they  appeared  to  consider  as  their  princi- 
pal ground  of  defence.  The  question  being  at  length  called  for,  the 
first  resolution  was  rejected  by  the  majority  of  164  to  44.  Mr.  Fox, 
enraged  and  indignant  at  the  event  of  this  division,  not  only  declared 
fhat  he  would  not  propose  another  motion  ;  but,  talung  the  resolution. 


472  iirsTOHv  ok  iiip:  cuap.  xx— irrs 

[Schism  of  opposition  on  the  question  of  American  independence.] 

of  censure  out  of  his  pocket,  tore  it  into  pieces,  and  immediately 
quitted  the  house. 

The  duke  of  Riclnnond  early  in  this  session  moved  and  procured 
a  grand  committee  to  incjuire  into  the  state  of  the  nation  ;  and  havint^ 
been  very  active  in  forwarding  its  investigations,  on  the  7tli  of  April 
he  look  a  general  view  of  the  progress  and  result  It  had  nf)t  pro- 
duced, in  every  ca«»*,  he  said,  the  desired  information,  but  the  effects 
on  the  whole  had  been  important  and  beneficial;  they  had  ascertained 
the  state  of  the  army  and  navy,  aJul  the  vast  expenditure  which  ac- 
crued from  the  American  vvar.  Ministers,  it  was  true,  luid  used  their 
utmost  tflbrts  to  prevent  parliament  from  being  informed:  but,  in  op- 
posing the  resolutions  as  unbcasonable,  ihcy'  had  fully  admitted  the 
facts  on  the  allegation  of  which  they  were  grounded.  They  were  far 
from  pretending  that  the  asserted  clcnciei\cies  of  the  army  and  navy 
weie  unfounded  ;  they  objected  not  to  the  truth  of  the  statement,  but 
to  the  policy  of  the  pu!)licaiion.  Viewing  the  state  of  the  I'csources 
made  known  through  the  exertions  of  the  committee,  he  proposed  to 
finish  the  inquiry  by  an  address  to  the  throne,  which  should  exhibit 
an  abstract  of  the  inlbrmation  obtained,  the  resolutions  proposed,  and 
the  general  inferences  which  sprung  from  the  whole. 

Fi'Ut'.dcd  upon  these  bases,  the  projected  address  repiesenled  to 
his  majes'.y  tuk  sta  rF  of  his  dominions  ;  arid  expressed  the  indig- 
nation of  the  house  against  the  conduct  of  ministers,  by  whicii  it  was 
caused  In  this  calamitous,  though  he  trusted  not  desperate,  situation 
of  public  affairs,  they  reposed  their  ultiujale  hope  in  his  majesty's 
paternal  goodness.  It  reminded  the  king  of  the  constitutional  princi- 
ples, whence  issued  the  revolution,  and  the  accession  of  his  illustrious 
Ijousc  ;  and  the  great  and  increasing  prosperity  of  the  country  while 
its  government  adhered  to  these  principles.  It  recalled  to  his  majes- 
ty's recollection  the  prospekous  and  glorious  state  is  which 
HE  FOUND  THESE  REAL.MS  ;  Contrasted  the  condition  of  that  time  with 
the  firrhciir.  d an-efif-.,  and  declared  a  confidence  that  tlic  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  the  sovereign  would  put  an  end  to  that  system 
under  which  so  fatal  a  reverse  had  taken  place.  This  was  the  sub- 
stance of  the  duke  of  Richmond's  address,  interspersed  through 
which  was  poignant  asperity  against  his  majesty's  court  and  admini- 
stration. While  proposing  remedies  for  the  alleged  evils,  he  insisted 
that  the  only  sure  means  of  extrication' from  a  war  with  the  colonies, 
was  the  recognition  of  their  unqualified  independence.  This  was  a 
proposition,  to  which  not  only  lord  North,  but  the  most  firmly  and 
violently  and  ardent  supporter  of  coercive  measures  was  not  more 
inimical  than  tlie  illustrious  champion  of  conciliation,  the  earl  of 
Chatham.  His  lordship  had  that  season  frequently  attended  the  house 
of  peers,  leas  from  the  relaxation  of  distemper  than  from  the  calls  of 
duty,  which  the  increasing  calamities  of  his  country  made  him  consi- 
der as  every  day  more  imperious.  In  a  bodily  state  fitted  only  for  the 
stillness  and  quiet  of  a  bed  of  sickness,  he  encountered  the  active 
warfare  of  the  senate,  hoping  his  counsels  might  at  length  be  admit- 
ted by  those  who  were  experiencing  such  evils  from  former  rejection 
and  intractability,  and  that,  in  his  old  age,  he  might  contribute  to  re- 
store part  of  the  prosperity,  greatness,  and  glory,  which  he  had  ac- 
quired for  his  country  in  the  vigour  of  his  life,  and  which  left  her 
when  he  ceased  to  guide  her  affairs.  His  exertions,  in  the  former  part 


1778.— CaA».  XX.  KLIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III,  473 

[Last  efforts  of  lord  Chatham.] 

of  the  session,  so  much  beyond  his  bodily  strength,  had  increased  hii 
distemper;  but,  informed  of  the  business  that  was  to  be  agita'.ed,  and 
aware  of  the  doctrines  which  woukl  be  Ijrought  forward,  he  thought 
it  incumbent  on  himself  to  render  it  manifest  to  the  world,  that  though 
he  agreed  with  the  marquis  of  Rockingham  and  his  adherents  in  re- 
probating the  system  of  mini.slry,  he  totally  diflcred  from  them  on  the 
question  of  American  independence.    He  accordingly  betook  himself 
to  the  senate,  of  which,  for  near  half  a  century,  he  had  been  the 
brightest  luminary.    Having  arrived  in  the  house,  he  refreshed  him- 
self in  the  lord-chancellor's  room,   until  he  learned  that  business  was 
about  to  begin.  The  infirm  statesman  was  led  into  the  house  of  peers, 
attended  by  his  son-in-law,  lord  Mahon,  and  resting  on  the  arm  of  his 
second  son,  Mr.  William  Pitt.    He  was  richly  dressed  in  a  superb 
suit  of  black  velvet,  with  a  full  wig,  and  covered  up  lo  the  knees  ia 
flannel.    He  was  pale  and  emaciated,  but  the  darting  quickness,  force, 
ard  animation  of  his  eyes,  and  the  expression  of  his  whole  counte- 
nance, showed  that  his  mind  retainetl  its  primeval  perspicacity,  bril- 
liancy and  strength.    The  lords  stood  up,  and  made  a  lane  for  him  to 
pass  through  to  the  bench  of  the  earls,  and  with  the  gracefulness  of 
deportment  for  which  he  was  so  eminently  distinguished,  he  bowed 
to  them  as  he  proceeded.    Having  taken  his  seat,  he  listened  with  iha 
most   profound   attention  to  the  speech  of  the  duke   of  Richmond. 
When  his  grace  had  finished,  lord  Chatham  rose  :  he  lamented  that, 
at  so  important  a  crisis,  his  bodily  infirmities  had  interfered  so  often 
with  his  regular  attendance  on  his  duty  in   parliament.    "  I   have  this 
day  (said  he)  made  an  effort  beyond  the  powers  of  my  constitution,  to 
come  down  to  the  house,  perhaps  the  last  lime  I  shall  enter  its  walls, 
to  express  my  indignation  against  the  proposition  of  yielding  the  so- 
vereignty of  America.    My  lord,  I  rejoice  that  the  grave   has   not 
closed  upon  me,  that  I  am  still  alive  to  lift  up  my  voice  against  the 
dismemberment  of  this  ancient  and  noble  monarchy.    Pressed  down 
as  I  am  by  the  load  of  infirmity,  I  am  little  able  to  assist  my  country 
.jn  this  most  perilous  conjuncture  ;  but,  my  lords,  while  I  have  sense 
and  memory,  I  never  will  consent  to  tarnish  the  lustre  of  this  nation 
by  an  ignominious  surrender  of  its  rights  and  fairest  possessions. 
Shall  a  people  so  lately  the  terror  of  the  world,  now  fall  prostrate  be- 
fore the  house  of  Bourbon  ?    It  is  impossible.    I  am  not,  I  confess, 
well  informed  of  the  resources  of  this  kingdom;  but  I  trust  it  has 
still  sufficient  to  maintain  its  just  rights,  though  I  know  them  not; 
and  any  stale,  my  lords,  is  better  than  despair.    Let  us  at  least  make 
one  effort;  and,  if  we  must  fall,  let  us  fall  like  men." 

The  duke  of  Richmond  declared  his  grief  and  horror  at  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  empire  to  be  as  great  as  that  of  any  man  in  the 
house  or  nation,  but  how  was  it  to  be  avoided  ?  he  himself  was  totally 
ignorant  of  the  means  of  resisting  with  success  the  combination  of 
America  with  France  and  Spain.  He  did  not  know  how  to  preserve 
the  dependence  of  America.  If  any  person  could  prevent  such  an 
evil,  lord  Chatham  was  the  man;  but  what  were  the  means  that  great 
statesman  would  propose  ?  Lord  Chatham,  agitated  by  this  appeal, 
made  an  eager  efiort  at  its  conclusion  to  rise;  but  before  he  could 
utter  a  word,  pressing  his  hand  lo  his  heart,  he  fell  down  in  a  convul- 
sive fit.  The  duke  of  Cumberland  and  lord  Temple,  who  were  near- 
est him,  caught  him  in  their  arms.    The  house  was  immediately  in 

Vol.  YIL— 60 


474  TIISTOTiY  or  THF.  Cuap.  XX.— 1778 

i_tlis  death  and  character.] 

commotion,  strangers  were  ordered  to  depart,  and  the  house  was  ad- 
journed. Lord  Chatham  being-  carried  into  an  adjoining  apartment, 
medical  assistance  soon  arrived.  Recovering  in  some  degree,  he  was 
conveyed  in  a  litter  to  his  villa  at  Hayes  in  Kent,  and  there  he  lingered 
till  the  1 1th  of  May,  when  he  breathed  his  last,  in  the  seventieth  year 
of  his  age. 

Thus  died  William  Pitt,  earl  of  Chatham  ;  his  death  being  hastened 
by  his  efibrts  to  save  his  country,  whose  interest  and  glory  it  had  been 
the  business  of  his  life  to  promote.    Many  as  arc  the  examples  of  un- 
common abiliiy  which  l^nglish  history  presents,   she   has  none  to  re- 
cord more  brilliant,  more  forcible,  or  more  beneficial  to  the  times  in 
which  it  operated.    Surpassing  other  senators  in  glowing,  energetic, 
and  commanding  eloquence,  he  still  farther  exceeded  them  in  politi- 
cal wisdom;  astonishing  parliament  as  an   orator,  he  astonished  the 
nation  and  all  mankind  as  a  statesman.    Rarely  have  been  united  in  the 
same  person,  such  powers  of  thought,  speech,  and  action.    Grasping 
the  principles,  circumstances,  and  relations  to  be  considered  and  dis- 
cussed, he  instantaneously  perceived  the  arguments  to  be  adduced  in 
deliberation,  or  the  means  to  be  employed  in  conduct.     Sagacious  to 
discover,  rapid  and  powerful  to  invent  and  combine,   luminous  and 
strong  to  explain  and  impress,  he  was  decisive  and  prompt  in  execu- 
tion.   He  not  only  discerned  and  chose  effectual  means,  but  applied 
them  at  the  instant  of  time  which  was  most  favourable  to  their  efBca- 
cy.    Thoroughly  master  of  the  human  character,  he  perfectly  compre- 
hended the  general  and  peculiar  talents,  and  qualities  of  all,  with  whom 
either  accident,  inclination,  or  duty  induced  him  to  converse.    Hence 
he  selected  the  fittest  instruments  for  executing,  in  the  manifold  de- 
partments of  public  service,  his  wise,  bold,  and  sublime  plans.    Not 
his  intellectual  powers  only,  but  the  estimation  resulting  from  these, 
in  union  wiih  his  moral  conduct,   gave  to  Mr.  Pitt  an  authority  far 
transcending  that  of  other  ministers  :  inaccessible  to  avarice,  unse- 
uuced  by  pleasure  and  luxury,  the  abstinence  of  his  dispositions,  and 
the  temperance  of  his  habits,   confirmed  that  confidence   which  his 
wisdom  and  magnanimity  created  :  destined  for  the  army,  he  did  not 
receive  an  academic  education.     The  ground-work  of  erudition  was 
indeed  laid  in  classical  knowledge;*  but  the  superstructure  was  left 
to  himself.    His  studies  were  ethics,  poetry,  eloquence,   history,  and 
politics  ;  especially  the  history  and  politics  of  his  country.    Thus  he 
was,  in  a  great  measure,  self  taught.    His  genius,  though  extraordi- 
nary in  force  and  fertilily,  and  enriched  with  ample  materials,  not  be- 
ing disciplined  in  proportion  to  its  capacity  and  knowledge,   did  not 
habitually  exert  itself  in  close  deduction  ;t  but,  for  grandeur  of  con- 

•  At  Eton,  where  he  was  the  cotemporary  and  friend  of  Lyttelton  and 
Fielding. 

f  Reasoning  does  not  merely  depend  upon  power,  but  on  power  confirmed  and 
facilitated  by  habit.  Evciy  able  m:in  is  not  necessarily  a  habitual  logician  :  nor  is 
every  age  and  counti-y  whicii  exliibits  works  ofgreat  ability,  necessarily  eminent 
for  ratiocinative  ellorls.  In  the  reign  of  George  the  second,  close  argument  was 
not  the  principal  characteristic  of  our  senatorial  oratory  ;  brilliant  and  powerful 
images  to  charm  the  fancy,  pathetic  descriptions  and  exhibitions  to  impress  the 
feelings,  aided  by  graceful  elocution  and  delivery  to  strike  the  senses,  were  much 
more  prominent  in  the  most  approved  models,  than  an  unbroken  chain  of  antece- 
dents and  consequents  merely  conducting  truth  to  the  understanding.  Thus  the 
state  of  the  senate  encouraged  that  mode  of  eloquence  which  the  early  studies 
and  purauiti  of  Mr.  Pitt  tended  to  bestow. 


1778— Chaj-.  XX.  liKIGN  OF  GKOKGE  III.  475 

[Flourishing  state  of  Britain  under  his  administration.] 

ception  and  comprehensiveness  of  views,  force  of  reasoning,  depth  of 
conclusion,  and  sat^acity  of  piediction  ;  strength  and  sublimity  of 
imagery,  and  apposileness  of  allusion  ;  for  pathetic  in  every  kind  and 
variety  ;  for  wielding  at  will  the  judgment,  fancies,  and  passions  of 
his  hearers,  William  Pill  stood  unrivalled.  But  his  wisdom,  magna- 
nimity, and  energy,  arc  most  clearly  beheld  in  their  effects.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  seven  years  war,  the  nation,  perceiving  their  country 
neglected  by  ministers,  her  arms  discomfited  and  inglorious,  and  her 
spirits  drooping  and  desponding,  called  on  Mr.  Pitt  for  relief.  Unsup- 
ported by  court  interest,  obnoxious  to  the  confederacy  which  had  long 
prevailed;  his  genius  overpowered  intrigue.  He  came  to  the  highest 
office,  when  none  else  by  holding  it  could  save  the  state.  Having  risen 
exclusively  by  ability  himself,  his  chief  object  was  to  bring  every  kind 
of  ability  into  action' which  could  be  beneficial  to  the  country.  Dis- 
daining to  govern  by  parties,  he  absorbed  them  all  into  his  own  vor- 
tex. From  torpidity,  weakness,  defeat,  disgrace,  and  dejection,  he 
changed  the  condition  of  the  nation  to  ardour,  strength,  victory,  glory, 
and  triumph.  Nor  did  Britain  by  her  affection,  gratitude,  and  admi- 
ration, or  Europe  by  her. astonishment,  bear  stronger  testimonies  of 
his  exalted  merit,  than  France  by  her  hatred  and  terror  for  the  name 
of  Pitt.  As  Britain  flourished  while  this  statesman  conducted  her 
councils,  from  the  time  his  direction  ceased,  her  decline  commenced  ; 
but,  as  he  had  caused  her  elevation  by  his  own  wisdom  and  vigour,  he 
endeavoured  to  prevent  her  downfall  through  the  rashness,  folly,  and 
■weakness  of  others.  From  the  rise  of  this  innovating  system  of  colo- 
nial policy,  he  perceived  its  tendency  ;  and  foresaw  and  foretold  its 
effects.  He  tried  to  avert  the  evil,  but  his  attempts  were  vain :  a  feeble 
body,  a  constitution  debilitated  by  intense  application,  and  labouring 
under  grievous  malady,  obstructed  his  regular  attendance  in  parlia- 
■ment,  to  deprecate  pernicious  measures ;  but,  when  he  did  appear, 
his  speeches  deserved  record  as  the  emphatic  dictates  of  prophesying 
■wisdom.  Nature  arrayed  transcendency  of  genius,  and  grandeur  of 
soul,  in  pleasing  and  striking  colours,  and  bestowed  on  this  favourite 
son  an  animated  and  expressive  countenance,  a  tall  and  graceful  figure, 
with  a  dignified  mien  and  deportment. 

This  statesman  possessed  ambition  in  common  with  other  great 
minds  that  are  engaged  in  active  life.  If,  however,  he  loved  power, 
it  was  neither  to  enrich  himself  nor  his  friends,  but  to  aggrandize  his 
country,  and  humble  her  enemies.  A  more  appropriate  feature  in  his 
character,  was  contempt  tor  tame  mediocrity.  He  perhaps  too  much 
disdained  that  dexterity  and  address,  which,  though  easily  attained, 
and  no  indication  of  superior  talents,  often  smooths  the  road  for  the 
execution  of  wise  and  beneficial  plans ;  such  a  man  must  have  seen 
the  inferiority  of  his  colleagues ;  but  it  was  not  necessary  to  his  po- 
litical purposes  to  make  them  feel  that  inferiority.  His  unbending 
resolution  is  an  object  of  regret  to  patriots,  as  it  produced  his  resig- 
nation, when  his  services  were  so  essential  to  his  country.  In  the  va- 
rious relations  of  private  life,  lord  Chatham  was  amiable  and  estima- 
ble. He  married  a  lady,  whose  talents  and  character  rendered  her 
•worthy  of  such  a  husband  ;  whose  conversation  solaced  his  mind  in  the 
hours  of  infirmity  and  pain,  and  whose  views  coincided,  and  efforts 
CO  operated,  with  his  own,  in  the  tuition  of  their  several  children. 
Few  and  trivial  were  the  blemishes,  which  merely  showed  thaft  this 


476  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XX.— 177«. 

[Tribute  to  his  nieniory.     Ai)plication  in  favour  of  Iieiand.] 

extraordinary  man  was  not  exempted  from  the  imperfections  of  hu- 
manity;  bvit  the  historian  who  desires  to  narrate  the  triuli,  must  en- 
deavour to  hand  down  to  posterity  William  Pitt,  earl  of  Chatham,  as 
one  of  the  cliicf  t^iorics  of  Eni^land. 

When  the  intelligence  of  lord  Chatham's  death  arrived,  the  house 
of  commons  bcinsj  sitting,  colonel  Barre,  in  a  concise  but  just  eulogi- 
um,  expressed  the  obligation  of  the  country  to  the  deceased  states- 
man, and  moved  an  address  to  his  majesty,  for  directions  that  his  re- 
mains  should  be  interred  at  the  public  expense  :  the  motion  received 
general  approbation.  A  monument  was  also  proposed,  and  unani- 
mously resolved  to  be  erected  in  Westminster  abbey.  The  following 
day  it  was  stated  to  the  house,  that  the  illustrious  ol)ject  of  their  ve- 
neration, highly  as  he  had  benefited  the  nation,  had  been  by  no  means 
equally  attentive  to  his  own  private  fortune  ;  and  that,  notwithstanding 
his  opportunities,  he  had  left  his  family  destitute  of  all  suitable  pro- 
vision. An  address  was  proposed  and  voted  to  his  majesty,  by  which 
an  annuity  of  4000/.  per  annum  was  settled  for  ever  on  those  heirs  of 
the  late  earl  of  Chatiiam  to  whom  the  earldom  might  descend,  and 
20,000/.  were  granted  for  the  payment  of  his  debts. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  session,  application  was  made  to  parlia- 
ment in  favour  of  Ireland,  to  relieve  thut  country  from  sundry  re- 
straints respecting  their  manufactures  and  trade  :  these  restrictions 
injured  Ireland,  it  was  alleged,  without  serving  Britain.  From  the 
facts  presented  by  lord  Nugent,  who  introduced  the  business,  and 
other  collateral  evidence,  it  appeared  that  the  trade  of  Ireland  had  suf- 
fered severely  during  the  war  ;  that  the  exportation  of  Irish  manufac- 
tures, was  in  a  great  measure  suspended  ;  that  thence  numbers  of  the 
people  were  deprived  of  their  stated  employments,  and  rendered  des- 
titute of  the  means  of  subsistence.  The  decay  of  the  trade  was  still 
more  severely  felt,  in  consequence  of  very  heavy  additions  which  had 
been  recently  made  to  the  civil  establishment  by  the  increase  of  pen- 
sions and  other  burthensome  appointments  :  the  relief  solicited  was 
to  take  off  some  of  the  many  incumbrances  which  oppressed  both  the 
export  and  import  traflic  of  that  kingdom.  In  order  to  favour  the 
vooUen  manufactory  of  England,  the  Iiish  had  been  hindered  from 
manufacturing  their  own  wool  :  the  consequence  was,  that  Irish  wool 
vas  smuggled  over  into  France,  to  the  great  detriment  of  British  ma- 
nufacturers, as  with  such  materials  France  would  soon  be  able  to  rival 
England.  Bills  were  intioduced  to  revive  tiie  trade  and  manufac- 
tures of  Ireland,  wiiiiout  injuring  this  country.  The  relief  proposed 
in  the  house  of  commons  was,  first,  that  the  Irish  might  be  permitted 
to  export  directly  to  tiie  British  plantations  or  settlements  all  mer- 
chandise which  should  be  the  produce  of  that  kingdom  or  of  Great 
Britain,  wool  and  woollen  manuiactures  only  excepted  ;  as  also  foreign 
certificate  goods  legally  imported:  2dly,  that  a  direct  importation 
should  be  allowed  to  all  commodities  being  the  produce  of  the  British 
plantations,  lol  acco  only  excepted  :  3dly,  that  the  direct  exportation 
of  glass  manufactured  in  Ireland  should  be  permitted  to  all  places  ex- 
cept Oreat  Britain:  4lhly,  thut  in  the  importation  of  cotton  yarn  the 
manufacture  of  Ireland  should  be  allowed,  duty  free,  in  Great  Bri- 
tain :  as  also,  5lhly,  the  in)portalion  of  sailcloth  and  cordage.  Bills 
founded  on  these  propositions  encountered  a  strong  opposition.  The 
projected  change  alarmed  the  merchants  of  Bristol  and  Liverpool, 


J778.— Cbap.  XX.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  IH.  477 

[Repeal  of  king  William's  act  respecting  the  Catholics.] 

and  also  the  manufacturers  of  Lancashire  and  the  county  of  Nottinp;. 
ham,  who  strenuously  opposed  the  admission  of  Ireiaiul  to  a  partici- 
pation of  the  rights  of  British  subjects;  and  a  j^cneral  alarm  was 
spread  through  most  of  the  trading  and  manufacturing  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  They  considered  the  admittance  of  Ireland  to  any  share 
of  British  trade,  as  not  only  destructive  of  their  property,  but  being 
equally  subversive  of  their  rights.  They  were  as  liiiie  disposed  to 
consent  that  the  people  of  Ii eland  should  cultivate  their  own  manu- 
factures, and  dispose  of  their  native  commodities  at  the  proper  foreign 
markets,  as  they  were  to  admit  them  to  any  limited  degree  of  partici- 
pation. After  much  discussion,  in  which  the  supporters  of  the  bill 
had  the  advantage, it  was  agreed  by  both  parties  to  defer  the  final  ad- 
justment until  the  next  session  of  parliament.  The  opposers  gave 
way  to  partial  enlargements  with  regard  to  Irish  trade,  from  which 
its  supporters  hoped  that,  by  allowing  them  another  session  before 
its  final  determination,  they  might  become  well  disposed  to  promote 
some  of  the  propositions. 

Sir  Philip  Jennings  Clerk  introduced  a  bill  for  restraining  contract- 
ors with  government  from  a  scat  in  parliament,  unless  the  contract 
should  be  made  at  a  public  bidding.  The  arguments  on  both  sides 
were  obvious:  by  the  proposers  of  the  law  it  was  alleged,  that  con- 
tracts were  often  granted,  on  the  most  advantageous  terms,  for  pur- 
poses of  corruption :  by  its  impugners,  that  it  would  be  very  unjust 
to  deprive  an  individual  of  his  privileges  as  a  British  subject,  because 
he  had  engaged  to  furnish  at  a  stipulated  price  articles  wanted  for 
the  public  service.  Members  of  parliament,  who  were  debarred  from 
this  source  of  mercantile  profit,  if  disposed  to  traffic  in  corruption, 
could  easily  accomplish  their  desire  clandestinely  through  agents  : 
the  bill  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  only  two,  the  numbers  being 
against  it  115,  for  it  1 1.3. 

On  the  14th  of  IMay,  near  the  close  of  the  session,  sir  George  Sa- 
ville  proposed  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  certain  penalties  and  disabili- 
ties, that  were  established  by  an  act  of  the  tenth  of  William  III.  for 
preventing  the  farther  growth  of  popery.  The  legal  and  poliucal 
ability  of  Mr.  Dunning  was  chiefly  employed  in  explaining  the  evils 
now  proposed  to  be  removed.  By  the  act  in  question,  popish  priests 
or  Jesuits,  found  to  officiate  in  the  service  of  the  Romish  church,  in- 
curred the  penalties  of  felony  if  foreigners,  and  of  high  treason  if  na- 
tives ;  the  successions  of  popish  heirs  educated  abroad  were  forfeited, 
and  their  estates  descended  to  the  next  proiestant  heir  :  a  son,  or  other 
nearest  protestant  relation  might  take  possession  of  the  estate  of  a  father 
or  other  next  kinsman  of  the  popish  persuasion,  during  the  life  of  the 
real  proprietor  ;  papists  were  prevented  from  acquiring  any  legal  pro- 
perty by  fiurc/iase,  a  term  which  in  law  included  every  mode  of  ac- 
quiring property,  but  descent;  and  thus  the  various  sources  of  ac- 
quisition were  shut  up  from  lloe  Roman  catholics.  The  mildness  of 
government  had  softened  the  rigour  of,  the  law ;  but  it  was  to  be  re- 
membered, that  popish  priests  constantly  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  bas- 
est of  mankind,  common  informers.  On  the  evidence  of  any  of  these 
wretches,  the  magisterial  and  judicial  powers  were  necessitated  to  en- 
force all  the  shameful  penalties  of  the  act.  Others  of  these  punish- 
ments held  out  powerful  temptations  to  horrible  and  flagitious  crimes. 
They  seemed  fitted  to  poison  the  sources  of  domestic  felicity,  to 


478  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XX.— 1778. 

[Supplies  and  taxes.     Motion  respecting  expenditure.] 

dissolve  civil,  moral,  and  religious  oljligations  and  duties,  and  to  loos- 
en all  the  bonds  of  society.  Besides  the  intolerant  and  oppressive  prin- 
ciple of  the  act,  it  appeared  from  the  history  of  its  enactment,*  that  it 
was  a  measure  of  party  intrigue  more  than  of  general  policy.  Even 
if  there  then  existed  reasons  which  justified  severity,  they  were  no 
longer  in  force.  The  Roman  catholics  had  conducted  themselves 
with  unquestionable  propiicty  during  the  present  reign,  and  had  that 
very  session  presented  a  petition,  expressive  of  their  loyalty  and  at- 
tachment to  the  king  and  government,  and  their  resolution,  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives  and  fortunes,  to  defend  their  king  and  country  against 
the  apprehended  invasion  of  the  French  and  all  their  enemies.  The 
ministerial  party  was  extremely  well  inclined  to  show  favour  to  such 
meritorious  subjects  ;  and,  though  aware  of  their  general  unpopulari- 
ty, they  did  notthemselves  choose  to  hazard  a  proposition  which  would 
most  probably  excite  alarm  among  the  protestants ;  they  very  gladly 
adopted  therefore  the  measure  when  brought  forward  by  opposition, 
and  the  bill  passed  both  houses  without  a  division. 

The  supplies  for  this  year  were  sixty  thousand  seamen,  with  a  consi- 
derable augmentation  of  land  forces.  The  ways  and  means  were  a  loan 
of  si.K  millions  at  three  per  cent,  with  an  annuity  of  two  pounds  ten  shil- 
lings for  a  certain  number  of  years,  or  for  life  ;  the  sum  of  480,000/.  was 
raised  by  a  lottery,  and  two  millions  by  exchequer  bills.  The  new  taxes 
were,  an  additional  duty  of  eight  guineas  per  ton  imposed  on  all  French 
wines,  and  four  guineas  on  all  other  wines,  six-pence  in  the  pound  on 
houses  valued  from  five  to  fifty  pounds  a  year,  and  one  shilling  on  all 
above  fifty  pounds.  The  house  tax  bill  was  strongly  opposed,  as  unjust, 
partial,  and  oppressive;  from  the  higli  value  of  the  houses  in  London,  it 
was  asserted  that  nine-tenths  of  the  burthen  would  be  borne  by  the  metro- 
polis. It  was  answered,  that  the  value  of  houses  arose  chiefly  from 
their  situation,  which  rendered  them  pleasant,  convenient,  or  profitable 
to  their  occupiers,  and  that  the  advantages  much  more  than  compensa- 
ted the  expense  even  with  this  addition:  that,  in  other  commercial  places, 
rents  rose  in  proportion  to  their  lucrative  situation,  and  that  other  parts 
of  the  kingdom  would  contribute  a  much  greater  share  of  the  tax  than 
had  been  asserted:  the  houses  in  every  town  or  village  as  well  as  in 
London,  would  pay  in' proportion  to  the  benefit  arising  from  the  situation. 
Beside  the  specific  sums  granted  by  parliament,  an  application  was 
made  for  a  vote  of  credit.  This  requisition  occasioned  a  very  warm  de- 
bate :  opposition  contended,  that  the  incapacity  of  administration  was  so 
glaring,  and  thoir  conduct  so  very  absurd  and  ruinous,  that  it  would  be 
extremely  imprudent  to  trust  to  their  discretion.  Ministers  defended  their 
own  measures,  and  insisted  that  a  vote  of  credit  was  both  usual  and  ne- 
cessary in  such  circumstances,  and  that,  though  the  assertions  of  oppo- 
sition. Improved,  would  demonstrate  them  unfit  for  their  offices,  yet,  until 
the  allegations  were  esfahlished  on  better  groimds  than  declamatory  in- 
vective, the  present  counsellors,  having  the  confidence  of  parliament, 
remained  In  their  off^cea;  and  tlie  public  service  therefore  required,  they 
should  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  discharging  their  duties.  The 
minority  appeared  not  to  have  meant  any  ol)jection  to  the  vote  of  credit, 
since,  notwithstanding  the  eloquence  exerted  on  the  subject,  they  suf- 
fered it  to  pass  without  a  division. 

*  fece  Burnet's  History  o  his  own  limes. 


1778.— Chap.  XX.  UEIGN  OF  GEOKGE  III.  479 

[Prorogation  of  parliament.     Dignified  speech  of  the  king.] 

Tlie  charge  of  boundless  expenditure  was  a  frequent  theme  of  animad- 
version during  tlie  session,  and  a  committee  was  proposed  for  inspecting 
the  pubHc  accounts ;  but  the  motion  was  controverted  by  the  supporters 
of  administration,  who  declared,  that  the  prudence  and  economy  of 
ministers  were  so  very  great  and  satisfactory,  that  all  examination  of  ac- 
counts would  be  superfluous.  If  undue  profits  in  some  particular  in- 
stances had  been  obtained  by  contractors,  the  treasury  would  oblige  them 
to  refund  such  sums,  as  soon  as  the  ne^cessary  inquiry  should  be  made. 
The  inspection  might  be  productive  of  great  mischief,  by  disseminating 
ill-founded  jealousies  and  suspicions  among  the  people.  Although  this 
reasoning,  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  investigate  the  management  of  pe- 
cuniary stewards,  because  they  themselves  and  their  connexions  asserted 
that  they  were  prudent  and  economical,  may  not  convince  an  impartial 
reader,  yet  it  convinced  the  majority  in  the  house  of  commons,  and  the 
desired  inquiry  was  prevented. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  parliament  was  prorogued.  His  majesty  in  his 
speech  on  this  occasion,  after  returning  thanks  to  parliament  for  their 
wise  deliberations  and  vigorous  efforts,  expressed  himself  respecting  the 
interference  of  France,  with  a  dignity  and  magnanimity  worthy  of  the 
first  personage  in  the  first  nation  of  the  universe.  He  spoke  the  me- 
rited resentment  of  conscious  justice,  supported  by  conscious  power. 
"  My  desire  (said  our  king)  to  preserve  the  tranquillity  of  Europe,  has 
been  uniform  and  sincere  ;  I  reflect  with  great  satisfaction,  that  I  have 
made  the  faith  of  treaties,  and  the  law  of  nations,  the  rule  of  my  conduct; 
and  that  it  has  been  my  constant  care  to  give  no  just  cause  of  offence  to 
any  foreign  power;  let  that  power,  by  whom  this  tranquillity  shall  be  dis- 
turbed, answer  to  their  subjects,  and  to  the  world,  for  all  the  fatal  con- 
sequences of  war:  the  vigour  and  firmness  of  my  parliament,  have  ena- 
bled me  to  be  prepared  for  such  events  and  emergencies  as  may  happen; 
and  I  trust  that  the  experienced  valour  and  discipline  of  my  fleets  and 
armies,  and  the  loyal  and  united  ardour  of  the  nation,  armed  and  anima- 
ted in  the  defence  of  every  thing  that  is  dear  to  them,  will  be  able,  under 
the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  to  defeat  all  the  enterprises  which 
the  enemies  of  my  crown  may  presume  to  undertake,  and  convince  them 
how  dangerous  it  is  to  provoke  the  spirit  and  strength  of  Great  Britain." 


480  HISTORY  OF  THB  t'liir.  XXI.-irr3. 


CHAP.  XXI. 


Campaiii^n  opens  in  America- — Operations  by  detachments  from  p^eneral  Howe's 
army. —  Howe  resji^ns  the  command — ft'Stival  in  honour  of  him,  under  the  name 
of  -Nliscliienza — departs  for  Europe — and  is  succeeded  by  sir  Henry  Clinton. — 
Arrival  of  commissioners  from  Britain. — The  Americans  refuse  to  treat,  unless 
as  an  independent  nation. — Evacuation  of  I'hiladelphia — and  march  through 
the  Jerseys, — Battle  of  Freehold  court-house — the  Britisii  army  is  successful — 
and  arrives  at  New-York. — D'Estaing- arrives  witii  a  French  fleet — maritime 
operations. — Attempts  upon  Hliode  Island. — Partial  and  detached  expeditions. 
— D'Estaing'  departs  for  the  West-Indies. — Farther  proceedings  of  the  commis- 
sioners— issue  a  proclamation  without  effect — return  to  England. — Congress 
pui)lish  a  counter  manifesto. — Hostilities  in  Europe. — Admiral  Keppel  takes  the 
command  ol'the  channel  fleet — Capture  of  the  l.icorne  Fiencii  fiigate — of  the 
Pallas. — Keppel  returns  to  Portsmoutii  for  a  re-enforcement — sails  in  pursuit 
of  the  enemy — descries  the  French  fleet  ofl'Ushant. — Battle  of  the27ih  of  July 
indecisive. — The  French  fleet  retires  during  the  night. — Apprehensive  of  a  lee 
shore,  Keppel  forbears  pursuit  — Captures  by  frigates  and  privateers. — Balance 
greatly  favourable  to  England. — Depredations  by  Paul  Jones — plunders  the 
scat  of  lord  Selkirk. — Crimination  and  recrimination  by  Keppel  and  Palliser — 
are  respectively  tried  and  acquitted. 


From  political  proceedingjs  we  now  return  to  military  transactions. 
The  hostile  armies  at  Philadelphia  and  Valley  Forge  passed  the  severity 
of  the  winter  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  in  great  tranquillity. 
Spring  arrived,  and  the  commander  in  chief  continued  to  repose  himself 
at  Philadelphia  ;  he,  however,  sent  out  several  occasional  detachments, 
which  displayed  British  intrepidity  and  skill  in  desultory  operations, 
without  any  material  result.  In  the  heginning  of  March,  colonel  Maw- 
hood  was  sent  with  the  27th  and  46th  regiments,  and  the  New-Jersey 
volunteers,  to  make  a  descent  on  the  coast  of  Jersey,  to  procure  forage, 
and  assist  the  royalists,  who  were  severely  oppressed  by  Livingston,  the 
American  governor.  Various  creeks  communicate  with  the  Delaware 
on  the  Jersey  side;  over  the  Allewas,  one  of  these,  there  were  three 
bridges;  Thompson's  farthest  up,  St.  Quinton's  in  the  middle,  and  Han- 
cock's next  the  river.  At  the  two  last  the  provincials  determined  to 
make  a  .stand.  Mawhood  having  pretended  to  retreat,  enticed  the  Ame- 
ricans to  cross  St.  Quinton's  bridge,  and  fall  into  an  ambuscade  which 
he  had  previously  formed;  the  enemy  being  surrounded,  most  of  them 
were  either  killed,  taken  prisoners,  or  drowned.  Major  Simcoe,  being 
employed  to  attack  the  party  posted  at  Hancock's  bridge,  crossed  the 
creek  in  boats  by  night  with  a  party  of  soldiers;  assailed,  surprised,  and 
dispersed  the  Americans;  and  secured  a  passage  for  the  whole  British 
detachment:  colonel  Mawhood  having  completed  his  forage,  returned  to 
Philadelphia.  In  the  beginning  of  May,  an  American  brigade,  com- 
manded by  general  Lacy  of  the  Pennsylvania  militia,  being  posted  at  the 
Crooked-billet,  on  one  of  the  chief  roads  between  the  country  and  Phila- 
delphia, obstructed  the  approaches  of  farmers  with  provisions  for  the  city. 


1778,— Chap.  XXI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  43  j 

[Resignation  of  general  Howe.] 

That  enterprising  and  intelligent  officer,  major  Sinicoe,  having  perceived 
this  position  and  discovered  its  object,  proposed  to  march  round  with  the 
queen's  rangers,  so  as  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  while  another  party 
should  lie  in  ambuscade  to  intercept  their  retreat  to  Washington's  army. 
The  scheiTie  being  approved,  colonel  Abercrombie  was  appointed  to 
command  the  ambuscade,  and  to  lie  in  wait  till  he  should  hear  the  firing 
of  Simcoe's  corps.     On  the  30th  of  May,  major  Simcoe  set  oft' with  his 
detachment  by  the  projected  route,  and  afterwards  Abercrombie  departed 
with  about  four  hundred  light  infantry,  a  large  party  of  light  dragoons, 
and  horses,  for  the  sake  of  greater  expedition,  to  mount  his  foot  soldiers. 
The  co\oi^e\  could  not  reach  the  place  of  his  destination  at  the  appointed 
time  during  the  night;  eager,  however,  to  support  major  Simcoe,  he  sent 
forward  his  cavalry  and  light  infantry.   The  commander  of  the  advanced 
corps  having  proceeded  as  far  as  Lacy's  out|)ost,  was  seen  and  fired  at 
by  the  enemy's  sentinel,  but  did  not  retire.     The  American  commander 
concluding  a  stronger  force  to  be  at  hand,  immediately  filed  up  the  coun- 
try, and,  by  abandoning  his  baggage,  escaped  the  pursuit.    The  British 
troops  having  dislodged  the||)rovincials,  returned  with  the  captured  bag- 
gage to  Philadelphia;  and,  l»y  the  success  of  this  excursion,  greatly  facili- 
tated the  conveyance  of  provisions  to  the  British  army.     An  expedition 
being  sent  under  majors  Maitland  and  Simcoe,  destroyed  a  great  number 
of  American  vessels,  that  had  escaped  the  preceding  campaign  at  the 
capture    of  the  forts  on   the   Delaware.     These  desultory  enterprises 
proved  that  British  courage  and  conduct  by  land  and  water  were  equal 
to  the  efforts  of  former  titnes,  however  little  they  conduced  to  the  pro- 
motion of  British  interest. 

For  several  months,  sir  William  Howe  had  resolved  to  resign  his 
command,  and  intimated  his  intention  to  lord  George  Germaine.  His 
alleged  ground  for  desiring  to  be  recalled  was,  that  he  had  not  received 
tiie  necessary  confidence  and  support  from  administration.  Ministers 
expressed  the  utmost  surprise  at  his  complaint,  the  grounds  of  which 
they  affirmed  were  fully  confuted  by  the  written  authority  with  which  he 
was  intrusted,  and  the  force  with  which  he  was  furnished.  The  requested 
permission,  however,  was  granted,  and  the  general  accordingly  prepared 
to  depart  for  Europe. 

The  easy  and  agreeable  manners  and  indulgent  conduct  of  general 
Howe,  had  gained  the  aflection  of  many  of  his  otficers.  Those  viewing 
his  exploits  and  services  through  the  partial  medium  of  attachment,  attri- 
buted to  them  a  merit  and  efficacy  greater  tlian  that  which  has  been  al- 
lowed them  by  the  rigorous  scrutiny  of  impartial  judgment.  As  a  testi- 
mony of  the  high  estimation  in  which  they  held  their  general,  some  of 
his  officers  gave  in  honour  of  him,  M-hen  about  to  resign  his  command,  a 
festival,  which  they  denominated  a  Mischienza.  The  exhibition,  indeed, 
was  of  a  miscellaneous  nature,  and  partook  partly  of  the  nature  of  Ro- 
man spectacles  on  the  return  of  victorious  generals  to  their  grateful 
country;  the  general  marched  through  the  army  between  two  triumphal 
arches.  His  train  of  attendants,  however,  seven  silken  knights  of  the 
blended  rose,  seven  silken  knights  of  the  burning  mountain,  and  fourteen 
damsels  representing  the  paragons  of  knight  errantry,  called  before  the 
imagination  the  fabulous  glory  of  chivalrous  ages.  A  tilt  and  tourna- 
ment, or  mock  represeatcdion  of  warlike  uc.hieveme7ils,  made  a  part  of  the 
entertainment.  On  the  top  of  each  triumphal  arch  was  placed  a  figure 
Vol.  VH.— 61 


432  mSTOR\   oi-    IHK  f'HAP.  \XI.— 1778. 

[Arrival  oVilic  British  commissioners.     Answer  of  congress]" 

of  Fame,  oniamenle<l  wilh  stars,  blowing  from  her  trumpet,  ia  letters  of 
light,  Tt9  lam-iers  sonl  immortels.'^  AVhile  the  miiUitiide  were  dazzled 
by  the  splendour  of  this  magnifjcent  spectacle,  some  of  the  bystanders-, 
whose  fancies  had  irot  been  siihlimed  into  the  regions  of  romance,  but 
suffered  their  menwries  full\  dlect,  and  their  judgments  to  appie- 

ciate,  actual  performance,  woiuicrud  where,  when,  and  how  these  ihimioi-- 
tal  laurels  had  been  earned.  Soon  after  this  signal  testimony  of  esteem 
and  admiration  had  been  adduced  in  lavourof  liis  exploits  as  commander 
in  chief,  sir  William  IIowo  returned  to  Europe,  and  the  office  which  he 
left  was  conferred  on  sir  llenry  Clinton. 

The  British  commissioners  now  arrived  with  conciliatory  propositions. 
To  the  success  of  their  mission,  many  obstacles  were  foreseen  ;  but 
some  had  lately  occurred  which  had  not  been  expected.     Before  the  com- 
pletion of  the  treaty  between  France  and  the  Americans,  the  court  of 
Versailles  stated  a  difficulty,  without  the  removal  of  which  tliey  said  they 
could  not  accede  to  an  alliance.     Were  Britain  and  America  to.be  recon- 
ciled,  on  terms  by  which  the  latter  .-ilifjuld  renounce  her  independence, 
the  engagements  which  she  might  h.ave  coafcacted  would  be  no  longer 
valid.     To  destroy  this  ground  ofobjection^he  congress,  in  November 
1777,  entered  into  a  resohition,  declaring,  that  they'would  reject  all  pro- 
posals for  a  treaty  with  the  king  of  Great  JJritain  which  should  be  incon- 
sistent with  the  independence  of  the  X'nited  States,  or  with  such  alliances 
as  might  be  formed  under  their  authority.     In  the  following  April,  having 
seen  copies  of  the  conciliatory  bills,  they,  on  the  22d  of  that  mon-h,  pass- 
ed resolutions,  expressing  reprobation  of  the  conduct  of  the  British  par- 
liament, as  persevering  in  the  same  coercive  plans,  but  by  indirect  and, 
insidious  means  ;  and  declaring  their  contempt  of  the  artifices  and  dis- 
simulation by  which  England   endeavoured  to  put  them  in  execution. 
The  general  spirit  of  their  proceedings  was  continuance  in  hostility  to 
Britain,  and  amity  to  France  ;  and  the  tendencyof  their  acts  was  to  pro- 
mote the  same  sentiments  among  the  people.     On  the  second  of  May, 
Sdas  Dean  arrived  at  York  Town  with  copies  of  the  treaties  concluded 
between  France  and  America  at  Paris.     The  congress  immediately  pub- 
lished a  gazette,  which,  besides  a  summary  of  the  whole,  exhibited  the 
most  flattering  articles,  accompanied  by  comments,  in  whicJi  they  extol- 
led to  the  people  the  extraordinary  equity,  generosity,  and  unparalleled 
honour  of  the  French  king.  They  appeared  to  consider  Spain  as  already 
a  party  in  the  confederacy  ?  the  other  great  powers  of  Europt  as  favour- 
able to  America,  and  desiring  the  hiimiliution  of  England.     In  such  a 
slate  of  American  enmity  to  Great  Britain,  and  exulting  hopes  of  suc- 
cess, the  commissioners  arrived  with  their  pacificatory  proposals.     Ott'< 
the  nth  of  .Tune,  thoy  applied  for  a  passport  to  theirsccretary,  doctor  Fer- 
gusson,  who,  they  intended,  should  convey  their  propositions  to  the  con- 
gress, and  conduct  the  n''gofiation  with  that  body.     General  Washington 
refused  a  passport,  until  he  should  con.sult  die, congress;  whereupon  the 
commissioners  forwarded  their  pajjers  by  the  ordinary  military  posts,  and 
they  reached  the  congress. on  the   1  Ith  of  June.     On  the  17th,  a  brief, 
but  decisive  answer  was  returned  by  its -president,  rrianifesting  a  deter- 
mination to  maintain  their  independence,  to  adhere  to  the  engagements 
with  France,  which  as  an  independent  nation  they  had  contracted,  and 

"  Annual  Register,  1778. 


ITT*.— Chap.  XXI.  HKfRN  bP  (.'F.OU(;E  HI.  483 

[Evacuation  oK  Pliiladelpliiai. '   March  tlnongh  (he  lersejs.] 

to  reject  the  present  proposition,  which  did  not  admit  that  independonre. 
Reprobating  tlic  war  as  unjust  in  principle  and  barbarous  in  conduct, 
they  notwitlistanding  declared  their  wilHngtiGss  to  enter,  as  an  independ- 
ent state,  into  any  negotiation  consistent  \vith  their  present  treaties.*  In 
a  paper  of  the  same  date,-  the'congress  issued'its  approbation  of  general 
Washington's  refusal  of  a  passport  to  the  British  secretary. 

This  answer  plainly  showed,  that  all  attempts*to  conciliate  America  on 
the  principles  and  plan  proposed  by  parliament  %ould  be  ineffectual,  and 
proved  that  Britain  either  should  have  persisted  in  coercion,  or  offered 
terms  more  suitable  to  the  present  state  of  sentiments  and  affairs.  The 
offer,  indeed,  by  flattering  the  pride,  encouraged  the  .perseverance  of  the 
American  republicans  ;  it  continncd  the  authority  6f  the  congress,  and 
proved  to  Britain,  that  the  only  alternative  was  entire  conquest,  or  the  ac- 
knowledgment (really  at  least,  if  not  verbally)  that  they  were  no  longer 
subject  to  our  power  ;  it  held  out  to  the  loyalists  the  discomfitiu'e  of  their 
party,  the  proscription  of  their  property,  and  exile  from  their  native  coim- 
try ;  and  dispirited  the  officers  and  soldiers  themselves,  by  deeply  im- 
pressing them  with  an  idea,  that  the  service  in  which  they  were  employ- 
ed v/as  considered  as  hopeless. 

A  plan  of  operations  had  been  formed  for  the  campaign,  should  the 
proposed  treaty  fail.  The  first  movement  enjoined  by  the  British  minis- 
ters through  lord  Carlisle  to  the  commander  in  chief  was  the  evacuation 
of  Philadelphia.  The  abandonment  of  the  chief  city  in  America,  and  the 
principal  object  of  so  powerful  an  army  dining  the  whole  campaign,  was 
by  no  means  calculated  to  dishearten  our  enemies,  or  the  Americans,  or 
to  encourage  tlie  loyalists  ;  nevertheless  there  existed  circumstances 
which  rendered  such  a  measure  expedient.  We  were  no  lon";er  at  war 
agamst  the  revqlted  colonies  alone,  but  were  contending  with  the  chief 
maritime  power  of  tlic  world  after  bur  own.  France  had  sent  out  from 
Toulon  a  great  naval  armament,, of* which  the  destination  might  either  be 
America  or  the  West  Indies;  if  the  former,  the  fleet  under  lord  Howe, 
very  inferior  in  force,  might  be  blocked  up  within  the  long  and  winding 
river  of  Delaware,  that  abounded  in  shoals,  and  other  impediments  to  na- 
vigation ;  besides,  the  army  ought  to  occupy  a  station  from  which  re-en- 
forcements might  be  most  easily  and  expeditiously  sent  wherever  they 
were  required.  For  this  purpose  Philadelphia,  so  distant  from  the  sea, 
was  totally  unfit ;  by  returning  to  New-York,  they  could  despatch  troops 
to  any  other  situation  that  might  most  advantageously  em[)loy  their  ex- 
ertions :  for  these  reasons,  government  determined  to  direct  the  evacua- 
tion of  Phdadelphia.    <>^* 

On  the  IStls  of  Jutie,  the  army  pas.scd  the"  Delaware,  and  the  same 
day  encamped  on  the"  Jersey  shore.  The  country  through  which  they 
had  to  march,  was  strong,  and  intersected  by  defiles  ;  lest  these  being 
occupied  should  obstru'ct  his  progress,  sir  Henry  Clinlon  thought  it  ne- 
cessary to  carry  along  with  him  a  large  supply  of  provisions,  which,  to- 
gether with  the  baggage,  greatly  retarded  the  progress  of  the  army.  The 
excessive  heat  of  the  weather,  the  closeness  of  the  roads  through  the 
woods,  the  constant  labour  of  constructing  or  repairing  bridges  in  a  coun- 
try abounding  in  creeks,  brooks,  and  marshes,  \yere  all  severely  felt  by 

•  See  Mr.  President  Henry  Lawrence's  Answer  to  the  British  coramissionerB, 
dated  June  17tli,  1*78,  in  the  collection  of  state  papers  for  that  year. 


484  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXI.—irrS. 

[Battle  of  Monmouth.    Arrival  of  the  French  fleet.] 

the  British  forces.  Washington,  having  discovered  the  design  of  Clin- 
ton, detached  general  Maxwell  to  obstruct  a  retreat,  until  he  himself 
should  cross  the  American  army.  For  several  days  the  provincials  were 
not  able  materially  to  interrupt  the  British  army  ;  our  light  troops  ex- 
pelled them  from  the  defiles,  and  the  only  obstructions  arose  from  the 
bridges  being  destroyed.  The  army  now  came  to  a  place  where  the 
road  was  divided  into  t  we  branches :  that  to  the  left  was  the  shortest, 
but  the  river  Rariton  intqjvencd  ;  the  passage  of  which,  in  the  face  of  an 
enemy  superior  in  number,  might  be  botii  difficult  and  dangerous  ;  more 
especially  as  intelligence  was  received,  that  Gates  was  advancing  from 
the  nortli,  to  form  a  junction  with  Washington  near  that  river.  Sir  Hen- 
ry Clinton  accordingly  took  the  most  circuitous  route,  nearer  to  the  coast. 
Having  proceeded  some  miles, he  encamped  on  the  27th  on  a  high  ground 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Freehold  court-hoiise.  Washington  had  before 
kept  to  the  left,  and  being  now  re-enforced,  posted  himself  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  British  rear.  Clinton  having  sent  forward  the  baggage  un- 
der Knyphausen  with  the  first  division  of  the  army,  he  himself  with  the 
last  waited  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  on  the  2Sth  of  June  was  in- 
formed that  large  bodies  of  tlie  provincials  were  marching  on  both  his 
flanks,  while  a  considerable  division  followed  hinjself.  Suspecting  that 
the  object  of  the  Americans  on  his  flanks  was  to  overtake  Knyphausen, 
who  was  now  retarded  by  defiles,  he  determined  to  attack  the  provincials 
who  hovered  on  Ids  rear,  that  they  might  recall  their  detac  hments  from 
annoying  Knyphausen.  Though  he  was  by  this  time,  in  prosecution  of 
his  march,  descended  into  a  plain,  and  the  enemy  had  occupied  the  emi- 
nence which  he  had  just  left,  he  attacked  them,  compelled  them  to  fly, 
and  would  have  destroyed  the  whole  front  division,  had  not  Washington, 
by  occupying  a  defile  with  his  main  body,  repressed  the  pursuit.  The 
light  troops  who  had  been  sent  forward  to  attack  Knyphausen,  were  re- 
pulsed by  tliat  general,  and  recalled,  to  join  and  support  the  main  army. 
The  loss  of  the  British  that  day,  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  amount- 
ed to  throe  hundred  and  fifty  eight;  that  of  the  Americans,  to  three  hundred 
and^sixty-one.  Little  as  was  the  difi'erence  in  point  of  numbers,  it  appears, 
from  hi.«5  subsequent  conduct,  that  general  Washington  thought  himself 
worsted,  as  he  did  not  alterwards  attempt  to  disturb  the  ]>ritish  retreat,  but 
marched  away  to  the  left  towards  the  North  river.  The  circumstances 
of  the  engagement  productul  a  quarrel  between  Lee  and  V\'ashington. 
According  to  Washington,  Lee,  who  commanded  the  advanced  corps, 
had  disobeyed  orders,  in  not  attacking  the  enemy  when  they  were  on  the 
plain,  and  he  on  the  d<!clivity  :  and  farther  charged  him  with  want  either 
of  conduct  or  courage  in  rftreatin-^  before  the  British,  though  he  was  so 
advantageously  posted.  Lee  \vrole  a  very  angry  letter  ;  Washington  an- 
swered ;  Lee  replied  still  more  violently:  a  court-martial  was  demand- 
ed and  ordered  ;  the  charges  were,  disrespect  to  tlie  general,  and  misbe- 
haviour in  an  unnecessary  and  sliamefut  retreat.  He  was  suspended 
from  his  command  for  twelve  months.  Meanwhile  the  British  army  ar- 
rived in  safety  at  Sandy  Hook,  where  ihey  found  lord  Howe  landed  the 
preceding  day  :  on  the  5th  of  July  the  army  embarking  came  to  New- 
York  the  same  night. 

The  count  D'Kstaing  sailed  from  Toulon  the  13th  of  April,  with 
twelve  ships  of  the  lino  and  six  frigates,  carrying  a  considerable  number 
of  troopa  oa  board  ;  but  from  adverse  winds,  did  not  pass  the  straits  of 


irrs.-cuAP.  XXI.  reign  of  oEonoE  iii.  485 

[Maritime  operations.] 

Gibraltar  till  the  15th  of  May.     Tho  British  ministry,  who  were  not  un- 
apprized  of  this  equipment,  got  ready  afleet  of  an  equal  number  of  ships, 
the  command  of  which  was  given  to  vice-admiral  Byron.     The  arma- 
ment left  Portsmouth  on  the  20th  of  May,  and  proceeding  to  Plymouth, 
finally  sailed  from  thence  on  the  9th  of  June,  after  such  advices  had  been 
received  as  no  longer  left  it  doubtful  that  the  Toulon  squadron  was  bound 
to  North  America.     D'Estaing  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Virginia  on  the 
6th  of  July,  but  hearing  of  the  evacuation  of  Philadelphia,  sailed  to  the 
northward ;  and  on  the  11th  of  July,  in  the  evening,  came  to  an  anchor 
ofTNew-York,  with  an  apparent  design  of  attemptmg  to  enter  the  harbour. 
The  naval  force  under  lord  Howe  consisted  only  of  six  ships  of  the  line, 
and  four  of  fifty  guns,  with  a  proportional  number  of  frigates  and  smaller 
vessels.     Intelligence  of  the  .count  D'Estaing's  approach  having  been 
received  some  days  before  he  came  in  sight,  a  masterly  disposition  of 
their  force  for  the  defence  of  the  harbour  was  made,  under  the  itnmedi- 
ate  direction  of  the  admiral,  whose  exertions  were  nobly  seconded  by  the 
universal  ardour  which  prevailed,  not  only  in  the  navy,  army,  and  trans- 
port service,  but  among  all  ranks  and  classes  of  people  at  New-York. 
.Some  time  after  D'Estaing's  arrival,  the  wind  was  unfavourable  to  the 
execution  of  his  supposed  intention  ;  but  on  the  22d  of  July  it  changed 
to  the  eastward,  and  the  French  fieet  was  seen  weighing  anchor.     The 
long  meditated  attack,  it  was  now  supposed,  would  instantly  commence  ; 
and  so  confident  were  all  it  would  prove  abortive,  that  the  critical  mo- 
ment which  was  to  decide,  not  only  the  fate  of  the  British  fleet  but  of  the 
army,  was  expected  with  impatience.     But  D'Estaing,  to  their  great  dis- 
appointment, as  soon  as  his  ships  had  weighed  anchor,  instead  of  attempt- 
ing to  enter  the  harbour,   made  sail  to  the  soutliward.     He  afterwards 
changed  his  course  and  steered  directly  to  Pthode  Island,  before  which 
he  arrived  on  the  29th  of  July.     Lord  Howe  being  informed  of  the  ene- 
my's station,  determined  to  attempt  the  preservation  of  the  island  ;  but, 
as  he  was  inferior  in  number,  not  to  venture  an  engagement,  without  some 
considerable  advantage,  which  might  counterbalance  their  superiority. 
For  several  months  the  expulsion  of  the  British  troops  from  Rhode  Isl- 
and, had  been  in  contemplation  of  the  provincials.     In  spring,  general 
Sullivan  was  sent  to  take  the  command  in  its  neighbourhood,  and  made 
preparation  for  invading  this  province.      To  these  dispositions,  major- 
general  Pigot,  who  commanded  at  Rhode  Island,   was  not  inattentive; 
he  readily  perceived  their  object;  and,  in  order  to  retard  them,  sent  two 
detachments  under  lieutenant-colonel  Campbell  and  major  Eyre,  who 
destroyed  or  took  the  vessels,  naval  stores,  and  ordnance,  which  were 
prepared  for  the  invasion,  and  burnt  their  ship  timber  and  dockyards. 
From  these  losses,  the  provincials  were  not  in  readiness  forco-operation, 
when  D'Estaing  arrived  oft' Rhode-Island.     Lord  Howe,  after  being  de- 
tained four  days  by  contrary  winds,  put  to  sea  on  the  6th  of  August  with 
the  British  fleet,  which  was  now  increased  to  eight  ships  of  the  line,  five 
of  fifty  guns,  two  of  forty-four  guns,  and  four  frigates,  with  three  fire- 
ships,  two  bombs,  and  a  number  of  smaller  vessels.     Justly  deeming 
the  weather-gage  too  great  an  advantage  to  be  added  to  the  superior 
force  of  the  enemy,  the  British  admiral  skilfully  and  ably  contended   for 
that  important  object,  while  D'Estaing  was  no  less  anxious  to  preserve  it 
in  his  own  favour.     The  contest  of  seamanship  prevented  an  engage- 
ment on  that  day  ;  but  the  wind  on  the  following  day,  still  continuing  ad- 


48G  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXL— 1778. 

[Naval  engagements.    Attempt  on  Rhode  Island.] 

verse  to  Ihe  design  of  the  British  admiral,  he  determined  to  make  the  best 
ol  the  present  circumstances,  and  to  engage  the  enemy  ;  forming  the 
line  in  such  a  manner^  as  to  be  joined  by  three  fire-ships  which  were  un- 
der the  tow  of  as  many  frigates.  When  the  fleets  were  about  to  engage, 
a  strong  gale  of  wind  increased  to  a  tremendous  storm,  and  continuing 
for  near  two  days,  by  separating  the  fleets,  not  only  prevented  immediate 
battle,  but  so  dispersed  and  damaged  the  vessels  of  both  parties,  as  to 
render  an  engagement  for  some  time  impracticable.  The  accidental 
meeting  of  single  ships-  after  the  tempest,  j)roduced  conflicts  which  af- 
forded new  specimens  of  British  valour  o.nd  nautical  skill.  Captain 
Dawson,  of  the  Pi.enown  of  fifty  guns,  on  tlie  evening  of  the  13th,  fell  in 
with  the  French  admiral's  ship,  the  Languedoc  of  eighty-four,  and  not- 
withstanding the  great  difference  of  metal,*  attacked  her  with  evident  ad- 
vantage until  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  contest.  The  next  morning  the 
gallant  Dawson  was  preparing  to  renew  the  conflict,  when  the  appear- 
ance of  six  more  of  the  enemy's  ships  compelled  him  to  retire.  The 
same  evening,  captain  Ilotham,  with  the  Preston  of  fifty  guns,  attacked 
the  Tenant,  a  French  ship  of  eighty  guns,  with  similar  vigour  and  suc- 
cess;  being  also  the  next  morning  obhged  to  desist,  by  tlic  arrival  of 
several  other  ships.  On  the  1 6tli  of  August,  captain  Raynor,  of  tlie  Isis, 
also  of  fifty  guns,  attacked  the  Caesar  of  seventy-four,  and  after  an  en- 
gagement for  an  liour  and  a  half,  forced  her  to  retreat ;  but  being  her- 
self damaged  in  her  rigging,  was  inoapablo  of  pursuit.  The  loss  of  the 
English  ship  consisted  of  one  killed  and  fifteen  wounded  ;  of  the  enemy 
fifty  killed  and  wounded.  The  French  ship  was,  besides,  so  much  injur- 
ed in  her  hull,  that  she  was  compelled  to  go  into  Boston  to  refit.  No 
portion  of  the  history  of  war  can  the  patriotic  author  write,  or  the  patri- 
otic reader  peruse,  with  more  exulting  pleasure,  than  accounts  of  actions 
which  manifest  liritish  bravery  and  conduct  with  inferior  force  triumph- 
ant on  our  peculiar  clement.  The  disabled  ships  of  Britain  went  to  New 
York  to  relit,  while  the  French  admiral,  with  the  same  intent,  betook 
himself  to  Boston.  When  lord  Howe's  squadron  was  repaired,  being 
now  increased  by  the  arrival  of  the  Monmouth,  one  of  ad:riiral  Byron's 
fleet,  he,  on  the  30th  of  August,  sailed  to  the  bay  of  Boston,  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy  :  but  found,  their  fleet  so  well  secured  by  their  position,  under 
cover  of  land*  batteries,  that  he  thought  it  prud(uit  to  retire.  Jloturniugto 
New-York,  he  found  more  ships  of  JJyron's  squadron  arrived,  and  the  ad- 
miral himself  daily  expected.  The  naval  force  of  England,  on  the  admi- 
ral's station,  being  now  <mdouhi.(!dly  superior  to  that  of  the  enemy,  lord 
I  [owe,  having  previously  obtained  leave  to  return  to  England^  on  account 
of  his  health,  resigned  the  command  to  admiral  (iiunbier,  and  dejt.lrted 
for  Europe. 

Tin*  Anu'ricans  Irusdng  f.o  the  co-operation  of  the  French  fleof,  had 
sent  au  army  of  ten  thousand  nien.  under  gcnei-al  Sulliv^an  to  Rhode 
Inland,  and  commenced  their  Operations.  But  the  dispersion  of  the 
French  fleet,  and  its  final  dcpature  for  Boston,  daunted  their  spirits, 
induced  many  to  desert  and  left  the  remainder  inferior  to  Ihe  British 
garri.->oii.  (ieneral  Sullivan  (hereupon  began  hisretreat,  and  departed 
ID  {lie  night  of  the  28th  of  August  several  hours  before  the  British  per- 
ceived tliev  were  gone.  Sii-  Robert  Pigot,  the  English  commander,  fol- 
lowed on  the  2'.Mh,  attacked  the  rear  division,  and  gained  an  advantage; 
but  not  80  decisive  as  to  prevent  the  Americans  froni  continuing  their 
route.     Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  was  hastening  by  sea  to  relieve  Rhode 


1778— (JiiAP.  XXI.  KKIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  487 

[  ['artial  expeditions.     D'  Estaing  sails  for  the  West  Indies.] 

Island,  arrived  one  day  too  late  to  intercept  tlie  retreatin<«;  Americans, 
Allhougli  the  detention  of  sir  Henry  Clinton  probably  saved  Sullivan's 
corps  from  dostructioii/yetthe  luiscaniage  of  the  first  enterprise,  wliich 
thoy  had  undertaken  in  concert  \vith  France,  not  only  disapjjolnted, 
but  offended  the  Americans;  and  though  the  oflicers  and  gentlemen 
endeavoured  to  dissemble  every  appearance  of  displeasure,  the  common- 
all  v,  less  restrained  by  delicacy  and  policy,  gave  loose  to  their  feelings. 
Indeed,  scarcelv  two  nations  could  be  found  in  the  civili/,ed  world, 
whose  manners  could  be  so  reciprocally  repulsive,  as  the  sanctinumioiis 
austeritv  of  the  New-Englanders,  and  the  gay  levity  and  dissipated 
libertinism  of  Frenchmen.     Between  the  seamen  of  both  countries,  out- 
rages and  riots  took  place,  that  were  like  to  have  been  attended  with 
very  serious  conseciuences;  the  leading  men  of  Boston,  however,  exert- 
ed themselves  suc.cessfully  to  ajjpease  the  tumults,  and  to  give  satisfac- 
tion to  their  new  allies.    General  Clinton  having  returned  towards  New- 
York,  concerted  several  expeditions  for  destroying privatceis.     Major- 
general  (Tiey  being  deUiched  to  Bu/./.ard-bay  in  New-England,  landed 
on  the  banks  of  the  Acushimet  river,  and  executed  his  enterprise  with 
such  rapidity,  that  in  less  than  one  day  he  burned  and  destroyed  all  the 
ships  in  the  river,  amo\inting  to  more  than  seventy  sail.     The  next  day 
jfroceedingro  Martha's  Vineyard,  a  fertile  and  rich  island,  he  destroyed 
several  vessels,  and  carrying  oft"  a  valuable  booty  in  provisions,  returned 
to  New-York.     Lord  Cornwallis  soon  afterwaids  undertook  the  direc- 
tion of  an  expedition  to  Little  Egg-harbour,  on  the  coast  of  Jersey,  which 
was  also  a  general  receptacle  for  privateers  :  one  division  of  the  detach- 
ment surprised  and  surrounded  an  American  regiment  of  light  horse, 
during  the  night,  at  Old  Tapan  on  the  North  river;  the  greater  num- 
ber were  killed,  or  taken  prisoners.     Captain  Patrick  Fergusson  under- 
took to  contluct  the  enterprise  to  Little  Egg-harbour,  and  by  combined 
valour,  activity,  and  skill,  surprised  an  American  legion  under  count 
Pulaski.     The  success  of  this  enterprise  depending  on  celerity  of  execu- 
tion, a  great  carnage  unavoidably  took  place.     The  Americans  poured 
out  virulent  invectives  against  what  they  termed  tlie  cruelty  of  the  Bri- 
tish; but  it  does  not  appear  that  any  act  was  committed  inconsistent 
with  the  la\v&  of  war.     This  was  the  last  action  of  any  importance  per- 
formed by  the  British  during  this  campaign  in  N.orth  America.     The 
■weather  was  that  year  extremely  tempestuous  on  the  American  ocean; 
admiral  Byron's  fleet  had,  been  dispersed  and  separated  by  a  storm  on 
its  passage  from  Europe.   .  After  being  refitted  at  New-York,  he  again 
Avent  to  sea  with  a  view  to  block  up  the  French  fleet  in  Boston-bay:  but 
a  second  tempest  drove  him  from  that  station.     The  count  D'Estaing, 
taking  the  opportunity  of  the  British  admiral's  absence,  sailed  to  the 
West  Indies. 

While  these  operations  were  carrying  on  by  land  and  sea,  the  com- 
missioner* continued  in  America,  determined  to  leave  nothing  undone 
that  might  effect  their  purpose.  Although  hopeless  of  success  from  the 
first  answer  of  the  congress,_they  thought  it  necessary  to  reply;  desir- 
ing an  explanation  of  the  sense  in  which  the  term  independence  was  to 
be  understood,  and  copies  of -the  treaties  with  foreign  powers,  wliich  had 
been  referred  to  by  the  congress.  Respecting  the  second  preliminary, 
they  declared  the  proposed  removrd  of  the  troops  inadmissible,  as  a  force 
must  necessarily  be  kept  for  defence  against  the  commdn  enemy,  and 
for  the  protection  of  the  loyalists.  To  this  second  letter  of  the  com- 
missioners no  answer  was  given. 


488  HISTORY  OF  THB  Chap.  XXI.— 17r8. 

[Further  proceedings  of  the  commissioners.] 

Governor  Johnstone  bein;^  individual!  j  acquainted  with  several  ecn- 
tlcmou  ot"  chaiactor  and  influence,  tried  to  obtain  a  personal  intei^view, 
in  hopes  ol"  convincing;  tlieni  that  it  was  the  interest  of  the  colonies  to 
renew  their  amity  with  the  mother  country;  for  that  purpose  he  re- 
(juested  admission  to  several  jjentlemen,  but  a  decided  negative  was  re- 
turned; he  also  wrote  letters  to  ditVerent  individuals,  paragraphs  of  which 
were  construed  into  an  attempt  to  corrupt  the  integrity  of  the  leaders. 
One  of  these  is  addressed  to  general  Reed,  and  the  following  is  the  par- 
agraph tha.  underwent  the  interpretation.  After  an  eloquent  descrip- 
tion of  the  evils  tlowing  from  the  existing  dissensions,  and  the  blessings 
of  reconciliatiim,  the  writer  proceeds:  "Tlie  man  who  can  be  instru- 
mental in  bringing  us  all  to  act  once  more  in  harmony,  and  unite  to- 
gether the  various  powers  which  this  contest  has  drawn  forth,  wUl 
deserve  more  from  the  king  and  people,  from  patriotism,  hr.manity, 
friendship,  and  all  tlie  tender  tics  tliat  are  attected  by  tlie  quarrel, 
than  were  ever  yet  bestowed  on  human  kind."  On  the  16th  of  June  in 
a  private  letter  to  Robert  Morris,  esq.  formerly  his  friend,  he  says, 
"  I  believe  the  men  who  have  conducted  the  afFaiis  of  America  are  in- 
capable of  being  influenced  by  improper  motives;  but  in  all  such  trans- 
actions there  is  risk,  and  I  think  that  whoever  ventures  sh(mld  be  se- 
cured; at  the  same  time  that  honour  and  emolument  shall  naturally 
follow  the  fortune  of  those  who  have  steered  the  vessel  in  the  stornj, 
and  brought  her  safely  to  port.  I  think  that  Wasliington  and  the 
president  have  a  right  to  every  favour  that  grateful  nations  can  bestow, 
if  they  could  once  more  unite  our  interests,  and  spare  the  miseries 
and  devastations  of  war. ''  , 

The  congress  published  the  letters  above  mentioned  by  governor 
Johnstone,  and  attemped  to  construe  them  into  an  endeavour  to  bribe. 
The  letters  themselves  express  no  such  intention;*  they  merely  hold  out 
a  j)rospect  of  honour  and  reward  for  meritorious  conduct.  The  congress, 
that  tliey  might  inflame  the  passions  of  the  people,  issued  a  declaration 
that  it  was  incompatible  with  the  honour  of  congress  to  hold  any  farther 
communication  with  governor  Johnstone.  The  British  commissioners, 
finding  it  was  in  vain  to  hope  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  object, 
now  confined  their  application  to  subordinate  purposes.  One  of  these 
was  concerning  the  captured  armv  of  general  IJurgoyne.  By  one  of  the 
articles  of  capitulation  it  was  stipulated,  that  the  surrendering  army 
should  be  at  liberty  to  transport  itself  to  Great  Britain,  on  condition  of 
not  serving  again  in  America  during  the  war.  Boston,  the  place  from 
wliich  it  was  to  embark,  was  diilicult  of  access  to  transports  at  that 
season  of  the  year,  which  was- the  middle  of  winter;  general  Burgoyne 
applied  for  leave  to  march  the  troops  to  Rliode  Islann,  that  they  ini'dit 
there  embark.  This  retjuest  the  congiess  not  only  refused,  which  was 
merely  the  denial  of  a  solicited  favour,  but  they  declared  a  resolution  of 
violating  a  solemn  comj)act;.  they  resolved  to  prohibit  the  embarkation 
of  the  Saratoga  troops  from  any  port  whatsoever,  until  a  distinct  and 
explicit  ratification  of  the  convention  of  Saratoga  should  be  properly 
noticed  by  the  court  of  Great  Britain  to  congress;  ancj  entered  upon 


•  Mr.  Rclsham  alleges,  that  Mr.  Johnstone  employed  a  Mrs.  Fergusson,  as  tJie 
agent  in  his  propgscd  corruption.  As  he  adduces  no  proofs  to  support  liisasser- 
tion,  although  he  sayt  ihf fact  waM  clcarlij  mca-lained,  an  impartial  historian  cannot 
admit  the  charge  on  no  very  vague  an  evidence. 


J778.— Ciup.  XXr.  REIGN  OF  GEOltGE  III.  4g9 

[They  issue  a  proclamation  and  return  to  England.] 

their  jouriKils  a  resolution  to  tliat  effect.  This  resolution  was  evident- 
ly a  breach  of  the  convention,  as  the  now  desired  ratification  was  no 
part  of  that  trea^.  The  commissioners,  in  a  letter  dated  t!  e  7th  of 
August,  remonstrated  araiust  the  detention  of  the  troops,  contrary  to 
tlic  faith  of  treaties.  Witliout  answering  this  remonstrance,  they  enttiuxl 
into  a  charge  against  governor  Johnstone,  with  whom  thej  declared  they 
could  hold  no  communication.  Governor  Johnstone,  to  remove  tlie  pre- 
tended bar  to  intercourse,  withdrew  himself  from  the  commission;  and,  in 
the  public  act  by  wlurh  he  testified  this  determination,  he  very  severely 
repreliended  the  conduct  of  the  congress,  and  exposed  the  sliallow  pre- 
text by  which  they  endeavoured  to  cover  their  own  breach  of  faith.  These 
assertions  respecting  him,  indeed,  were  never  proved;  and  if  they  had 
been  established,  their  authentication  could  not  have  justified  the  con- 
duct of  the  Americans  .  even  if  Mr.  Johnstone  had  attempted  to  bribe, 
the  endeavour  would  not  have  justified  a  breach  of  contract  with  others 
not  concerned  in  that  endeavour.  Governor  Johnstone  set  off  for  Eu- 
rope, leaving  an  able  vindication  of  his  conduct,  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  his  friend  doctor  Adam  Fergusson.  Meanwhile  the  remaining  com- 
missioners attempted  by  new  arguments  to  show  the  congress  the  real 
views  of  France,  and  how  little  advantage  they  could  reasonably  expect 
from  this  connexion:  tliey  also  sent  again  their  former  remonstrance, 
without  the  signature  of  governor  Johnstone;  and  offered  to  ratify,  in 
the  king's  name,  all  the  conditions  of  the  Saratoga  convention,  though 
such  ratification  w^as  no  part  of  its  tenns;  but  the  congress  persevered 
in  the  breach  of  faith.  The  troops  which  had  surrendered  at  Saratoga, 
having  trusted  to  a  convention  stipulating  their  free  return  to  Gi  eat 
Britain,  Avere  detained  in  captivity  by  the  American  congress  violating 
a  contract. 

The  commissioners  sent  no  more  letters  to  the  corngress:  but  published, 
on  the  3d  of  October,  a  manifesto  and  proclamation,  addressed  to  the 
members  of  the  congress,  and  the  members  of  the  geneial  assemblies  or 
conventions  of  the  several  colonies.  In  this  paper,  they  recapitulated  the 
steps  which  they  had  taken  for  executing  the  objects  of  their  commission; 
they  enumerated  their  repeated  endeavours  to  restore  tranquillity  and 
happiness  to  America;  and  stated  the  extent  and  beneficial  tendency  of 
the  terms  which  they  were  empowered  to  offer:  notwithstanding  the'ob- 
structions  they  had  encountered,  they  still  declared  their  readiness  to 
proceed  in  the  execution  of  the  powers  contained  in  their  commission, 
and  to  treat  not  only  with  deputies  from  all  the  colonies  conjunctly,  but 
with  any  provincial  assembly  or  convention  individually,  at  any  time 
within  the  space  of  forty  days  from  the  date  of  their  manifesto;  next 
addressing  tliemselves  to  all  persons,  ecclesiastical,  military,  civil,  or 
private,  and  suggesting  to  the  consideration  of  each  of  these  classes, 
such  motives  as  might  be  supposed  to  have  the  greatest  iufluence,  they 
adjured  them  not  to  let  pass  so  favourable  ah  opportunity  of  securing 
tlieir  liberties,  future  prosperity,  and  happiness,  upon  a  permanent  foun- 
dation: lastly,  they  appealed  to  the  Americans  collectively,  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms:  "  It  will  now  become  the  colonies  in  general  to  call  to 
mind  their  own  solemn  appeals  to  heaven  in  th«f  beginning  of  this  con- 
test, that  they  took  arms  only  for  the  redress  of  grievances;  and  that  it 
was  their  wish,  as  well  as  their  interest,  to  remain  for  ever  connected 
with  Great  Britain.  We  again  ask  them,  w^hether  all  their  giievances, 
real  or  supposed,  have  not  been  amply  and  fully  redressed.''  and.  we  in 

Vol.  VII.— 62 


490  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXI— 1778. 

[Admiral  Keppel  takes  command  of  the  channel  fleet.] 

sist  that  the  otTers  we  have  made,  leave  nothing  to  banished,  in  point  of 
either  itnmediate  liberty  or  permanent  security.''  The  manifesto  ob- 
served, that  the  policy  as  well  as  the  benevolence  of  Great  Britain 
checked  the  extremes  of  war,  when  they  tended  to  distress  a  people  who 
were  still  considered  as  our  fellow-suhjects,  and  to  desolate  a  country 
which  was  shortly  to  become  again  a  source  of  mutual  advantage.  But 
when  that  country  professed  the  unnatural  design,  not  only  of  estranging 
her  interests  from  ours,  but  of  mortgaging  herself  and  her  resources  to 
our  enemies,  the  whole  contest  was  cliannnd,  find  the  question  was,  how 
far  Great  Britain  may,  by  every  means  in  her  power,  destroy  or  render 
useless  a  connexion  contrived  for  her  ruin,  and  for  the  aggrandizement 
of  her  enemy  ?  Under  such  circumstances,  the  laws  of  self-preservation 
must  direct  the  conduct  of  Great  Britain,  to  render  the  accession  of  the 
American  colonies  as  little  beneficial  as  possible  to  P'rance.  The  com- 
missioners having  remained  until  the  forty  days  were  expired,  and  not 
finding  the  proclamation  likely  to  produce  any  conciliatory  effect,  set  sail 
for  Europe.  Tbe  congress  soon  after  published  a  counter  manifesto,  in 
which  they  affected  to  consider  the  proclamation  of  the  commissioners 
as  denouncing  new  schemes  of  vengeance  and  desolation,  and  declared 
their  resolution  to  retaliate  with  the  utmost  severity. 

Hostilities  in  Europe  were  entirely  maritime,  and  confined  to  the  sea 
near  the  northwest  coast  of  France.  The  French  government,  as  soon 
as  it  liad  resolved  on  war,  employed  the  most  assiduous  and  vigorous 
preparations  to  equip  a  fleet  sufficient  to  cope  with  England.  In  order 
to  distract  the  attention  of  Great  Britain,  they  pretended  to  threaten  an 
invasion;  and  brought  large  bodies  of  troops  to  their  northern  coast. 
The  British  government  ordered  the  militia  to  be  embodied,  and  con- 
siderable numbers  of  soldiers  to  march  to  the  vicinity  of  the  coast ;  they 
directed  camps  to  be  formed  at  AVinchester,  Salisbury,  and  St.  Edmonds- 
bury,  Warley  common,  and  Coxheath;  but  they  trusted  the  protection 
of  the  country  chiefly  to  the  fleet. 

From  the  first  appearance  of  probable  hostilities  between  Great 
Britain  and  France  so  early  as  November  1776,  lord  Sandwich  had  cast 
his  eyes  on  admiral  Keppel  as  the  most  proper  person  to  be  intrusted  with 
the  important  station.  This  gentleman  had  distinguished  himself  at  the 
Havannah,  being  then  second  in  command,  and  was  highly  esteemed  and 
beloved  in  the  navy.  Having  conversed  with  Mr.  Keppel,  lord  Sand- 
wich found  that,  if  the  circumstances  of  the  country  required  his  efforts, 
his  services  would  not  be  wanting:  the  admiral  was  indeed  politif;ally 
connected  with  opposition;  but  when  war  with  France  was  become  una- 
voidable, he,  in  consequence  of  his  disposition  before  signified,  was  of- 
fered an  appointment  which  he  accepted.  In  the  beginning  of  June,  a 
fleet  of  twenty  ships  of  the  line  was  ready  for  service.  ^V'ith  these  un- 
der his  commani,  the  admiral  set  sail  on  the  l.'Jth  of  that  month,  to  pro- 
tect our  conunerc*;,  defend  our  coasts,  and  watch  the  motions  of  the 
enemy.  The  powers  reposed  in  the  admiral,  were  discretionary  and  un- 
hmited.  Sir  Robert  Harland  and  sir  Hugh  Palliser,  two  gentlemen  high 
in  his  estimation  and  ii.  the  opinion  of  the  public,  were  respectively  ap- 
pomted  second  and  third  in  command.  At  this  time  war  had  not  been 
declared,  nor  were  reprisals  ordered.  The  fleet  proceeded  to  the  bay 
of  Biscay. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  two  French  frigates  were  seen  reconnoitring  the 


ir78.— Chap.  XXf.  KKIGN  OF  GEORGK  III.  491 

[Capture  of  several  P'rench  frigates.] 

British  fleet;  one  of  them,  the  Licorne  of  32  guns,  being  overtaken  by 
some  of  our  ships,  for  some  hours  sailed  with  them;  but  nianifobting  an 
intention  of  departure,  a  shot  was  tired  over  her,  when,  to  tlie  astonish- 
ment of  our  fleet,  she  poured  a  broadside  into  the  America,  one  of  our 
ships  of  the  line,  and  immediately  struck  her  colours.  To  render  this 
procedure  the  more  extraordinary,  lord  Longford,  captain  of  the  Ameri«^a, 
and  the  French  commander,  were  from  their  respective  ships  engaged 
in  amicable  conversation.  Longford,  instead  of  sinking  the  French  fri- 
gate for  her  wanton  attack,  with  cool  magnanimity  sent  her  imder  the 
stem  of  the  Victory.  The  other  ship,  the  Belle  Poule,  a  large  fri^^atc, 
was  closely  pursued  by  the  Arethusa  of  32  guns,  but  not  overtaken  till  at 
a  great  distance  from  the  fleet.  Captain  Marshal,  tl.e  British  command- 
er, informed  the  French  captain,  that  he  had  orders  from  the  admiral  to 
conduct  him  to  the  fleet;  but  the  Frenchman  peremptorily  refused  to 
comply.  Marshal  fired  across  the  ship;  the  answer  was  a  broadside: 
a  desperate  engagement  ensued;  the  Arethusa  sufllered  much  in  her 
rigging,  the  Belle  Poule  in  her  hull,  and  great  numbers  were  killed. 
The  Frenchman  perceiving  the  other  so  much  damaged  as  to  be  unable 
to  pursue,  embraced  the  opportunity  of  retiring  to  the  coast.  This  ad- 
vantage, gained  over  superior  numbers  and  weight  of  metal  in  the  first 
conflict,  much  delighted  the  British  sailors,  and  was  reckonf^d  ominous 
of  future  success.  The  next  morning,  the  Pallas,  another  French  frigate 
of  32  guns,  approaching  to  reconnoitre  the  fleet,  was  pursued  and  taken, 
and  with  the  Licorne  sent  into  Plymouth.  The  French  exclaimed 
against  the  detention  of  the  two  frigates,  and  pretended  to  assert  that 
Britain  was  the  aggressor,  although  France  had  before  began  hostilities, 
by  abetting  the  Americans  in  their  revolt  from  their  mother  country.  Al- 
though admiral  Keppel  seized  two  French  frigates  for  improper  conduct 
in  the  commanders,  he  abstained  from  their  merchantmen,  as  letters  of 
reprisal  had  not  issued.  This  forbearance  in  our  naval  commander  may 
perhaps  have  been  right;  but,  as  the  hostile  conduct  of  France  justified 
hostilities  from  England,  the  more  effectually  they  had  been  begun,  the 
greater  would  be  the  prospect  of  ultimate  success.  The  capture  of  their 
trading  vessels,  as  in  the  commencemet  of  the  former  war,  would  have 
distressed  the  enemy,  by  depriving  them  both  of  sailors  and  riches.  Ad- 
miral Keppel  being  informed  that  the  French  fleet  lying  in  Brest  water 
amounted  to  thirty-two  ships  of  the  line,  repaired  to  St  Helen's  for  a  re- 
enforcement.  The  return  of  the  Admiral  occasioned  *'ery  great  astonish- 
ment and  consternation,  not  without  a  mixture  (/dissatisfaction;  but 
ministers  lost  no  time  in  augmenting!  his  armament;  lord  Sandwich  in- 
stantly setoff  for  Portsmouth,  and  in  a  fortnight,  ten  ships  of  the  line 
were  added  to  Keppel's  fleet.  In  the  middle  of  July  he  set  sail  at  the 
head  of  thirty  British  ships  of  the  line,  one  of  them  the  Victory,  of  the 
first  rate,  six  of  90  guns,  and  the  rest  of  the  third  rate.  The  fleet  was 
formed  into  three  divisions,  the  van  commanded  by  sir  Robert  Harland, 
the  rear  by  sir  Hugh  Palliser,  and  the  centre  by  the  admiral  himself. 
Reprisals  having  been  now  issued,  the  French  fleet  had  left  Brest  har- 
bour on  the  8th  of  July,  commanded  by  count  D'Orvilliers,  and  wae 
cruising  oflT  the  ceast  of  Bretagne.  On  the  23d  of  July,  in  the  afternoon, 
the  fleets  descried  each  other;  the  British  ships  being  dispersed,  a  signal 
was  thrown  out  for  forming  the  line,  but  night  came  on  before  the  ships 

•  See  Gibbon's  letter  to  lord  SheffieW,  JtJy  1778. 


49xJ  HISTORY  OF  TflE  Chap. XXI.~1778. 

['Indecisive  engajremeiit  ofTUshant  ] 

were  properly  stationed.  The  following  morning,  the  wind  being  wester^ 
ly,  it  was  discovered  that  the  French  had  gained  the  wcathcr-gage; 
D'Orvilliers,  however,  though  superior  in  number,  still  avoided  battle. 
The  British  admiral,  chasing  to  M'indward  the  three  tbllowing  days,  en- 
deavoured to  bring  on  a  battle,  but  in  vain.  On  the  27th,  a  sudden 
squall  came  on,  so  very  thick  as  to  conceal  the  two  fleets  from  the  view 
of  each  other.  When  the  weather  became  clear,  it  was  found  that  the 
French  fleet  had  fallen  considerably  to  leeward,  and  was  near  the  van  of 
the  British.  Instantly  admiral  Keppel  gave  the  signal  for  forming  the 
line;  an  engagement  began,  as  the  fleets  were  passing  each  other  in  con- 
trary directions.  At  this  time  the  Victory,  and  the  other  ships  of  the 
centre  division  were  nearest  to  the  enemy.  Sir  Robert  Ilarland  being  to 
windward,  was  ready  for  immediate  service;  while  sir  Hugh  Palliser  was 
considerably  to  leeward  with  the  rear,  and  out  of  the  line.  The  French, 
who  were  now  to  leeward,  had  made  an  alteration  in  their  movements, 
which  seemed  to  indicate  an  intention  of  cutting  oft'  the  rear  division. 
The  adniiral,  professing  to  entertain  this  apprehension,  left  the  station  in 
which  the  battle  began,  and  sailed  to  leeward,*  untd  he  was  opposite  to 
the  enemy's  van;  while  sir  Robert  Harland,  by  his  orders-,  covered  the 
rear.  Keppel  kept  a  signal  constantly  flying  for  Palliser  to  join  the  line, 
bat  that  commander  did  not  arrive.  The  admiral  repeated  the  signal  to 
sir  Hugh  Palliser  to  como  to  his  station :  but,  before  the  order  was  obey- 
ed, darkness  prevented  the  renewal  of  the  contest.  The  French  admiral 
ranged  hiis  fleet  so  as  to  appear  determined  to  fight  the  next  morning; 
but  in  tlie  night  they  quitted  their  station,  leaving  three  frigates  with  lights 
at  proper  intervals,  to  appear  to  the  British  the  leading  ships  of  their 
three  divisions.  The  next  morning  the  French  fleet  was  at  so  great  a 
distance,  that  the  admiral  did  not  think  it  expedient  to  renew  the  pursuit; 
it  would,  he  alleged,  lie  impossible  to  overtake  them,  and  his  own  ships 
would  be  exposed  to  danger  from  a  lee  shore:  he  therefore  desisted  from 
the  attempt,  and  returned  to  Plymouth. 

Though  this  battle  by  no  means  answered  the  expectation!?  that  British 
experience  of  nautical  valour  and  skill  naturally  and  reasonably  formed, 
from  a  conflict  between  thirty  of  our  ships  of  the  line,  and  thirty-two  of 
the  French,  it  eflfected  one  very  important  purpose;  the  French  fleet  be- 
ing obliged  to  go  to  port  to  refit,  several  British  fleets  of  merchantmen 
from  the  P2ast  and  West  Indies  and  the  Mediterranean  arrived  in  safety. 
Impartial  examiners  very  easily  perceived  that  tiiere  was  a  want  of  con- 
cert in  the  disposition  of  the  fleet  on  the  day  of  battle.  Admiral  Keppel, 
in  his  letter  to  the  admiralty,  expressed  himself,  in  general  terms,  satis- 
fied with  the  conduct  of  oflTicerg  and  men  ;  it,  however,  soon  appeared  that 
he  was  much  dissatisfied  with  the  procedure  of  Palliser. 

Both  the  French  and  English  fleets  went  again  to  sea  in  the  month  of 
August,  but  did  not  again  meet  during  this  campaign.  Considerable 
captures  were  made  by  frigates  and  privateers  on  both  sides,  but  the 
balance  of  prizes  was  greatly  in  favour  of  Britain.  Two  Liverpool  pri- 
vateers took  a  French  homeward  bound  East  Indiarnan,  estinmted  at 
'320,000/.;  and  captain  Dawson  of  the  Mentor  took  another,  valued  at 
240,000/. 

•  This  evoliuion  was  afterwards  the  foundation  of  one  of  the  principal  charges 
•  >  t    .  Imiral   Keppel;    it  being  represent.ed  as  wearing  the  nppearance  of 
'  us  bringing  disgrace  on  the  British  flag. 


ir78.— Chap.  XXI.  REIGN  OF  CEOHGE  IIL  493 

[Depredations  of  Paul  Jones.     Mutual  criminations  of  Kcppcl  and  Palliscr.] 

The  American  privateers,  trusting  to  the  alhance  with  France,  came 
this  year  to  the  coast  of  Europe,  and  committed  various  depredations. 
The  most  darinir  commander  of  these  ships  was  the  noted  adveiUurei 
Paul  Jones.  This  person  had  been  gardener  to  tlie  earl  of  Selkiik,  at  a 
seat  near  Kirkudbright  on  the  southwest  coast  of  Scotland.  Leaving  his 
employment  abruptly,  on  account  of  soine  umbrage  which  he  had  con- 
ceived against  the  family,  he  had  betaken  himself  to  sea,  and  by  profes- 
sional skill,  together  with  intrepid  boldness,  arrived  at  the  appointment 
which  he  then  held.  Jones,  directing  his  etibrts  against  t!ie  coasts  with 
which  he  was  best  acquainted,  landed  at  Whitehaven  in  Cumberland,  and 
set  fire  to  a  ship  in  the  harbour,  with  the  intention  of  burning  the  town, 
but  was  driven  away  by  the  exertions  of  the  inhabitants.  From  thence 
he  proceeded  over  Solwuy  Frith  to  the  seat  of  lord  Selkirk,  and  pillaged 
the  house  of  all  the  plate,  jewels,  and  other  valuable  effects  ;  but  though 
he  greatly  alarmed  the  lady  and  family  (his  lordship  being  in  London,) 
no  violence  was  offered  to  any  individual. 

Admirals  Keppel  and  Palliser  had  each  numerous  partisans  ;  the  differ- 
ence between  them,  therefore,  spi-ead  itself  tlnough  their  fleet,  the  navy. 
and  kingdom.  Keppel's  supporters  alleged,  that  if  Palliser  had  obeyed 
the  signal,  the  action  must  have  been  general,  and  the  consequence  a 
complete  victory  to  Britain.  Palliscr's  friends  asserted,  that  the  admiral 
lost  the  moment  of  victory,  when,  instead  of  bearing  forward  on  the 
enemy  with  his  full  force,  he  moved  to  leeward,  lost  the  afternoon  by 
that  movement,  and  thus  allowed  the  enemy  to  escape.  To  this  princi- 
pal imputation  of  Mr.  Palliser  against  Mr.  Keppel,  severai  other  charges 
were  added,  that  he  had  formed  his  line  negligently ;  that  he  had  not 
made  proper  disposiitions  for  covering  the  rear  division  ;  that  he  might 
have  renewed  the  battle  on  that  afternoon;  that  the  next  morning  the 
French  fleet  was  not  at  so  great  a  distance  as  to  render  pursuit  unavail- 
ing ;  and  that,  in  short,  the  admiral  had  not  done  his  duty. 

Whether  Mr.  Palliser's  censure  on  Mr.  Keppel  was  right  or  wrong, 
its  ground  was  his  conduct  on  the  27th  and  28th  of  July,  1778.  Atlter 
that  time,  the  vice-admiral  again  went  to  sea- under  the  admiral;  deli- 
vered him  a  letter,  testifying  his  majesty's  approbation  of  his  conduct ; 
corresponded  with  him  in  terms  of  friendship,  and  in  his  letters  expressed 
a  very  high  opinion  of  his  superior  disinterestedness  and  zeal  for  the 
service.*  This  conduct,  however,  of  Mr.  Palliser  relates  only  to  his 
sincerity  and  consistencr,  but  is  totally  irrelative  to  the  truth  orTalse* 
hood  of  the  charges.  After  the  fleet  returned  to  harbour  for  the  winter, 
admiral  Keppel  was  severely  censured  by  ministerial  publications,  and 
admiral  Palliser  by  writings  favourable  to  opposition.  In  a  newspaper 
of  the  latter  c'ass,  an  anonymous  letter  was  inserted,  strongly  repre- 
hending sfr  Hugh  PaUiser.  The  vice-admiral,  having  read  this  produc- 
tion, applied  to  Keppel  to  justify  his  conduct,  and  required  him  for  that 
purpose  to  sign  a  statement,  which  not  only  would  have  exculpated  Pal- 
liser, but  criminated  himself.  The  admiral  having  refused  to  comply, 
Palliser  published  in  one  of  the  inorning  papers  a  long  and  particular 
detail  of  the  action  of  the  27th  of  July,  together  with  an  introductory  let- 
ter signed  with  his  name.  The  performance  teemed  with  censure  against 
the  conduct  of  the  commander  in  chief.     After  indignant  remarks  and 


o 


See  proceedings  of  the  court-martial  on  admiral  Keppel. 


494  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap,  XXI.— 1778 

[They  are  respectively  tried  and  acquitted.] 

severe  recrimination  from  Keppcl,  and  reciprocal  repetition  of  invective, 
the  trials  of  both  were  ordered. 

Admiral  Kep[)cl  was  first  tried  .  the  charge  consisted  of  five  articles, 
detailing  the  objects  already  narrated.  After  it  had  continued  from  the 
7th  of  JaniKiry  1779,  until  the  11th  of  February,  the  court  not  only  ac- 
quitted the  admiral,  but  declared  the  charges  false,  slanderous,  and  ma- 
licious. Wlieu  the  news  of  the  sentence  reached  London,  very  general 
illuminations,  insti<rated  by  political  partisans,  took  place  for  two  suc- 
cessive nights.  The  populace  was  inflamed  by  a  notion  very  indus- 
triously disseminated,  that  the  proceedings  against  admiral  Keppel  were 
at  the  instance  of  ministry,  in  order  to  screen  their  own  misconduct  in 
furnishing  him  with  an  inadequate  force.  Under  this  impression  the 
mob  committed  many  outrages  on  the  houses  of  lord  Sandwich,  and  other 
ministers. 

Palliser,  soon  after  the  acquittal  of  Keppel,  demanded  a  court-martiaj 
on  himself.  The  charge  against  him  was  not  specific,  but  a  general 
assertion  of  non-performance  of  duty  ;  and  after  a  trial  which  lasted  from 
fhe  12th  of  April  till  the  5th  of  May,  he  was  acquitted. 


1^78.— Chap.  XXII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  11  r  495 


CHAP.  XXII. 


stale  of  public  sentiment  and  opinion  at  the  meetlnp;'  of  parliament— Tiie  nation 
is  disposed  to  strenuous  exertion. — Tiie  king's  s|)ecch  intimates  dissatisfaction 
with  the  events  of  the  campaign. — Strictures  of  opposition  on  the  employment 
of  Indian  savages — appeal  to  tl)e  bishops  tliereon. — Tiie  dispute  between  Kep- 
pel  and  Palliser  is  introduced  into  parliament. — Mr.  Fox  makes  a  motion  for 
censuring  lord  Sandwich — which  is  negatived. — Disputes  arise  in  tiie  navy  be- 
tween the  partisans  of  the  respective  admirals. —  Mr.  Fox's  motion  for  the  re- 
moval of  lord  Sandwich. — Inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  generals  Uurgoyne  and 
Howe,  and  admiral  lord  Howe — 'I'lie  evidence  is  at  first  favourable  to  sir  Wil- 
liam Howe — Testimony  of  general  Rol^ertson  and  Mr.  (ialloway  unfiivoura- 
ble. — Inquiry  abruptly  abandoned  — Incjuiry  into  the  conduct  of  Rurgoyne — 
clears  his  character  from  specific  false  asirersions. — Uiots  in  Scotland  from  en- 
thusiastic zeal  against  popery — imputed  by  Mr.  L'urke  to  the  supineness  of 
ministers. — Rupture  with  Spain.— Spain  evidently  the  aggressor. — Resolutions 
and  measures  of  parliament  thereon. — Session  rises. 

The  refusal  of  the  Americans  tvo  accept  of  the  proffered  terms,  their 
alhance  with  our  ancient  enemy,  and  their  incitement  of  that  enemy  to 
join  them  in  effmt  for  the  reduction  of  this  country,  now  e.stranged  from 
their  cause  many  Britons,  who  formerly  favoured  them;  and  reprohated 
the  conduct  of  administration.  Impartial  patriots  reasoned,  that  deficient 
as  ministers  might  be  in  the  foresight,  wisdom  and  vigour  requisite  at  so 
arduous  a  conjuncture,  reproach  and  invective  were  not  the  means  of 
enabling  them  to  promote  the  national  advantage ;  that  we  were  now  in 
a  state  of  difficulty  and  danger,  in  which  retrospection  of  causes  was 
much  less  a  subject  of  inquiry,  than  the  means  of  extrication.  Strenuous 
exertion  was  now  generally  deemed  the  only  sure  way  of  delivering  us 
from  war,  and  enforcing  an  honourable  peace.  To  promote  vigonous 
efforts,  the  most  effectual  means  was  unanimity.  From  these  considera- 
tions, though  the  number  of  thoi^e  wlio  venerated  the  ability  of  ministers 
by  no  means  increased,  yet  a  much  greater  majority  of  the  nation  than 
before  was  now  disposed  to  second  their  efforts. 

Parliament  met  on  the  25th  of  November,  1778.  His  majesty's  speccli 
very  clearly,  concisely,  and  justly  described  the  conduct  of  France  :  "  In 
the  time  of  profound  peace  (said  the  king)  without  pretence  of  provoca- 
tion or  colour  of  complaint,  the  court  of  France  hath  not  forborne  to  dis- 
turb the  public  tranquillity,  in  violation  of  the  faith  of  treaties  and  the  ge- 
neral rights  of  sovereigns  ;  at  first,  by  the  clandestine  supply  of  arms  and 
other  aid  to  my  revolted  subjects  in  North  America  ;  afterwards  by  avow- 
ing openly  their  support,  and  entering  into  formal  engagements  with  the 
leaders  of  the  rebellion ;  and,  at  length,  by  committing  open  hostilities 
and  depredations  on  my  faithful  subjects,  and  by  an  actual  invasion  of 
.my  dominions  in  America  and  the  West  Indies."  His  majesty  did  not 
express  himself  satisfied  with  the  success  of  the  late  campaign,  but 
trusted  to  future  efforts. 

Opposition,  considering  the  speech  as  the  production  not  of  the  king 
bat  •f  the  minister,  centended,  that  in  asserting  the  success  had  not  been 


496  HISTORY  OF  Tim  Chap.  XXlL—lTTh. 

t^StricIurcs  of  opposition  on  the  employment  of  Indians] 

proportioned  to  our  efforts,  it  declared  a  falsehood.  The  advantages 
jjaiiied  were  tar  greater  tliaii  could  be  expected  from  the  infeiiurity  ot 
our  tloi'ts,  aud  the  tardiness  a("  our  preparations.  The  speech  regretted 
the  failure  of  conciliatory  mea!Jurc3.  These  were  themselves  hiuniliating 
to  Kiiglaiid,  and  unsatisfying  to  America :  but,  notwitlistanding  its  de- 
fects and  absurdities,  the  adoption  of  that  scheme  could  not  be  said  to 
be  wholly  useless  ;  it  hud  destroyed  every  fallacious  argument  by  which 
ministers  had  beguiled  the  nation  into  the  fatal  contest  with  America, 
lor  it  surrendered  ail  its  professed  objects.  The  supporters  of  ministry 
justified  the  [)asi  conduct  of  the  war,  and  the  preparation  and  distribution 
of  the  armaments  that  were  eajfdoyed  in  the  surimier.  By  delaying  the 
departure  of  admiral  Byron,  D'Jiistaing  was  prevented  from  joining  the 
Br»>st  fleet,  and  giving  France  a  decided  superiority  in  the  channel.  The 
evacuation  of  Piiiladelphia  was  alpo,  they  asserted,  a  measure  of  wise 
policy,  tVom  the  accession  of  France  to  the  war;  New- York  was  much 
more  centrical,  nearer  to  the  coast,  and  fitter  for  sending  re-enforce- 
ments to  the  West  Intiia  islands,  or  wherever  they  might  be  wanted. 
Opposition  admitted  the  propriety  of  evacuating  Philadelphia,  but  con- 
tended that  the  reasons  in  which  it  was  founded,  demonstrated  the  folly 
of  the  whole  systenr.  The  army  in  America  was  reduced  to  this  alter- 
native, cither  by  retaining  its  acquisitions  to  divide  and  debilitate  its  own 
streneth,  or  else  to  stand  exposed  to  disgrace  and  mortification,  and  by 
retracing  its  steps,  to  show  the  inutility  of  all  its  labours.  No  man  could 
expect  to  conquer  a  continent  by  possessing  a  single  town ;  therefore, 
while  the  nation  persisted  in  carrying  on  an  offensive  war  in  America, 
whether  our  army  advanced,  retreated,  or  stood  still,  the  efTect  would  be 
thesame,  a  fruitless,  expensive,  and  cruel,  because  unnecessary,  war. 
The  amendment  was  rejected  by  a  great  majority.  Patriotism  and  wis- 
dom miglit  before  have  dictated  opposition  to  the  ministerial  measures 
respecting  America,  while  there  were  hopes  that  by  combating  the  plans 
of  government  they  migiit  produce  a  conciliatory  change  :  now,  how- 
ever, the  colonists  were  avowed  enemies,  and  were  engaged  in  a  hostile 
coofcderacy  against  Britain  ;  and  there  was  no  alternative  but  victory  or 
submission.  If  ministry  might  be  justly  charged  with  having  brought  us, 
by  their  ignorance  and  want  of  political  abilities,  into  so  bloody  and  ex- 
pensive a  war,  opposition  did  not  employ  the  most  efficacious  means  for 
procuring  a  safe  and  honourable  peace.  Perpetual  invectives  against 
administration  were  far  from  tending  to  depress  the  enemy,  or  strengthen 
the  couotry.  Common  sense  could  never  consider  a  regular  and  uniform 
system  of  obstruction  to  his  majesty's  councils,  as  the  most  effectual 
mode  of  promoting  the  success  of  his  arms. 

The  chief  object  of  opposition  during  this  session,  was  to  censure  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  and  to  impute  all  real  or  alleged  miscarriages  to  the 
incapacity  and  infatuation  of  ministers.  On  the  4th  of  December,  a  mo- 
tion was  mad*;  for  an  address  to  bis  majesty  concerning  the  late  manifesto 
of  the  commissioners,  to  declare  the  displeasure  of  parliament  at  certain 
pa^3ages  of  the  proclamation,  as  totally  unauthorized  by  the  act  of  the 
legislature  for  appointing  these  commissioners,  and  in  themselves  utterly 
inconsistent  with  the  humanity  and  generous  courage  which  at  all  times 
distiniruished  the  British  nation,  subversive  of  the  maxims  which  have 
been  established  among  christian  and  civilized  communities,  derogatory 
from  the  dignity  of  the  crown  of  this  realm,  and  tending  to  debase  the 


1778.— CnAP.  XXri.  UEIGN  OF  CKOKOE  Ifr.     .  ^ijj 

[Reply  of  ministers.     Proposed  iiujuiry  by  general  Howe] 

spirit  and  to  subvert  the  discipline  of  his  majesty's  armies.  The  f-jp- 
porters  of  the  motion  interpreted  the  paj;sage»  in  question  in  neatly  the 
same  manner  as  (lie  Americans  professed  to  have  done,  and  considertj 
them  as  replete  with  denunciations  of  the  most  savage  barbarity.  On 
this  assumption  their  arguments  proceeded,  and  speakers  expatiated  on 
the  wickedness  and  madness  of  the  new  kind  of  warfare,  which  converted 
British  soldiers  hito  butchers,  assassins,  and  incendiaries,  and  proposed 
for  the  model  of  civilized  Britons  the  practices  of  Indian  savages.  Con- 
trary, they  alleged,  as  the  threatened  mode  of  carrying  on  war  was  to 
humanity,  it  was  no  less  inimijal  to  sound  policy,  as  the  colonists  could 
retaliate  on  tiie  coasts  of  Engla'.id,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  ;  and  Viirious 
parts  of  his  majesty's  dominions  must,  by  their  exposed  situation,  sutler 
the  most  dreadful  cruelties  from  retaliation  :  on  these  grounds,  they 
proposed  to  request  that  it  should  be  disavowed  by  his  majesty. 

To  this  deduction  of  consequences,  ministers  replied,  by  denying  the 
.principle;  the  proclamation,  they  contended,  denounced  no  new  species 
of  war,  no  kind  of  hostilities  dissimilar  to  those  which  have  been  usually 
carried  on  between  belligerent  nations  in  every  part  of  the  civilized  world. 
In  the  former  part  of  the  American  war,   JJritain  Imd  considered  the 
colonists  not  as  enemies,  but  as  subjects  partly  rebellious  from  disposi- 
tion, but  chiefly  misled   by  mischievous  counsel :  it  had  therefoie  been 
their  wish  to  instruct  and  persuade,  as  well  as  to  compel :  but  now  the 
provincials  had  thrown  themselves  into  the  arms  of  French  enemies, 
and  were  henceforth  to  be  treated  like  anyotlhir  foes,  so  as  most  speedi- 
ly and  eflectually  to  annoy  and  weaken  the  hostile  cause.      This  was  the 
amount  of  the  reprehended  portion  of  the  manifesto,  such  was  the  inten- 
tion of  its  framers,  such  the  meanirig  w  hich  its  expressions  plainly  and 
explicitly  conveyed.     They  could  not  therefore  consent  to  address  his 
majesty,  that  he  migiil  disavow  intimations  which  instead  of  censure,  de- 
served the  highest  approbatioii.     After  a  very  hard  contest  between  the 
censurers  and  supporters  of  this  act  of  the  commissioners,  an  occurrence 
took  place,  which  appeared  to  give  the  tormer  a  considern'ule  advantage. 
Governor  Johnstone  speaking  on  the  subject,  exhibited  the  irritation  of 
violent  passion,  much  more  tlian  the  sound  vigorous  reasoning  by  which 
his  eloquence  was  generally  distinguislied  ;   he  declared  the  manifesto  to 
have  meant  a  desolating  war,  and  justirted  it  in  that  view  as  not  only  riglit 
but  necessary.      Opposition  contended,  that  this  avowal  by  one  who  had 
*"  been  a  commissioner,  proved  tiieir  assertion.      Ministers,  however,  ad- 
hered to  their  rejection  of  the  intcroretation.      In  discussing  tiiis  ques- 
tion, general  Howe,  after  reprobating  the  alfcged  plan  of  war,  deviated 
from  the  question,  to  introduce  a  charge  against  the  secretary,  concern 
ing  his  conduct  to  the  generals  who  commanded  in  America.     To  the 
mal-administration  of  Germaine,  Howe  imj»uted  his  own  request  to  re- 
sign his  employment,  and  strongly  urged  the  instituiion  of  a  parliamenta- 
ry inquiry,  in  order  that  the  conduct  both  of  the  commanders  and  mini.sters 
should  be  fully  examined,  justice  done  on  all  sides,  and  the  nation  ac- 
quainted with  the  true  cause  ofthat  failure  of  success  which  it  had  hitherto 
experienced.      The  secretary,  after  expressing  his  astonishment  at4.he 
accusation,  smd  vindicating  his  conduct,  declared,  that  he  certainly  should 
not  object  to  an  inquiry  when  regulaily  proposed,  as  he  was  conlldent  it 
must  terminate  to  his  honour.     Rcturnhig  from  irrelevant  topics  to  the 
subject  ut  issue,  the  house  was  called  for  a  vote,  and  the  motion  was 
Vol.   VJI.— 63 


498  •  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.  XXI1.~1778. 

•       ^        [Appeal  to  the  bishops.]  ^ 

ncgntivcd  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and  nine  to  two  hundred  and 
twriity-two. 

When  the  proclaination  was  dijjcussed  in  the  house  of  peers,  an  ap- 
peal was  made  to  the  bench  of  bishops,  to  exert  that  charity,  humanity, 
and  abhorrence  of  hlnod  and  crueUy  wliich  were  the  leading  tenets  and 
distingiiishiniT  cliaractcristics  of  Christianity,  upon  a  subject  which  not 
only  came  dinHllv  "itliin  their  cognisance,  but  in  which  they  seemed 
bound  by  thei;-  clmrarUM-  to  exert  the  peculiar  and  most  exalted  princi- 
ples, of  their  M>Iip;ioii.  in  preventing  the  wanton  butchery  and  destruction 
of  mankind.  '\  heir  interference  was  required  to  prevent  tiie  destruction  . 
and  spare  the  hood,  not  only  of  men  and  christians,  but  of  Englishmen 
and  proiej^tan'-:,  like  themselves;  to  crush  in  the  outset  an  abominable 
system  of  warfare,  which  in  its  progress  and  consequences  would  bring 
desolation  and  ruin  on  their  own  flocks.  The  legal  powers  v.ith  which 
thev  had  been  invested  bv  the  constitution  for  such  pious  purposes,  would 
be  found,  in  the  present  instance,  fnllv  equal  to  the  dutv  and  emergency. 
They  were  the  moderators,  ordained  Ijy  the  wisdom  of  the  constitution, 
to  check  the  rage,  restrain  the  passions,  and  control  the  violence  of  tem- 
poral men.  Their  simple  votes  upon  this  occasion  v/ould  at  once  fully 
express  their  detestation  of  the  inhuman  .-vsfem  ;  and.  joined  with  those 
of  the  secular  lords  who  held  the  same  principles,  would  cure  its  effects. 
The  bishops  were  very  far  from  contesting  that  it  was  incumbent  on 
them  to  exert  their  abilities  and  influence  for  moderating  t!ie  passions  of 
men,  and  preventing  the  vvanton  effusion  of  christian  blood  ;  but,  as  tho 
lords  in  opposition  had  not  proved  that  efforts  against  revolted  subjects, 
who  were  leagued  with  inveterate  enemies,  were  wanton,  and  they 
thought  the  annoyance  of  stich  foes  necessary  for  self-defence,  they  did 
not  consider  themselves  as  justified  in  censuring  the  manifesto  * 

Censure  of  ministry  had  constituted  a  considerable  pait  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  opposition  in  the  former  years  of  our  dispute  with  the  colonies'; 
but  the  reprehension  had  been  combined  with  wise  hgislative  proposi- 
tions for  removing  the  evils  of  which  they  complained.  During  the 
present  session,  reproach  of  administration  constituted  nearly  the  sole 
conduct  hv  which  thev  professed  to  discharce  their  duty,  as  senators  de- 
liberating for  the  good  of  their  country.  Every  commander,  ^\hose  suc- 
cess had  not  answered  the  expectations  fornied  from  *the  means  with 
which  he  was  supplied,  imputed  his  miscarriages  to  industry;  and,  as 
soon  as  he  made  that  imputation,  was  supported  by  opposition  with  an '" 
eagernesj!  that  greatly  outstripped  th''  evidence.  On  the  2Sth  of  Decem- 
ber, a  debate  arose  in  the  house  of. commons,  on  a  proposed  vote  of 
seventy  thousand  seamf-n  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year.  During 
the  discus.sion,  it  was  ohverved  by  opposition,  that  as  very  different  repre- 
sentations had  been  given  of  tho  naval  proceedings  of  admiral  Keppel's 
fleet  on  the  27lh  and  28th  of  July,  an  inquiry  ought  to  be  instituted  for 
ascertainini'  xhr  truth.  F^reliminary  to  s\ich  investigation,  it  was  propos- 
ed, that  as  both  oflicers,  being  members  of  the  house,  were  then  present, 

•  Mr.  lU'UliHm,  imirornily  df-^irons  nf  tlirnwiiip;  out  indirect  or  direct  charges 
Sfrainit  our  ecclesiastical  e.staSlisliment,  in  mentinnin}^'  a  protest  Iha'  was  entered 
on  this  occ:tsion.  says,  "  it  i.s  paliifnl  to  remarlc,  tliat  llie  name  of  unc  bishop  only, 
the  venerable  .'^lilpie.y  of  St.  Asaph,  is  to  be  found  in  the  lonf,'  and  illustrioub  train 
of  sijfnaturcs  affixed  to  this  memorable  protest."  Tliis  censure  of  our  prelates, 
Mr.  Bclihani  supports  by  no  proof;  it  rests  entirely  upon  his  own  authority. 


1778 —Chap.  XXrr.  HKICN'  Of"  (iEORHE  !If.  '  *  499 

[Dispute  between  Keppel  and  I'alliser  introduced  into  parliament.] 

one  or  both  of  Ihem  .sliould  aflord  some  sati.sfaclion  on  the  suhjoct. 
Admiral  K(ippol,  having  risen  in  comphancc  with  this  request,  made  a 
speech,  of  which,  thoii<>li  some  putH  were  sufficiently  intelhgihle,  there 
were  others  by  no  means  explicit,  and  of  which  the  exact  import  could 
not  well  be  apprehended  from  tlie  expressions  themselves,  though  the 
tendency  and  intent  might  be  gathcM'cd  from  various  circumstances.     He 
affirmed,  that  on  the  occasion  in  question,  he  had  done  his  utmost  against 
the  enemy;  the  glory  of  the  British  iTag  had  not  been  tarnished  in  his 
hands,  and  were  he  again  in  the  same  situation,  he  should  act  in  the  .same 
manner ;   but  the  old<^st  and  most  experienced  naval  otlicers  would  dis- 
cover soiiiething  in  every  engagement  with  which  they  were  before  unac- 
quainted, and  he  acknowledged,  that  day  had  presented  to  him  something 
new.      He  impeached  no  man  (he  said)  of  a  neglect  of  duty,  because  he 
was  satisfied  the  olliccr  who  had  been  alluded  to  had  manifested  no  want 
of  courage,  which  was  the  quality  most  essential  to  a  British  seaman.* 
All  his  direct  complaints  or  animadversions  were  limited  to  an  anonymous 
letter  imputed  to  that  gentleman,  and  another  letter  avowed  and  signed 
by  him,  and  both  published  in  a  newspaper.      In  the  subsequent  part  of 
his  speech,  complaining  of  the  abuse  to  which  he  had   been  exposed  in 
diurnal  publications,  lie  said  he  did   not  charge  ministers  with  being  the 
authors  or  promoters  of  the  invectives  against  him  ;  they,  on  the  contra- 
ry, seemed  to  be  his  friends,  and  caressed  and  smiled  upon  him  :  or  if 
any  ministers  were  capable  of  vilifying  and  secretly  aspersing  him,  and 
endeavouring  to  cut  his  throat  behind  his  back,  he  didnot  think  ihey  were 
then  near  Itim*     Sir  Hugh  Palliser  charged   the  admiral  with  dark  and 
indirect  insinuations,  called  on  him  to  state  his  charges,  justified  his  own 
conduct,  and  expressed  his  wish  for  a  public  inquiry  ;  the  institution  and 
result  of  which  I  have  already  narrated,  as  far  as  concerned  the  two  ad- 
mirals.     Opposition  in  parliament  condemned  the  admiralty  for  granting 
a  eourt-martial  at  the  instance  of  Palliser.     They  should  (they  said)  have 
acted  as  moderators  upon  this  occasion,  given  passion  time  to  cool,  and 
interposed  their  influence  in  healing  the  differences  between  two  brave 
and  valual)le  officers,  at  a  time  when  their  services  were  so  much  wanted  ; 
instead  of  which  they  blew  up  the  flame  by  precipitately  receiving  a  rash, 
hasty,  and  passionate  accusation  ;  and  therebyikdrawing  on  the  fatal  dis- 
sensions in  the  naval  service,  and  the  numerous  evils  to  the  public,  which 
they  had  themselves  declared  must  be  inevitable  consequences  of  such  a 
.  trial.     The  commissioners  of  the  admiralty  strenuously  insisted  their  con- 
•stitution  to  be  such,  that  in  all  matters  of  accusation  they  were  obliged 

'■.-  *  The  rea<lov  must  liere  see  very  indefinite  expressions,  nnd  reasoning  by  no 
means  conclusive,  ^^•l)at  the  alle£;cd  novtlty  that  li;id  occiirredjn  the  engage- 
ment \v;is,  lie  did  not  explain,  thoui^li,  witliout  great  likehliood  of  mistake,  com- 
mon sagacity  mit;ht  conjecture  what  meaning  lie  intended  to  convey.  Heimpeuched 
no  man  of  ne^lfct  nfdutv,  nr.cxvsr.  tiie  ofKrer  alluded  to  manifested  no  ivant  of  cour- 
age. Though  courage  be,  as  lie  observed,  tlie  most  essential  quality  of  a  seaman, 
vet  it  is  not  bis  onlv'diitv,  and  there  mi-ht  be  grounds  of  impeachment  against 
an  ofRrer  who  had  exerted  courage.  In  fact,  admiral  Keppel  docs  not  disavow 
the  existence  of  other  grounds  ;  but  the  exclusive  admission  of  tbat  quality  tends 
by  a  natural  con.struciion  to  insinuate  a  denial,  or,  at  least,  a  doubt  of  the  per- 
formance of  other  necessary  duties  bv  tbe  individual  to  whom  he  alluded. 

t  Lord  Sandwich,  first  lord  of  tbe  admiralty,  and  a  member  of  tbe  other  house, 
being  in  nnti-ministerial  works  represented  as  both  politically  and  personally 
inimical  to  auir.ind  Kep[)cl,  was  understood  to  be  meant  by  this  msinuation. 


1^  *  •        IIISTOUY  OF  THE  '        Chap.  XXU.— 1779. 

.•••»•«».  [Thanks  oKparliament  voleil  to  ailmlral  Keppel]     ♦ 

to  act  ministerially,  they  had  no  judiciul  power;  that,  ^vhen  a  complanU 
was  preferred,  they  were  as  a  matter  of  course  and  in  discharge  of  tlieir 
otfice,  not  only  co'rnpelled  to  receive  it,  hnl  to  give  the  necessary  direc- 
tion for  tlie  tri.il. 

The  vice-admiral  had  preferred  an  accusation  consisting  of  five  sepa- 
rate articles,  or  charges,  properly   drawn  up,  and  specifically  pointed. 
Wiiat  line  of  conduct  then  could  the  admiralty  board  pursue?   They  must 
either  prejudge  ll»e  truth  of  those  charges,  or  admit  them  to  be  such  as 
were  fit  to  he  sent  to  tlie  consideration  of  a  court-martial.      The  first  they 
neither  could,  nor  dared  to  do,   heing  totally  ignorant  of  their   truth   or 
falsehood  ;  and  with  the  second  they  were  compelled  to  comply,  because 
the  matter  allowed  no  other  alternative.      Opposition  insisted  that  the  ad- 
miralty was  not  only  endued  with  discretionary  powers  competent  to  the 
purpose,  but  that  the  exercise  of  these  was  one  of  their  great  and  princi- 
pal duties,  and  among  the  most  useful  purposes  of  their  institution.  They 
represented  their  omission  of  so  important  a  duty  on  the  present  occa- 
sion as  highlyculpable  ;   hut,  in  endeavouring  to  ascertain  the  powers  of 
the  admiralty;  they  argued  jnore  I'rmn  their  own  conception  of  expedien- 
cy, than  from  either  statute  or  usage.     The  restrictions  (they  said)  by 
which  they  [)retended  to  bo  bound,  would  establish  a  principle  that  must 
destroy  all  naval  service,  and  leave  every  superior  ofiicer  at  the  mercy 
of  his  inferior.     Ifthe  whole  fleet  of  England  were  upon  the  point  of 
sailing  on  the  most  sudden  and  critical  emergency,  Avhelher  for  our  im- 
mediate del'ence  against  invasion,  or  for  the  preservation  of  the  most  val- 
uable foreign  interest,  according  to  this  doctrine  every  petty  officer, 
throuiih  folly,  malice,  or  treachery,  might  prevent  the  whole  design  and 
operation,  only  by  laying  some  charge  against  the  commander  in  chief, 
which  would  necessarily  detain  all  the  principal  officers,  either  as'wit- 
nesses  or  judges.     From  this  extraneous  discussion,  returning  to  the  sub- 
ject at  issue,  the  house  by  the  previous  question  dismissed  the  motion. 

During  the  recess  of  parliament  the  admiral's  trial  began  :  and  on  his 
acquittal,  a  motion  was  made  in  the  house  of  commons,  that  the  thanks  of 
the  house  should  be^iven  to  the  honourable  Augustus  Kieppel  for  his  dis- 
tinguished couragCjWfouduct,  and  ability,  in  defending  the  kingdom  in  the 
course  ol  the  la.st  summar,  efl'ectually  protecting  its  trade,  and  more  j)ar- 
ticularly  for  liia  having  poriouslyiU|)held  the  honour  of  the  British  flag 
on  the  27th  and  2'^th  of  July  :  the  proposition 'was  adopted,  there  being 
only  one  di3senti<:nt  voicp.  The  thanks  of  the  Jords,  in  nearly  the  same 
terms  were  voted  in  four  days  aftur',  '^ith  every  external  a]^pearancc  of 
the  most  perfect  unaniniity.  '^The  irfipffrtial  i^JWer  m^y,  perhaps,  find  a* 
^  difficulty  in  comprehending  what  the  acts  of  iveppel  were  on  the'27(lv 
•and  2Sth  of  July,  which  drew  (orth  from  pnrliament  spch  teslimqjiies  of 
gratitude  ;  and  what  eswn/iiil  service  me  ciii^Y  naval  commailder.on  that 
niemoralde  orcasioa  rendered  to  his  country.  It  was  VQiy  evident  that 
ministers  did  not  conceive  such  ano|<inion-#jf  his  ptildic  conduct,  as  their 
assent  to  the  vote  of  thanks  might  indicate;  but  as  the  lido  of  popularity 
ran  so  high  in  hifi  favour  they  did  net  think  it.  prudent  tq,go  against  the 
current.  Tliis  compliance  with  a  propn  ,ition  of  their  adversaries,  mani- 
festly contrary  to  th»iir  ovii  jiidgiijeut,  was  very  trequent  in  lord  North's 
administration  ;  and  app/iared  to  arise  #rom  a  desire  of  deprecating  part 
of  tho  censure  wlnrh  they  so  often' experienced :  rfn  attempt,  however, 
by  unjust  and  unnecessary  concessions  to  prevent  obloquy,  was  an  expe- 


i77!).— Chap.  XXII.  UKIGN  OF  GKOTfGE  III.  501 

[Motion  of  Mr.  Fox  for  censuring  lord  Sandwich,  rejected] 

(lieut  of  weakness  and  timidity,  and  demonstrated  the  absence  of  that  firm- 
ness with  which  conscious  wisdom  and  rectitude  pursue  their  purposes. 
The  admiralty  iiifornied  Keppe!,  lliat  in  consefnuMice  of  liis  arnpiiltal  he 
was  required  to  resume  his  coninsand  ;  but  lliough  lie  c<iriii)hed  vvitli  the 
requisition,  yet  the  terms  in  which  it  was  expressed,  manifesting  no  ap- 
prol)ati(m  of  his  conduct,  lie  soon  after  asked  and  received  his  majesty's 
it-ave  to  rCfiirn. 

Mr.  Fox  followed  the  acquittal  of  his  friend  and  the  thanks  of  the 
houses,  i)y  a  motion  for  ccnsurinp  lord  Sandwich,  intended  (he  said)  as 
a  prelude  to  another  lor  his  removal  from  oHice.  The  alle<:ed  ground  of 
cciisure  was,  the  inadeipiacy  of  the  force  that  had  been  furnished  to 
Keppel :  when  he  sailed  wiiii  twenty  ships  of  the  line,  there  were  thirty 
sail  of  the  line  in  Brestwater  fit  for  service.  Either  ministers  did  or  did 
not  know  thiit  fiict ;  if  they  knew  it,  it  was  an  act  of  the  highest  crimi- 
nality to  coniMiit  the  fate  ot'this  coi-.itry  to  so  great  a  dis|)arity  of  force  : 
on  the  other  hand,  it' the  first  lord  of  the  admiralty  was  ignorant  of  the 
state  of  tiie  French  navy,  it  was  an  ignorance  totally  inconsistent  with 
the  performance  of  his  official  duly.  Ministers  answered,  that  there  was 
no  evidence  of  the  fact  on  which  this  charge  was  grounded  :  it  appeared 
from  the  papers  of  the  captured  Licorne,  that  tl,e  alleged  number  was 
then  in  a  state  of  preparation,  but  not  that  they  were  actually  equipt)cd  ; 
and  in  the  conduct  of  the  French  it  appeared,  that  they  were  not  then 
ready  for  sea  :  since,  though  they  knew  that  an  English  fleet  of  twenty 
ships  of  the  line  were  at  sea,  they  did  not  leave  harbour  till  a  fortnight  af- 
ter. The  motion  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  204  to  170,  a  difi'erence 
much  smaller  tlian  on  any  question  that  had  occurred  respecting  the  war. 
Mr.  Fox  made  a  second  attack,  which  was  directed  against  the  whole  of 
lord  Sandwich's  administration;  stating  the  objects  which  ought  to  have 
been  considered  by  the  naval  minister,  the  expense  incurred,  and  the  ar- 
mament provided,  he  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  expense  was  suffi- 
cient ibr  the  attainment  of  all  the  objects,  but  that  the  force  prepared  was 
totally  inadequate;  on  these  grounds  he  moved  a  vote  of  censure.  Ad- 
mirals lord  Howe  and  Keppel,  by  professional  statements,  and  argu- 
ments derived  from  these,  supported  Mr.  Fox's  positions.  Ministers  an- 
swered, that  llie  allegations  of  their  0[)ponents  were  founded  in  assump- 
tions n-ot  supported  by  facts,  and  that  they  could  not  join  in  a  vote  of  cen- 
sure for  unsubstantiated  charges  ;  on  a  division,  the  inotion  was  reject- 
ed by  a  majority  of  two  hundri)d  and  forty-six  to  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four. 

Great  dissensions,  originating  in  the  dispute  between  Keppel  and  Pal- 
liser,  were  now  prevalent  in  the  navy,  and  very  serious  apprehensions 
were  entertained  of  their  consequences.  A  declaration  of  admiral  Kep- 
pel in  the  last  debate,  that  he  would  not  accept  of  any  command  under 
the  present  ministry,  powerfully  tended  to  fan  the  flame.  Several  offi- 
cers of  high  rank  and  character  immediately  quitted  the  service,  or  de- 
clared they  could  not  act  under  ihe  present  system.  The  political  par- 
ties reciprocally  accused  eac^i  other  with  having  caused  these  discords. 

Sir  Philip  Jennings  Clerk,  encouraged  by  the  success  which  his  bill  for 
the  exclusion  of  contractors  the  preceding  session  obtained  in  the  house 
of  commons,  attempted  its  revival  ;  but  he  soon  found  that  a  ereat  change 
of  opinion  had  taken  place,  it  was  rejected  L(y  a  majority  of  165  to  124. 
On  the  10th  of  March,  Mr.  Frederick  Montague  proposed  a  bill  for  grant- 


502  IIISTOIJY  OF  THK  Cuav.  XXII.— 1779- 

[Tlill  for  tlic  relief  of  ilissenters.     Motion  of  Mr.  Fox.] 

ing  fartlier  relit-f  to  protestant  dissenting  ministers  arid  schoolmasters. 
The  enhgiilenod  liberality  of  the  ajie  had,  it  was  said,  diminished  the  le- 
gal restrictions  npon   tlio   Roman  catholics,  therefore  the  protestant  mi- 
nisters had  a  (air  claim  to  partake  of  legislative  indulgence.      The  extent 
and  bounds  of  toleration  depend  entirely  on  expediency,  founded  in  the 
nature  of  the  o|)inions  professed,  and  their  practical  tendency.      In  the 
conduct  of  the  class  whose  r.dief  was  now  sou<i!it,  no  ohjeciion  of  either 
justice  or  policy  could  he  adduced  to  prevent  it  from  hcin;!;  granted.      In 
the  present  state  of  loss,  calamity,  and  danger,  it  was  necessary  to  unite 
the  interests  atnl  allcctions  of  all  our  countrymen,  and  to  concentrate  in- 
to one  ma-!s  al!  the  reuiaiuitig  strength  of  tiie  empire.      Two  classes  of 
senators  had,  as  we  have  seen,  opposed  former  applications  of  dissenters: 
the  first,  from  high  church  doctrines  ;   the  second  from  views  of  political 
expediency.      In  the  preseru  instanoe,  tlie  second  class,  however,  was  fa- 
vourahle  to  (he  hill,  which,  though  violently  opposed  by  members  of  the 
firsf,  passed  both  houses  by  great  majorities,  and  received  the  royal  as- 
sent.     The  rlii<^f  ol>j('ct  of  this  session  continued  to  l-.e  the  discussion  of 
executorial  conduct.      xVdmiral  Pigot,  brotlicr  of  lord  Pigol,  late  govern- 
or of  Madras,  exhibited  an  historical  detail  of  the  object  of  his  late  bro- 
ther's appointment,  his  conduct,  the  tiv^atment  wliich  he  experienced 
from  the  company's  servants  resistinir  his  execution  of  the  orders  of  their 
masters,  his  sutrcrings,  and  <-onscquent  dealli.      .\ftcr  calling  witnesses 
to  establish  his  proceedings,  he  moved  arv  address  to  his  majesty,  pray- 
ing that  he  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  give  directions  to  his  attorney 
general  to  prosecute  George  Stratton,   Henry  Brooke,  Charles  Floyer, 
and  George  Mackay,  esquires,  for  ordering  the  governor  and  command- 
er in  chief,  George  lord  Pigot,  to  he  arrested  and  confined  under  a  milita- 
ry Torce  ;   they  being  returned  to   England,  and  now  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  his  majesty's  courts  of  Westminster-hall.      Mr.  Stratton  being  a 
member  of  parliauu^nt,  and   present  at  this  very  time,  entered  into  a  de- 
fence and   vindication  of  his  own  conduct  and  tliat  of  his  colleagues,  in 
which  he  imputed  their  proceedings  to  a  necessity  arising  from  the  vio- 
lent and  arbitrary  acts  of  lord  Pigot ;   but  his  arguments  made  so  little  im- 
pression on  the  house,  that  the  resolutions  were  immediately  adopted 
Nvilhont  one  dissenling  voice.     The  prosecution  took  place;  each  was 
sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  1000/.  a  very  inconsiderable  sum  to  men  of 
immense  fortunes,  and  which  could  hardly  operate  as  a  punishment. 

Mr.  Fox,  on  the  19th  of  April,  moved  an  address  to  the  throne  for  the 
dismissal  of  lorrl  Sandwish  from  his  majesty's  service,  for  misconduct  in 
office.  The  alleged  grounds  were  tlie  same  collectively  whicii  had  be- 
fore separately  been  rejected  by  the  house  ;  Mr.  Fox,  however,  with  his 
u.sual  ingenuity,  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  case  was  different,  between 
a  motion  for  censure  and  for  removal  :  the  former  were  judicial  inquiries, 
the  present  wa.s  a  deliberative  question  of  expediency.  A  motion  for 
censure  required,  in  point  of  justice,  a  specification  and  certainty  of  the 
offences  imputed  ;  a  motion  for  dismissal  from  employment  ought  to  be 
adopted,  if  it  was  probable  that  the  business  of  the  employer  would  he 
better  performed  by  another.  The  whole  of  the  subject  proposed  might 
be  proved  in  a  few  short  questions  and  answers.  Was  lord  Sandwich 
equal  to  the  performance  of  his  official  duties,  with  safety  and  honour  to 
thenation?  Has  he  hitherto  done  so  ?  What  reason  is  there  for  supposing 
that  he  who  has  failed  in  his  past  duties,  .shall  act  more  ably  for  the  fu- 


1779.— Chap.  XXII.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGK  HI.  503 

[Inquiry  into  Uie conduct  ol" General  Howe,  ttc] 

ture?  The  majority  of  members  did  not  admit  3Ir.  Fox  to  have  estab- 
lished the  alleged  unfitness  of  lord  Sandwich,  and  therefore  voted  against 
his  removal. 

Much  censure  had  been  thrown  out  against  general  Howe,  especially 
in  writings  alleged  to  be  patronized  by  ministers;  and  it  was  conhdently 
and  vehemently  asserted,  that,  if  liis  conduct  had  been  wise  and  vigorous, 
he  might  have  repeatedly  terminated  the  war.  Both  the  Howes  strong- 
ly urged  an  inquiry,  as  tiie  sure  means  of  vindicating  their  character. 
]iord  North  replied,  that  as  government  had  advanced  no  charge  against 
the  noble  brothers,  no  vindication  was  necessary,  and  that  ministers  had 
no  share  in  tiie  invectives;  but  though  he  did  not  approve  of  an  inquiry, 
he  would  not  oppose  its  institution,  and  readily  agreed  to  the  production 
of  the  papers  which  were  wanted  for  carrying  it  into  effect.  In  these  was 
included  the  whole  correspondence  between  the  ministers  and  command- 
ers in  America,  from  Howe's  arrival  at  Boston  in  1775,  to  his  departure 
from  Philadelphia  in  1778  ;  also  the  accounts,  returns,  and  other  docu- 
ments, tending  to  show  the  state  of  the  army  at  different  periods ;  the 
real  movements  and  operations,  as  well  as  the  different  plans  of  action, 
which  had  been  proposed,  discussed,  or  concerted  by  the  ministers  and 
generals.  Ministers  apprehending  that  their  own  counsels,  and  not  the 
conduct  of  the  commanders,  was  the  real  object  of  the  scrutiny,  proposed 
that  the  examination  of  witnesses  should  be  confined  to  military  subjects; 
and  on  the  6tli  of  May,  lord  Cornwallis,  major-general  Grey,  sir  Andrew 
Snape  Hammond,  major  Montresor,  chief  engineer,  and  sir  George  Os- 
borne, were  examined.  The  result  of  their  evidence  was,  that  the  force 
sent  to  America  was  at  no  time  equal  to  the  subjugation  of  the  colonies  ; 
that  the  difficulty  chiefly  arose  from  the  almost  unanimous  hostility  of  the 
people  to  the  British  government,  and  the  natural  obstructions  of  the 
country,  so  abounding  in  woods,  rivers,  hills,  and  defiles.  Their  evi- 
dence descending  to  accounts  of  particular  actions,  from  which  the  chief 
censure  of  the  general  had  arisen,  tended  to  justify  his  conduct.  Gene- 
ral Howe  himself  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  he  had  uniformly  stated  to 
the  American  minister  the  utter  impossibility  of  reducing  America  with- 
out a  much  greater  force  ;  that  he  had  accompanied  his  proposed  plan  for 
the  campaign  of  1777,  with  a  requisition  of  a  re-enforcement  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  or  at  the  least  fifteen  thousand,  as  indispensably  necessa- 
ry ;  that  the  minister  had  uniformly  supposed  the  number  of  loyalists  to 
be  much  greater  than  it  really  was  ;  trusting  to  their  co-operation,  he 
could  not  be  convinced  that  so  great  a  re-enforcement  \\as  wanted,  and 
therefore  had  not  sent  a  fifth  part  of  the  number.  Concerning  the  north- 
ern expedition,  no  concert  had  been  proposed  between  him  and  the  gene- 
ral of  that  army,  nor  did  he  hear  any  support  was  expected  from  him,  un- 
til a  letter  from  the  secretary,  which  reached  him  in  the  Cht  ^£peake,  ex- 
pressed a  hope  that  he  might  be  able  to  co-operate  with  Burgoyne.  Mi- 
nisters perceiving  that  the  evidence  adduced  was  not  only  intended,  but 
directed  to  the  crimination  of  themselves,  much  more  than  an  inquiry  in- 
to the  conduct  of  the  general,  proposed  to  call  witnesses  on  the  other 
side.  The  chief  evidences  were  major-general  Robertson,  deputy-go- 
vernor of  New-York,  and  INIr.  Joseph  Galloway,  an  American  lawyer, 
who,  after  having  been  a  member  of  the  first  congress,  joined  the  British 
army.  The  testimony  of  Mr.  Robertson  rather  expressed  general  disap- 
probation of  sir  William  Howe's  conduct,  than  advanced  particular  char- 


504  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXII.— 177y. 

[AbandonmeMt  of  llie  inquiry  ] 

ges :  Mr.  Giilloway's  accusations,  specific  and  direct,  included  the  va- 
rious topics  of  military  error  or  iniscoiuluct  which  had  been  so  repeatedly 
alleged  against  tlie  general,  lint,  without  questioning  tlie  veracity  of 
Mr.  Galloway,  his  competency  may  be  doubted  :  he  was  chiefly  stating, 
not  facts,  but  opinions,  of  which  the  sid)ject  was  a  detailed  series  of  niiu- 
tary  operations  :  and  i\e  being  no  military  man,  the  less  authority  was 
due  to  his  judgment.  ]\Ir.  Galloway  made  one  very  extraordinary  asser- 
tion, that  tour  fifths  of  the  Americans  were  zealously  attached  to  the  Brir; 
tish  government;  if  the  jironortion  of  loyalists  had  been  really  so  great, 
they  could  have  easily  overpowered  the  revolters,  without  tlie  assit^tance 
of  one  British  soldier :  so  exaggerated  an  account,  msinifesting  at  least 
glaringly  inaccurate  observation,  very  nnich  weakened  the  credibility  of 
his  assertions.  Sir  \V  illiam  Howe  requested  leave  to  call  witnesses  to 
controvert  Mr.  Galloway's  asseverations :  rnuiisters  objected  to  this 
mode,  as  productive  of  too  much  delay;  he  was,  however,  allowfcd  to 
cross-examine  this  witness.  A  d;iy  being  fixed  for  that  purpose,  and  sir 
AN  illiam  not  having  attended  at  the  appcjinted  hour,  the  committee  was 
suddenly  dissolved,  and  the  question  at  issue  was  left  undecided.  Op- 
position had  eaiierly  demanded  and  prosecuted  an  inquiry,  while  the  tes- 
timony in  exculpating  the  commander  tended  to  criminate  ministry;  but 
when  the  evidence  took  a  diiibrent  turn,  their  ardour  manifestly  subsided. 
jiespecting  general  Howe,  the  principal  witnesses  in  his  favour  were 
much  more  com[)etent  than  the  principal  witnesses  against  him  :  lord 
( 'ornwallis  and  general  Grey,  military  men,  spoke  concerning  actions  in 
which  they  were  themselves  engaged ;  Mr.  Galloway,  not  a  military  man, 
spoke  from  hearsay.  It  must,  however,  be  observed,  that  in  inquiries 
concerning  irliai  ml(>lil  hare  been  done,  testimony  is  necessarily  inference, 
not  the  result  of  recollection  and  veracity,  but  also  of  opinion  and  conjec- 
ture. The  judgment  of  the  wisest  men,  concerning  subjects  in  which 
they  are  |)eculiarly  skilled,  may  be  warped  l>y  their  afrectif)ns.  Many 
other  professional  men,  having  considered  in  detail  the  force  and  opportu- 
nities of  general  Howe,  drew  a  totally  dillerent  conclusion. 

Whatever  estimate  the  impartial  reader  may  have  formed  of  thcrnerit 
of  general  Howe's  exertions,  he  must  immediately  perceive,  that  the 
inquiries  proved  ministers  to  have  contiiuK  d  in  that  .state  of"  misinforma- 
tion and  ignorance  respecting  the  sentiments  of  the  Americahs,  in  wiiich 
their  fatal  plans  and  measurers  originated  ;  and  also,  that  they  did  not 
send  to  America  the  force  which  the  general  retiuired.*  Ministers,  by 
patronizing  Mr.  Galloway,  and  other  accusers  of  the  late  commander, 
demonstrated  themselves  disposed  In  promote  aiiopinion  of  his  culpa- 
bility. If  they  conceived  the  late  conunander  not  to  have  discharged  his 
duly,  ministers,  in  not  ordering  a  court-martial  to  estaiilish  the  imputed 
misconduct,  neglected  their  duties  to  their  king  and  country;  if  they 
thonirht  him  innocent,  it  was  mean  and  illiberal  in  them  to  favour  and 
pcu'^ion  his  revilers  rj"   if  he  was  guilty,  they  acted  weakly  and  timidly  in 

•  Our  immortal  war  minister,  sccrftary  I'ilt,  tificr  lie  pl.iniicd  an  expcdi'ioti, 
and  sciecterl  an  <)ffii;er  tocioiuliicl  it,  iniiiie<liately  tiskcr!  him,  whatCofcc  lie  would 
deem  necessary  ?  On  beinpf  informecJ,  lie  always  nrdcrerl  a  still  stronger  aima- 
mcnt ;  hut  diHerent,  indeed,  was  the  war  minister  of  1759,  from  the  war  minis- 
ter of  1777. 

I  Mr.  (ialloway,  and  several  otlu  rs  of  inferior  note,  who  in\eiglied  acjainsl  ge- 
nera! Howe,  received  pensions,  (iallowaj's  evidence  was  pnl)lislicd  in  a  patn- 
phlet,and  cnculated  with  great  industry  by  the  friends  of  administration. 


1779.— Chap.  XXII.  liKIGN  01'  GKO!{(;i:  Iir.  5Q3 

[[iiquiry  into  tiie  conduct  of  g-eiieral  Biii-ijoyne.     Kiots  in  Scotland.] 

not  bringing  forward  the  proofs.  Lord  North  and  his  colleagues,  how- 
ever, are  exempted  from  one  charge,  often  adduced  against  the  counsel- 
lors who  have  appointed  a  commander  in  chief  to  conduct  an  expedition 
that  proves  unsuccessful.  His  military  reputation  at  Ike  lime,  he  received 
this  last  commission,  justified  the  appointment  ;  though  there  might  be 
persons  whose  expectations  were  not  fuHilled  by  giuieral  Howe's  cam- 
paigns, none  could  with  justice  at  the  outset  have  atnrmrd  that  he  was 
a  man  whose  talents  and  character  did  not  justify  reasonable  expecta- 
tions of  success. 

General  Burgoyne  also  insisted  on  an  inquiry  into  his  conduct.  On 
his  return  from  America  the  former  year,  he  iiad  applied  for  a  court- 
martial  ;  which  was  refused  him,  on  the  groimd  that  while  he  was  pri- 
soner his  preceding  conduct  was  not  cognizable  by  any  tribunal  in  this 
country.  He  had  been  refused  admittance  to  the  sovereign,  and  corn- 
plained  loudly  of  the  court  and  ministry  ;  he  repeatedly  solicited  a  par- 
liamentary investigation,  but  Germaine  had  declared  that  his  request 
could  not  be  granted  until  after  a  military  scrutiny,  which  he  affirmed  to 
be  at  that  time  impracticable  ;  and  when  an  inquiry  was  allowed  to  gene- 
ral Howe,  Burgoyne  having  resumed  his  solicitation,  his  requisition  was 
at  last  agreed  to.  The  principal  witnesses  were,  sir  Guy  Carleton,  the 
earl  of  Balcarras,  captain  Money,  the  earl  of  Harrington,  major  For- 
bes, captain  Bloomfield  and  colonel  Kingston.  The  evidence  tended  to 
overthrow  some  severe  charges  and  censures  which  had  been  insinuated 
or  directed  against  Burgoyne's  conduct,  and  particularly  detected  two 
falsehoods  then  very  commonly  believed  :  first,  that  general  Philips,  tho 
evening  before  the  convention  of  Saratoga,  offered  to  force  his  way,  with 
a  specified  part  of  the  army,  from  Saratoga  back  to  Ticonderoga :  se- 
condly, that  4he  late  gallant  Fraser  had  expressed  the  utmost  disappro- 
bation of  the  measure  of  passing  the  Hudson^s  river.  The  question, 
however,  was  undecided,  whether  his  orders  for  proceeding  to  Albany 
were  peremptory  or  conditional :  some  doubts  were  also  left,  respecting 
both  the  design  and  the  mode  of  conducting  the  expedition  to  Benning- 
ton. These  inquisitorial  proceedings  occupied  parliament  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  session. 

Riots,  which  had  arisen  in  Scotland  from  groundless  apprehensions 
concerning  popery,  were,  by  the  ingenuity  of  opposition,  made  subjects 
of  accusation  against  ministry.  The  Roman  catholic  bill,  that  passed 
during  the  preceding  session,  excited  great  alarms  in  North  Britain,  as 
it  was  supposed  to  be  the  intention  of  parliament  to  extend  the  relief  to 
the  Scottish  catholics.  When  the  law  was  enacted  in  1778,  the  general 
assembly  of  the  church  of  Scotland  happened  to  be  sitting.  The  welf 
intended  but  unadvised  zeal  of  some  members  of  that  respectable  body, 
proposed  for  clerical  discussion  the  late  act,  and  made  a  motion  for  pe- 
titioning the  legislature  not  to  extend  the  bill  or  any  of  its  provisions  to 
Scotland,  and  supported  the  proposition  by  detailing  the  common  ar- 
guments against  popery.  Mr.  Dundas,  a  lay  member  of  the  assembly, 
showed  that  the  law  repealed  in  England  had  not  originated  in  fear  of 
popery,  and  was  not  intended  as  a  bulwark  against  its  encroachments, 
hut  sprang  from  a  design  of  tho  jacobite  party  to  render  king  William  and 
his  whig  ministers  unpopulnr:  that  the  Jacobites  expected  the  whigs 
would  oppose  that  bill,  and  intended  to  impute  that  opposition  to  a  par- 
tiality for  the  Romish  faith  ;  but  that  tho  whigs  perceiving  the  object  bf 

Vol.  VH.— 64 


5(J5  HISTORY  or  THE  Chap.  XXII,— 1779. 

[li-elanil.     liiipture  witli  Spain.] 

their  adversaries,  sutVered  it  to  pass,  though  very  inconsistent  with  their 
princi[>les  of  tVeedom  and  toleration.*     Doctor  Robertson,  with  some 
able  coadjutors  uf  his  own  order,  deprecated  the  agitation  which  tended 
so  much  to  excite  the  alarm  and  discontent  of  the  people,  and  demon- 
strated the  absurdity  of  anticipating  the  intention  of  legislature,  by  pe- 
titioning parliament  aiiainst  a  bill  not  actually  proposed.     The   motion 
was  negatived  through  the  influence  of  those  able  and  enlightened  men, 
though  it  produced  the  eflect  which  their  sagacity  had  apprehended.   The 
populace  was  soon  taught  to  conceive,  that  the  successful  opposition 
sprang  from  a  predilection  for  the  popish  doctrines,  and  burned  with  zeal 
against  antichrist.     To  oppose  popery,  associations  were  formed  by  the 
lower  classes  in  Glasgow,   Edinburgh,  and  other  towns,  under  the  insti- 
gation and  conduct  of  fanatical  and  turbulent  demagogues ;    and   the 
populace  rose  to  tumult  and  riot  in  various  places.     At  Edinburgh  and 
Glasgow  the  enthusiastic  spirit  fermented  to  an  alarming  degree  ;  mobs 
set  fire  to  popish  chapels,  and  the  dwelling  houses  of  the  catholics  ;  and 
many  zealots  of  higher  ranks  and  better  opportunities  of  knowledge,  were 
absurd  enough   to  approve  of  these  outrages,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
proper  for  the  people,  spiritedly  to  manifest  their  haired  of  popery.     The 
sufferers  applied  to  Mr.  Burke  to  present  a  petition  to  parliament,  pray- 
ing for  a  compensation  on  account  of  the  losses  which  they  had  sustained. 
In  promoting  this  application,  Mr.  Burke  and  his  friends  very  strongly 
attacked  the  supineness  of  government,  to  which  they  imputed  the  mad 
violence  of  the  populace  ;  but  they  adduced  no  proof  that  ministers  had 
been   negligent,  or  that  the  disturbances  had  arisen  from  causes  over 
which  they  had  any  control. 

Although  this  session  lasted  from  November  to  July,  and  produced 
more  political  debate  than  any  during  the  former  part  of  the  contest ;  yet, 
long  as  it  continued,  and  busy  as  it  was,  its  acts  are  of  very  little  legis- 
lative importance.  The  affairs  of  Ireland  were  again  submitted  to  the 
consideration  of  the  house,  and  various  proposals  were  made  for  afford- 
ing relief  and  as.-istance  to  the  commercial  interest  of  the  sister  kingdom  ; 
but  no  regular  plan  was  formed  respecting  the  nature  or  extent  of  the  aid 
which  was  to  be  expected  and  offered.  The  discussion  was  in  a  consi- 
derable degree  confined  to  barren  generalities.  Several  propositions  were 
at  length  offered,  but  their  practical  consideration  was  deferred  to  the 
following  session. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  the  ministers  brought  a  message  to  parliament 
concerning  a  hostile  manifesto  that  was  presented  by  the  Spanish  am- 
bassador. To  introduce  this  properly  to  the  reader,  it  is  necessary  to 
revert  to  the  king  of  Spain's  cliaracter  and  disposition,  together  with  the 
circumstances  of  the  times.  Though  nothing  could  be  more  contrary  to 
the  solid  interests  of  his  kingdom  than  hostilities  with  Great  Britain,  yet 
Charles  III.  a  monarch  of  weak  understanding,  narrow  views,  and  the 
childish  irritahiiify  of  feeble  minds,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  from  a  fancied 
insult,  cheri.slied  against  England  an  enmity  which  a  real  injury  could 
not  have  justified  when  so  adverse  to  the  commercial  and  political  be- 
nefit of  his  country.  He  was  farther  inflamed  by  that  spirit  of  rivalry, 
which,  in  confined  and  uncornprehensive  understandings,  values  com- 

•  The  author,  wlio  was  preucnt,  reniembTs,  tlint  Mr.  Duiidas,  to  justify  his 
pysition>i,  read  tlie  account  of  tlie  law  IVom  Ruriiftt.'s  ITistorv  of  his  own  Times. 


1779.—CHi.r.  XXir.  REIGN  OF  GliOKGE  111,  ^qj 

[Spanish  manifesto,     liill  respecting  the  militia.] 

parativc  superiority  above  positive  good,     lie  was  more  anxious  to  im- 
pede the  prosperity  of  England,  than  to  advance  the  prospcrit)!  of  Spain. 
In  these  causes  chiefly  originated  the  actual  war  and  intended  hostilities 
which  this  history  has  already  recorded.    When  the  present  quarrel  broke 
out  between  France  and  England,   Spain,  not  yet  prepared  for  the  con- 
test, professed  a  determination  to  observe  a  strict  neutrality.     She  had 
offered  her  services  as  a  mediator  between  the  belligerent  powers,  and 
proposed  to  mix  the  separate  claims  of  France  and  Spain  into  one  view 
and  treaty.     On  tills  principle,  so  strongly  and  justly  reprobated  by  Mr. 
Pitt,  in  the  former  war,  a  negotiation  was  opened.     France  now  pro- 
posed an  armistice,  and  a  congress  to  be  held  at  Bladrid,   whither  the 
colonists  should  be  permitted  to  send  commissioners,  and  meanwhile  bo 
treated   as  an  independent   power.     Both  courts  well  knew  that  these 
terms  were  totally  inadmissible,  on  the  avowed  principles  of  the  court  of 
London  ;   the   offer  was  therefore  nugatory  and  insulting.     Spain  now 
openly  avowed  her  hostile  purposes,  and  on  the  16lh  of  June  delivered 
a  inanifesto  to  the  British  secretary  for  foreign  affairs.     The  manifesto  in 
its  object  was  nearly  the  same  with  those  which  had  been  often  presented 
by  the  courts  of  Versailles  and  Madrid  ;  it  consisted  of  charges,  without 
proof,  of  hostilities   committed   by   England  ;    and    praise,  contrary  to 
proof,  of  the  moderation  and  justice  of  France  and  Spain.     It  contained 
general  allegations,  of  Spanish  territories  invaded,  and  Spanish  subjects 
murdered  by  English,  without  any  specification  of  the  time  and  place  in 
which  the  alleged  atrocities  were  committed,  or  any  evidence  that  they 
had   ever  been  perpetrated.     It  stated  demands  of  satisfaction,  but  ad- 
duced no  evidence   that  complaints  had  over  before  been  made,   or  that 
any  injuries  existed  ;  it  was  merely  a  tissue  of  assertion  without  proof; 
and  which  neither  then,  nor  ever  afterwards,  received  the  slightest  sup- 
port from  documents  or  any  other  evidence.*     As  she,  by  her  hostile 
manifesto,  avowing  her  junction  with  the  enemies  and  revolted  subjects 
of  Great  Britain,  committed  an   act  of  open  and  flagrant  hostility,  and 
brought  no  proof  of  any  previous  hostility  on  the  part  of  England,  Spain 

WAS    EVIDENTLY    THE    AGGRESSOR,  j 

When  the  manifesto  was  laid  before  parliament,  opposition  at  first  pro- 
fessed to  join  in  a  resolution  to  support  the  war  against  the  house  of 
Bourbon  ;  but,  as  they  descended' to  detail,  their  eloquence  was  as  usual 
directed  to  the  crimination  of  ministers,  much  more  than  the  security  of 
their  country.  Lord  North  proposed  to  double  the  militia  ;  he,  however, 
professedly  made  his  proposition  as  a  subject  of  discussion  and  modifica- 
tion. Three  opinions  were  prevalent  on  this  question  ;  one  recommend- 
ed the  adoption  of  the  project  as  it  was  originally  framed  :  the  second 
preferred  a  mixed  scheme,  which,  with  a  small  augmentation  of  the  mi- 

•  See  Spanisli  manifesto  in  state  papers  of  1779. 

f  I  lierein  differ  from  Mr.  Belsliam,  who  asserts  that  Britain  was  tlie  a.a^gressor  ; 
but  as  this  writer  brings  no  poonf  of  the  truth  of  his  assertion,  and  Spain,  by  lier 
commencement  of  hostilities,  brouglit  siicli  proof  against  the  assertion,  I  mns  , 
instead  of  relying  on  the  authority,  rest  upon  tiie  evidence,  that  not  my  couiUry 
but  its  enemies  began  the  war.  I  confess,  tliat,  though,  as  an  liistorian,  I  liold 
myself  bound  to  narrate  the  truth,  whether  favourable  or  unfavoural)le  to  Hritain, 
as  a  Briton  I  feel  more  pleasure  in  recording  its  jii.stice,  than  I  shoukl  derive 
from  being  under  the  necessity  of  exhibiting  its  injustice  ;  and  that  I  have  a  satis- 
faction in  being  convinced  these  islands  did  not  provoke  the  confederacy  of  the 
great,  continental  powers. 


308  HISTORY  OF  THK  CiiAr.  XXII.— 1779. 

[Supplies.     Prorogation  of  parilament.] 

litia,  proposed  to  levy  distinct  voliinteor  corps  ;  and  tlie  third  objected  to 
any  increase  of  the  militia,  and  would  trii.st  to  the  spirit  and  patriotism  of 
the  nobility  and  cenlrv  in  raising  forces  accordmaf  to  the  olTens  which  had 
been  already  made,  and  to  the  ctrorLs  of  the  people,  who  would  unques- 
tionably come  forward  to  defend  their  kinjj  and  country.  The  bill  re- 
ceived such  ^reat  alterations  in  the  house  of  lord.s,  as  totally  to  change 
its  original  nature,  and  in  that  state  it  passed  into  a  law. 

The  supplies  granted  for  1779,  amounted  to  seventy  thousand  sea- 
men, and  thirty  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty  six  soldiers,  besides 
the  army  in  America  and  the  West  Indies,  which,  including  foreign- 
ers, consisted  of  about  forty  thousand.  The  services  of  the  year  were 
then  estimated  to  require  15,072,054/.  The  land  tax  and  duties  upon 
malt  furnished  their  proportions:  seven  millions  were  raised  by  an- 
nuities ;  and  a  lottery,  consisting  of  49,000  tickets,  was  distributed 
among  the  subscribers,  in  the  pioportion  of  seven  tickets,  at  10/.  each 
ticket,  for  every  thousand  pounds  subscribed.*  Lord  North  said  he 
wanted  to  have  borrowed  eight  millions,  but  could  procure  no  more 
than  seven.  The  whole  amount  of  the  money  raised  by  a  lottery,  was 
to  be  distributed  into  prizes.f  The  sinking  fund  furnished  2,071,854/. 
Exchequer  bills  to  the  amount  of  3,400,000/.  were  voted;  and  other 
less  considerable  articles  of  revenue  con)pleted  the  ways  and  means. 
A  vole  of  credit  for  a  million,  was  afterwards  passed  ;  and  the  whole 
navy  debt  was  left  undischarged.  The  terms  on  which  the  loan  was 
filled,  were,  besides  the  doviceur  of  lottery  tickets,  three  per  cent. /ut 
annum,  and  an  anntiity  of  SI.  1 5.9.  for  the  term  of  twenty-nine  years, 
for  every  100'.  The  annual  interest  payable  on  the  money  borrowed 
amounted  to  472,500/;  to  raise  whicli,  an  additional  duty  of  five  per 
cent,  was  laid  on  the  full  produce  of  Uie  excise,  (beer,  ale,  soap,  can- 
dles, and  hides  excepted,)  which  was  estimated  at  V82,109/.  ;  a  tax  on 
post  horses  of  one  penny  a  mile,  164,250/. ;  and  an  additional  duty  of 
five  per  cent,  on  cambric,  36,000/.  Various  strictures  were  made  on 
the  profusion  of  public  money,  and  motions  of  inquiry  and  censure 
■were  repeatedly  proposed,  and  respectively  negatived,  by  ministerial 
majorities.  Tlic  session  was  closed  on  the  3d  of  July,  by  a  speech  in 
which  the  king  expressed  his  cordial  thanks  for  the  exertions' of  par- 
liament for  the  public  welfare  in  tlie  various  departments  of  national 
service.  lie  rejoiced  that  the  courage  and  constancy  of  his  ])eople 
rose  with  the  difficulties  which  they  had  to  encounter;  and  doubted 
not,  that  their  efforts  would  finally  prevail  against  their  multiplied 
enemies. 

•   History  of  Drltaiii  during  lord  North's  .Vdiiiinistration,  p.  355.       j  Iliid. 


1779 —CnAF.  XXIII.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  5Q9 


CHAP.  XXIIl. 


Hostilities  in  tlie  West  Indies, — Superior  force  of  the  French. — British,  notwith- 
standing', capture  St.  Lucie. — Byron  sails  northwards  to  escort  the  mercantile 
fleet — in  his  absence  D'listaing  captures  Dominica,  St.  Vincent's,  and  Grena- 
da.—Engagement  between  the  French  fleet  and  Hyron's  indecisive.— North 
America — Expedition  to  Georgia  under  colonel  Campbell — who  reduces  the 
province.  —  Alaitland's  battle  with  Lincoln — impetuous  courage  of  Eraser's  high- 
landers. — U'Estaing,  with  a  large  force,  arriving  in  Georgia,  invests  Savannah. — 
Memorable  defence  of  that  town  by  the  British — the  siege  is  raised.— Clinton 
continues  a  war  of  detachments. — Gallant  exploits  of  the  British  troops,  without 
any  important  result — Europe. — Perilous  situation  of  Britain.—  Combined  fleet 
parade  in  the  channel. — English  fleet,  in  imitation  of  Drake,  endeavours  to  draw 
their  armada  to  the  narrow  seas. — Enemy  retreat.  —  France  threatens  an  inva- 
sion.— Loyal  and  patriotic  spirit  and  efl'orts  of  all  parlies  to  resist  the  enemy. — 
Voluntary  contributions. — British  fleet  keeps  the  seas,  and  protects  our  trade. — 
Investment  of  Gibraltar. 

The  first  waflike  operations  of  1779  were  in  the  West  Indies: 
hostilities,  indeed,  liad  commenced  there  in  1778,  but  so  late  in  the 
season,  that,  not  to  break  the  unity  of  the  narrative,  I  include  them  in 
the  account  of  the  present  year. 

A  considerable  force  had  been  stationed  in  the   French  West  In- 
dies, under  the  marquis  de  Bouille,  who,   by  a  sudden  attack,  made 
himself  master  of  the  island  of  Dominica.    The  success  of  this  enter- 
prise caused  a  general  alarm  through  the  British  islands;  the  defence 
of  which  was  then  intrusted  to  two  ships  of  the  line,  under  admiral 
Barrington.    A  re-enforcement,  however,  consisting  of  three  ships  of 
the  line,  three  of  fifty  guns,  and  three  frigates,  joined  the  admiral  in 
the  trtonth  of  December,  having  on  board  general  Grant,  with  a  large 
body  of  land  forces.  The  British  armament,  with  this  accession,  sailed 
for  St.,  Lucie,  and    arrived   there  on  the  thirteenth    of   December. 
D'Estaing  now  reached  Martinique,   and  being  joined  by  transports 
with  nine  thousand  troops  on  board,  conceived  the  hopes  of  crushing 
the  small  fleet  which  Barrington  commanded,  and  reducing  most  of 
the  windward  British  islands,   before  admiral  Byron  could  come  to 
their  assistance :  he   threatened  Barbadoes,  St.  Vincent's,  Grenada, 
and  Tobago;  but  learning  the  unexpected  attack  that  was  made  upon 
St.  Lucie,  he  was  for  the  time  obliged  to  derange  his  plans,  and  con- 
fine himself  to  defence.    On  the  17th  of  December  he  landed  at  St. 
Lucie:  the  following  day,  he  assailed  the  British  forces  ;  and,  though 
much  superior  in  number,  after  an  obstinate  contest,  was  defeated  and 
obliged  to  abandon  the  island,  which  soon  after  surrendered   to  the 
British  arms.    On  the  6th  of  January,  Byron's  Hcet  arriving  at  St.  Lu- 
cie, rendered  our  forces  superior  to  the  French  ;  whereupon  D'Es- 
taing now  acted  on  the  defensive,  and  for  five  months  kept  himself  in 
harbour  within  the  bay  of  Fort  Royal.  Both  fleets  received  re-enforce- 
ments during  the  winter  ;  the  English  were  joined  by  a  squadron  of 
ships  under  commodore  Pvowlcy,  and  the  French  by  an  armament 
headed  by  count  de  Grasse. 


510  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXlII.~irr9. 

[Capture  of  Grenada,  etc.  by  the  French.    North  America.] 

Admiral  Byron,  on  the  6th  of  June,  left  St.  Lucie,  to  conduct  the 
merchant  ships  which  were  appointed  to  assemble  at  St.  Christo- 
pher's previously  to  their  departure  for  England.  In  the  absence  of 
the  British  fleet,  D'Estaing  commenced  offensive  operations  :  a  force, 
consisting  of  four  thousand  and  fifty  men,  under  the  command  of  che- 
valier de  Trolong  du  Romain,  sailed  from  Martinique  for  St.  Vin- 
cent's, where  they  arrived  on  the  12th  of  June  ;  they  immediately  ef- 
fected a  landing,  and  opened  a  communication  with  the  Caribbs.  The 
original  inhabitants  of  the  island,  who  considered  the  British  settlers 
as  intruders  on  their  possessions,  were  ready  to  join  the  French. 
The  garrison  consisted  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  effective  men,  be- 
sides those  who  were  confined  by  sickness  ;  with  such  a  handful  of 
men,  conceiving  defence  impracticable,  lieutenant-colonel  Ethering- 
ton,  the  commander  of  the  forces,  and  Mr.  Valentine  Morris,  the  go- 
vernor of  the  island,  surrendered  St.  Vincent's  on  the  same  terms 
Avhich  had  been  granted  to  Dominica.  Re-enforced  by  La  Motte  Pi- 
quette,  who  arrived  with  troops  and  naval  stores  from  Europe,  D'Es- 
taing  sailed  against  Grenada,  having  twenty-six  ships  of  the  line,  and 
near  ten  thousand  land  forces.  The  fate  of  the  island  was  inevitable  ; 
but  the  resolute  defence  made  by  lord  Macartney,  the  governor,  long 
protected  the  settlement,  imtil  a  hill  that  commanded  the  fort  being 
forced,  the  Britisli  leader  proposed  to  capitulate ;  but  the  French  ge- 
neral having  proposed  terms  unusually  hard,  the  fort  and  island  were 
necessitated  to  surrender  at  discretion.  The  appearance  of  the  Eng- 
lish fleet,  consisting  of  twenty-one  ships  of  the  line,  though  too  late  to 
save  Grenada,  interposed  seasonably  for  the  preservation  of  Tobago, 
the  only  possession  wliich  remained  to  England  of  the  islands  which 
were  ceded  to  her  at  the  peace  of  Paris.  A  partial  engagement  fol- 
lowed, in  which  admiral  Harrington,  in  the  Prince  of  Wales,  with  the 
captains  Sawyer  and  Gardner,  in  the  Boyne  and  Sultan,  sustained  the 
whole  weight  of  ihc  French  van.  The  action  was  indecisive;  many 
of  our  ships  suR'ered  considerable  damage,  especially  in  their  rig- 
ging ;  and  admiral  Barrington  received  a  slight  wound.  The  rapidly 
successive  loss  of  our  three  valuable  islands,  had  greatly  alarmed  our 
remaining  West  India  possessions :  but  the  approach  of  the  hurri- 
canes, added  to  the  loss  of  men  in  the  last  action,  repressed  any  fur- 
ther attempts  of  D'Eslaing  during  that  season  ;  and  he  soon  after 
sailed  for  North  America. 

The  contrivers  of  a  project,  which  notwithstanding  the  failure  of 
expected  success,  they  still  deem  practical^lc,  must  rest  their  hopes 
of  ultimate  attainment  on  a  variation  of  means.  Repeated  discomfit- 
ure did  not  convince  British  ministers  that  the  colonies  were  not  to 
be  subdued  ;  still  our  counsellors  conceived  they  might  be  reduced 
through  a  change  of  plans,  wiiich  should  be  carried  into  execution  by 
more  skilful  and  vigorous  ettbris.  Alteration  of  sciiemes  was  one  of 
the  chief  characteristics  of  the  belligerent  policy  of  government  du- 
ring the  contest  with  America,  which,  in  a  great  measure,  was  a  war 
of  experiments. 

The  northern  provinces  had  been  the  first  scenes  of  hostilities,  and 
afterwards  the  middle  states  ;  but  the  southern  colonies,  with  little 
interruption,  had  been  exempted  from  invasion.  Overthrow  in  the 
north,  and  incfliciency  in  the  middle,  government  now  hoped  would 
be  compensated  by  victory  in  the  south  ;  thither  it  was  resolved  to  di- 


1779.— Chap.  XXIIl.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  511 

[State  of  the  soullicrn  provinces.    Kxpedition  to  Georgia.] 

rect  our  efforts,  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  conflict,  Georgia, 
the  Carolinas,  and  Virginia,  were  the  principal  theatres  of  active  en- 
terprise. 

Since,  indeed,  it  was  resolved  to  persevere  in  the  attempted  reduc- 
tion, there  were  strong  reasons  for  carrying  our  arms  to  the  southern 
provinces  :  these  colonies  produced  the  commodities  which  were 
most  wanted,  and  most  valuable  in  the  European  markets.  France 
took  off  an  immense  quantity  of  their  staple  products,  and  the  quiet 
and  security  which  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed,  admitted  so  vigorous  a 
cultivation,  that  their  export  trade  seemed  little  otherwise  affected  by 
the  war,  than  what  it  suffered  from  the  British  cruisers.  Thus,  in  ef- 
fect, the  continental  credit  in  Europe  was  principally  upheld  by  the 
southern  colonies;  and  they  became  the  medium  through  which  they 
received  those  supplies,  that  were  not  only  indispensably  necessary  to 
the  support  of  the  war,  but  even  to  the  conducting  of  the  common  bu- 
siness and  affairs  of  life.*  Besides,  it  was  believed  that,  in  the  pro- 
vinces in  question,  a  much  greater  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  was 
well  affected  to  the  British  government,  than  upon  trial  had  been 
found  among  their  northern  countrymen  ;  and  ministers,  in  spite  of 
experience,  received  those  rumours  as  authentic  information.  It  was 
therefore  resolved  to  make  an  essay  in  the  south,  and  to  begin  with 
Georgia.  This  province,  though  in  itself  neither  great  nor  powerful, 
possessed  considerable  importance  as  a  granary  to  the  invaders,  and 
a  road  to  farther  progress.  It  was  extremely  fruitful  in  rice,  and  thus 
could  supply  provisions  to  the  royalists  when  at  such  a  distance  from 
their  principal  magazines  ;  and  being  contiguous  to  East  Florida,  a 
loyal  colony,  where  general  Prevost  was  stationed  with  a  body  of 
troops,  if  recovered,  would  prove  a  key  to  the  Carolinas.  These  rea- 
sons determined  the  British  to  undertake  an  expedition  to  Georgia  ; 
and  towards  the  close  of  the  preceding  year,  the  undertaking  was 
■  commenced  by  a  detachment  from  the  main  army. 

The  land  force  destined  to  execute  this  project,  consisted  of  the  se- 
venty-first regiment,  two  battalions  of  Hessians,  and  four  of  North  and 
South  Carolina  loyalists,  with  a  body  of  artillery,  amounting  in  all  to 
three  thousand  five  hundred  men,  under  the  command  of  lieutenant- 
colonel  Campbell.  Major-general  Prevost  was  ordered  to  join  the  ex- 
pedition from  East  Florida,  and  take  the  command  of  the  whole  ;  but 
80  ably  did  Campbell  form  his  plans  of  attack,  and  so  well  was  he  sup- 
ported by  the  spirit  and  bravery  of  his  little  army,  and  the  cordial  and 
zealous  co-operation  of  commodore  Parker  and  the  naval  forces,  that 
the  reduction  of  the  province  was  completed  before  the  arrival  of 
Prevost. 

Having  left  New-York  in  November,  1778,  the  British  commander 
arrived,  on  the  23d  of  December,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  river, 
upon  which  Savannah,  the  capital  of  Georgia,  is  situated,  about  fifteen 
miles  from  the  sea.  Near  the  metropolis,  but  farther  down  the  river. 
How,  the  American  general,  was  stationed  with  several  regiments,  for 
the  double  purpose  of  opposing  the  landing  of  the  British,  and  pro- 
tecting the  town.  Not  fearing  these  adversaries,  Campbell,  on  the 
29th,  disembarked  his  troops,  in  the  face  of  the  provincial  musketry 
and  artillery.    The  first  that  reached  the  land  was  captain  Cameron, 

•  See  Annual  Register,  1779,  p.  29. 


512  IllSTOUY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXlII.-17r9. 

[Defeat  of  the  Americans.     Progress  of  the  British  army.] 

with  the  light  infantry  of  Fraser's  highlanders  ;  the  Americans  re- 
ceived them  with  a  general  volley,  by  which  the  captain  and  a  few 
others   were  killed.     The  native  courage  of  the  highlanders,  by  the 
death  of  tlieir  commander  stimulated  to  revenge,  hurried  on  with  a 
force  which  numbers  in  vain  endeavoured  to  oppose,  and  drove  the 
Americans  to  the  woods.  Campbell,  pursuing  the  dismayed  foes,  over- 
took them  at  a  post  near  Savannah,  which  was  so  strong  as  to  induce 
How  to  risk  an  engagement.   His  right  was  covered  by  a  thick  woody 
swamp,  and  the  houses  of  a  plantation  filled  with  riflemen  ;  his  left 
reached  the  rice  marshes  upon  the  river  ;  tlic  town  and  fort  of  Savan- 
nah protected  the  rear;  the  artillery  was  disposed  advantageously  on 
both  sides,  and  a  trench  of  one  hundred  yards  wide,  together  with  a 
marshy   rivulet,   guarded  the  front.    The  colonists  being  somewhat 
more  accessible  on  the  left  than  in  any  other  situation,  there  they  ex- 
pected the  brunt  of  the  British  attack,  and  thither  directed  their  chief 
attention  and  vigilance.     The  sagacity  of  Campbell  discovered  their 
opinions  and   views  ;  and  farther  to  encourage  their  belief,  made  a 
feint  to  send  troops  in  that  direction.    Meanwhile  having  discovered 
a  private  path  on  the  right  of  the  enemy,  he  despatched  sir  James 
Baird,  with  the  light  troops,  to  turn  the  enemy's  rear  :  conducted  by 
a  negro  through  the  secret  track,  liaird  accomplished  his  object  and 
assailed  the  Americans.    Campbell  finding  that  the  stratagem  had  suc- 
ceeded, now  bore  on  the  enemy  in  front.    Thus  surrounded,  the  pro- 
vincials were  completely  defeated  and  routed,   with  the  loss  of  four 
hundred  men,  while  only  seven  of  the  British  fell.    This  victory  de- 
cided the  fate  of  Savannah,  which  yielded  without  farther  struggle  ; 
all  Lower  Georgia  followed  its  example  ;  and  a  great  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  not  only  abstained  from  resistance,  but  even  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance.    The  next  care  of  Campbell  was  to  form  regulations  for 
the  tranquillity  and  government  of  the  province  ;  which  duty  he  ef- 
fected with  great  policy  and  ability.*    He  now  resolved  to  prosecute 
his  success  by  an  expedition  into  Upper  Georgia,  where  many  were 
said  to  be  well  disposed  towards  the  IBritish  government,  and  only  to 
wait  for  the  support  of  the  king's  troops,  that  they  might  with  safety 
declare  their  attachment.    The  march  of  Campbell,  therefore,  into  the 
inland   country   had  a  double  object;  to  establish  a  communication 
with  the  loyalists,  and  to  reduce  the  remaining  part  of  Georgia.    Au- 
gusta, the  second  town  of  the  province,  lies  upon  liie  southern  l)ank  of 
the  river  Savannah,  and  is  distant  from  the  sea-coast  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles.  The  previous  arrangements  necessary  for  march- 
ing through  such  an  extent  of  country,  in  many  places  thinly,  and  in 
some  not  at  all  inhabited,  were  so  well  adjusted  by  lieutenant-colonel 
Campbell,  that  he  met  with  few  interruptions,  except  such  as  arose 
from  the  water  courses  in  his  way,  the  bridges  over  which  were  in 
most  places  destroyed.    Upon  his  approach  to  Augusta,  a  body  of  pro- 
vincials, under  the  command  of  brigadier-general  Williamson,  quitted 
the  to.wn,  and  retreated  across  the  river.f     From  Augusta,  Campbell 
despatched  lieutenant  colonel  Hamilton  towards  the  frontiers  of  Caro- 
lina, to  encourage  the  loyalists  by  assurances  of  protection. 

Alarmed  by  tiie  rapid  advances  of  the  royal  troops,  the  provincials 
made  dispositions  for  arresting  their  progress.    General  Lincoln,  com- 

•  See  Stcdman,  vol.  ii.  p.  79.  ]   Stcdman,  vol.  ii.  p.  106. 


1779.— CnAP.  XXIII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  513 

[Repulse  of  general  Lincoln.    Bravery  of  the  Highlanders.] 

iTiander  of  the  Americans  in  the  south,  soon  arrived  on  the  northern 
bank  with  a  great  and  increasing  force.  Campbell,  not  fiiuling  Au- 
eusia  teni<l)le,  retreated  down  to  Savannah:  while  Lincoln  marched 
along  the  northern  banks,  with  a  view  to  cross  the  river  and  re-con- 
quer Georgia.  While  Lincoln  was  thus  engaged,  general  Prevost  con- 
ceived hopes  of  surprising  Chaileston  :  on  the  lOih  of  May,  accord- 
ingly, the  British  troops  reached  Astley's  Ferry  in  the  evening,  and 
having  passed  the  river,  appeared  before  Charleston  the  following 
clay.  On  the  12ih  the  town  was  summoned  to  surrender,  but  to  no 
purpose.  The  general  having  viewed  the  lines,  was  convinced  that, 
though  unfinished,  they  were  not  to  be  forced  without  a  loss  of  men 
which  he  could  not  spare.  He  knew  that  the  gairison  was  more  nu- 
merous than  his  troops,  and  that  general  Lincoln,  having  heard  of  his 
advance,  was  hastening  lo  its  relief  from  ihe  back  country  with  a  nu- 
merous army ;  he  therefore  retired  towards  Georgia,  took  possession 
of  John's  Island,  a  place  separated  from  the  main  by  a  small  iniei  from 
the  sea,  and  posted  himself,  until  the  arrival  of  anununiiion  expected 
from  New  York.  Hearing  that  Lincoln  was  advancing  lo  Lower  Geor- 
gia, he  dcpaited  for  Savannah,  in  order  to  place  the  fori  in  the  best 
possible  condition  of  defence  ;  and  left  to  colonel  Maitland  the  com- 
mand of  John's  Island,  wiih  a  garrison  consisting  of  the  first  battalion 
of  the  seveniy-first  regiment,  much  weakened  and  reduced  in  its  num- 
bers, a  corps  of  Hessians,  part  of  the  North  and  Sou'h  Carolina  loy- 
alists, and  a  delachnient  of  artillery,  amounting  to  about  eight  hun- 
dred men  fit  for  duty.  General  Lincoln,  apprised  that  the  garrison  was 
in  a  weak  state,  projected  to  cut  it  off;  and  on  the  20th  of  June,  he 
advanced  against  this  handful,  with  about  five  thousand  men.  An  at- 
tack on  the  British  piquets  first  gave  the  alarm ;  on  which  colonel 
Maitland  immediately  ordering  his  soldiers  to  arms,  despatched  two 
companies  of  Highlanders  to  observe  the  motions  of  the  enemy,  until 
he  should  come  up  himself  with  his  whole  force.  The  impetuous  va- 
lour of  those  brave  mountaineers  hurried  them  on  too  far,  and  their 
indignant  courage  forbade  them  to  retrea'.,  when  surrounded  by  supe- 
rior numbers:  falling  in  with  the  left  wing  of  the  provincials,  they 
commenced  an  attack  against  ten  times  their  own  force,  and  main- 
tained the  contest  until  all  their  officers*  were  either  killed  or  wound- 
ed ;  of  the  two  companies,  only  eleven  made  good  their  retreat. f 
This  partial  success  emboldened  the  Americans  to  attack  the  British 
lines,  and  a  regiment  of  Hessians,  overborne  with  the  provincial  force, 
had  given  way,  and  were  communicating  their  confusion  to  the  rest 
ot  our  troops,  when  the  remaining  companies  of  the  Highlanders,  by 
a  movement  equally  judicious,  bold,  and  rapid,  stayed  the  progress  of 
the  American  army,  avenged  the  cause  of  their  fallen  countrymen, 
and  gave  a  decisive  turn  to  the  fortune  of  the  day.  The  heroism  dif- 
fused itself  over  the  British  troops  ;  the  skill  of  colonel  Maitland 
seized  the  happy  moment,  rallied  the  retreating  Hessians,  and  repell- 

•  Among  the  slain  was  their  brave  commander,  captain  Charles  Campbell,  the 
eldest  son  and  heir  of  the  house  of  Ardcliattan  in  Argyleshire,  a  youth  whom  the 
writer  recollects  as  a  class-fellow  at  St.  Andrew's  college,  and  of  high  promise. 
His  conduct,  during  four  campaigns  in  America,  acquired  him  great  military  repu- 
tation, which  he  was  rapidly  increasing,  when,  in  the  24th  year  of  his  age,  he  fell 
fighting  for  Ins  king  and  country. 

t  See  Stedman,  vol.  ii.  p.  117, 
Vol.  VII.— 65 


314  IllSTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXUI.— 1779. 

[Siege  of  Savannah.    Memorable  defence  by  the  British] 

cd  and  routed  the  enemy.  The  Americans,  dispirited  by  so  unsuc- 
cesslul  an  attack,  attempted  no  farther  olTensive  operations  until  the 
unexpected  arrival  of  D'Estaing  re -animated  their  hopes  of  expelling 
the  English  from  Lower  Georgia.  Informed  of  the  coming  of  so 
powerful  an  auxiliary,  Lincoln  marched  to  join  the  French  forces. 
Prcvost  appeared  for  the  defence  of  Savannah,  and  despatched  orders 
to  colonel  ^Luiland  to  repair  thither  with  all  possible  haste  ;  old  forli- 
ficaiions  were  strengthened,  and  new  works  constructed,  under  the 
direction  of  a  masterly  engineer,  captain  Moncricf.  D'Estaing  having 
landed  his  troops  without  waiting  for  the  Americans,  in  terms  of  the 
most  boasting  bravado,  and  illiberal  insolence,  summoned  the  British 
general  to  surrender.  Despising  the  gasconade,  Prcvost  considered 
how  he  might  gain  time  until  the  arrival  of  colonel  .Maitland  ;  he 
therefore  sent  a  civil  answer,  desiiing  a  truce  for  twenty-four  hours. 
The  Frenchman,  in  the  confidence  of  vanity,  doubted  not  that  a  sur- 
render would  be  delermiiied,  and  that  the  period  wanted  was  for  the 
purpose  of  drawing  up  propositions  of  capitulation  ;  he  therefore  com- 
plied with  the  request.  Meanwhile,  colonel  Maitland,  having  marched 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  reached  Savannah  ;  and  thus  re-enforced, 
the  generul  notified  his  resolution  to  defend  the  place  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity. Lincoln  being  now  arrived,  the  combined  'armies  made  dis- 
positions for  carrying  on  the  siege  ;  ground  was  broken  on  the  23d 
of  September,  and  the  British  interrupted  the  operations  by  several 
successful  sallies.  On  the  4th  of  October,  the  batteries  of  the  be- 
siegers being  opened,  a  request  was  made  by  general  Prevost,  that 
the  women  and  children  might  be  permitted  to  leave  the  town,  and 
embark  on  board  vessels  in  the  river,  which  should  be  placed  under 
the  protection  of  the  count  D'Estaing,  and  await  the  issue  of  the  siege. 
This  request,  so  agreeable  to  humanity,  was  refused  in  terms  of  in- 
sulting rudeness  ;  which  showed  that  the  French  commander,  having 
long  proved  himself  destitute  of  the  honour,*  was  no  less  deficient  in 
the  manners,  of  a  gentleman,  and  that  dereliction  of  integrity  often 
brings  along  with  it  a  disregard  for  the  decencies  and  proprieties  of 
civilized  life.  On  the  morning  of  the  yth,  D'Estaing  made  an  attack 
upon  the  British  lines;  two  feigned  assaults  were  intended  to  draw 
the  attention  of  the  besieged  to  the  centre  and  left,  while,  in  two  co- 
lumns, the  main  body  turning  the  right  of  the  British,  should  attack 
the  rear.  The  operations  began  before  day-light :  fortunately,  one  of 
the  enemy's  columns  mistaking  its  way  in  the  darkness,  was  entangled 
in  a  swamp  adjoining  the  fortress,  and  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  Bri- 
tish batteries.  Morning  having  discovered  this  division  not  yet  ex- 
tricated from  the  morass,  the  British  commenced  innmediately  so  hot 
a  fire,  as  not  oidy  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  turning  the  rear,  but 
even  from  forming,,and  destroyed  numbers  of  their  men.  Meanwhile 
D'Estaing  himself,  with  the  other  column,  advanced  against  a  redoubt 
which  served  as  an  outwork  for  the  garrison  ;  the  combat  became  ex- 
tremely fierce  and  desperate  ;  for  a  few  minutes  a  French  and  Ame- 
rican standard  was  planted  on  a  parapet.  The  contest  for  the  possess- 
ion of  the  redoubt  was  long  maintained  by  both  sides  ;  when  lieutenant 
colonel  Maitland,  seizing  the  critical  moment,  ordered  the  grenadiers 
of  the  sixtieth  regiment,  with  the  marines,   to  move  forward,  and 

•  He  had  broken  his  parole  in  a  former  war. 


17r9.— Chap.  XXIH.  UKIC.N  OF  GE01{GK   HI.  515 

[Siege  raised.    Clinton  continues  his  plan  of  predatory  warfare,] 

charge  the  enemy's  coluiun,  already  stat^gerinej,  under  the  obstinate 
resistance  at  the  redoubt,  and  the  slaiit^luer  which  had  been  made  by 
ihc  artillery  from  the  different  batteries,  as  well  as  from  the  Gerniaine 
armed  brip;.  This  well-timed  movement  decided  the  fate  of  the  at- 
tack:  the  assailants  were  repulsed,  driven  out  of  the  ditch  of  ilie  re- 
doubt, and  routed  with  redoubled  slaughter,  leaving  behind  tliem,  in 
killed  and  woimded,  six  hundred  and  thirty-seven  of  the  French 
troops,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  of  the  Americans.  The  issue 
of  this  battle  determined  the  siege  ;  tiie  allies  separated  ;  the  Ameri- 
cans retreated  to  South  Carolina<  and  the  French  returned  to  their 
ships.  Soon  after  their  embarkation,  their  fleet  was  dispersed  by  a 
storm;  D'Eslaing,  with  part  of  the  ships,  sailed  for  France,  and  the 
rest  returned  to  the  West  Indies. 

In  the  northern  provinces,  the  war  this  year  was  carried  on  in  partial 
and  detached  expeditions,  but  productive  of  no  important  event.     Sir 
George  Collier,  who  succeeded  admiral  Gambier  in  the  command  of  the 
fleet,  had  been  employed  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia ;  there,  by  his  ac- 
tivity, enterprise,. and  vigilance,  he  had  destroyed  numbers  of  American 
privateers,  which  hara.sscd  the  coasting  trade  of  the  colonists,  and  pro- 
tected the  British  connnerce  to  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  New- 
foundland fisheries.     For  his  services  in  the  station  being  promoted  to  a 
higher  employment,  he  repaired  to  New-York;  there  sir  Henry  Clinton 
and  he  concerted  an  expedition  to  Virginia,  not  with  any  hopes  of  mak- 
ing a  permanent  impression  on  that  centrical  and  valuable  province,  but 
with  a  view  to  impair  resources  from  which  the  enemy  were  principally 
supplied.    By  the  exports  of  tobacco  from  the  Chesapeake,  the  credit  of 
congress  with  foreign  nations  was  chiefly,  if  not  wholly  supported  ;  and, 
by  the  inland  navigation  of  that  bay,  large  quantities  of  salt  provisions, 
the  produce  both  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  were  conveyed  to  the 
middle  colonies  for  the  subsistence  of  the  American  army.     A  detach- 
ment under  general  Matthew,  consisting  of  eighteen  hundred  men,  ac- 
companied by  sir  George  Collier  with  a  ship  of  the  line  and  four  sloops 
of  war,  made  a  descent  upon  Virginia,  burnt  the  town  of  Suflx)lk,  took  or 
destroyed  an  immense  quantity  of  provisions  and  stores  at  Gosport  and 
other  parts  of  the  coast  at  Portsmouth,  and  a  great  number  of  merchant 
ships  belonging  either  to  the  Americans  or  their  new  allies,  amounting  in 
all  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven.     Having  thus  annoyed  our  enemies 
and  acquired  a  considerable  booty,  the  armament  returned  to  New- 
York.*     General  Clinton  attacked  Verplank's  creek  and  Stony  Point, 
two  important  posts  on  the  Hudson  river,  commanding  the  passage  at 
King's  Ferry,  which  was  the  most  direct  and  convenient  course  of  com- 
munication between  the  northern  and  middle  colonies.    On  the  approach 
of  the  British  troops,  the  forts  were  abandoned:  major-general  Tryon 
and  sir  George  Collier  undertook  an  expedition  against  Connecticut, 
which,  abounding  in  men  and  provisions,  was  a  great  support  to  the 
American  army;  they  successively  reduced  the  several  towns,  took  or 
destroyed  the  provisions,  ammunition,  stores,   artillery,  and  ships,  but 
respected  private  property  as  much  as  possible,  and  treated  the  provin- 

•  Mr.  Belsham,  in  his  narrative,  disapproves  of  these  expeditions  as  inconsist- 
ent with  humanity  ;  as  if  it  were  contrary  to  humanity  to  impair  in  an  enemy  the 
means  of  doing  us  hurt. 


51G       %^^  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXI! l— 1779 

[Enterprises  of  the  Americans.     Kesiilt  of  the  campaign.] 

cinls  with  meritorious  lenity.*  General  Tryon  and  admiral  Collier  now 
proceeded  to  relieve  Penobscot,  wherein  <icneral  Maclean,  with  a  de- 
tachment of  about  six  hundred  and  fifty  British,  had  estabii.vhed  a  post, 
in  order  to  check  the  incursions  of  the  provincials  to  Nova  Scotia.  The 
Americans  attempted  to  surprise  this  fort,  but  finding  the  British  prepar- 
ed for  thoir  reception,  made  dispositions  for  a  regular  siege.  On  the 
12th  of  August,  Maclean  learned  that  the  next  day  an  assault  was  in- 
tended. On  the  1.3th,  however,  no  attack  was  made.  On  the  14th,  the 
garrison  early  in  the  morning  discovered,  to  thoir  great  surprise,  that  the 
enemy  had  evacuated  their  works,  and  in  the  course  of  the  day  found  the 
reason  of  their  departure,  in  the  approach  of  Collier's  squadron.  The 
American  ships  were  taken  or  burnt;  the  soldiers  and  sailors  endeavoured 
to  save  tiiemselves  by  flight,  but  many  of  them  died  of  fatigue.  C  dllier  on 
returning  to  New- York,  was  superseded  by  admiral  Arbuthnot,  and  soon 
afterwards  embarked  for  England.  The  Americans  surprised  Stoney 
Point  so.re  weeks  after  its  capture,  and  having  taken  the  fortress  by  sur- 
prise, behaved  with  Ih*^  most  laudable  humanity  to  the  prisoners;  but  on 
the  approach  of  a  British  detachment,  again  evacuated  the  garrison. 
They  al>o  made  an  attempt  on  Povvles  hook,  a  British  post  on  the  Jer- 
sey shore,  opposite  to  New-York:  Lee  an  American  major,  had  learned 
that  a  party  from  the  garrison  had  gone  up  the  country  to  forage.  Ad- 
vancing at  night  v/ith  three  hundred  men  to  the  gate,  he  was  mistaken 
by  the  sentinel  for  the  officer  who  commanded  the  foraging  party,  and 
being  by  that  means  suffered  to  pass  witli  his  detachment,  seized  two 
redoubts.  IMajor  Sutherland,  commander  of  the  post,  being  alarmed, 
called  together  sixty  Hessians,  whose  vigorous  onset  compelled  the  pro- 
vincials to  retire,  with  about  forty  prisoners:  their  retreat  was  by  military 
men  reckoned  f^xtremely  precipitate. 

General  Clinton,  informed  of  the  arrival  of  D'Esiaing  in  Georgia,  and 
apprehending  a  descent  upon  Now-York,  withflrew  his  troops  from 
Rhode  Island  and  other  detached  posts:  and  concentrating  his  forces, 
acted  on  the  defensive  for  the  rest  of  the  campaign.  Such,  in  this  cam- 
paign, were  the  exploits  of  Clinton's  forces,  whose  efforts  and  achieve- 
ments bore  fresh  testimony  to  British  valour,  but  produced  no  important 
results.  Through  all  our  exertions,  no  progress  was  made  towards  the 
attainment  of  the  object. 

A  war  of  devastation  was  carried  on  between  the  Amcricat's  and  In- 
dians: in  whir-h.  though  the  former  were  mo.-t  frequently  superior,  they 
by  no  m'-ans  subjugated  their  enemies. 

The  Spaniards  this  year  conquered  West  Florida,  and  entirely  expel- 
led the  British  from  the  Mississippi  trade.  To  compensate  this  loss, 
commodore  Lutlerel  and  cat)t:iin  Dahymple  captured  Fort  Omna, 
wherein  they  found  two  register  ships,  estimated  at  640,000/.  with  about 
a  fifth  more  in  other  plunder.  France  made  a  successful  expedition  to 
the  coast  of  .\frifa,  with  a  strong  squadron  dfstined  afterwards  to  re- 
enforce  D'Kstaing  in  the  West  Indies.  The  British  forts,  settlements, 
and  factories,  at  Senegal,  on  the  Gambia,  and  other  parts  of  the  coast, 
beintr  totally  incapable  of  resisting,  each  were  successively  taken. 

From  distant  r<  gions  we  now  return  to  Europe,  wherein  the  combined 
force  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  was  exerted  to  overpower  Great  Britaio 
on  her  own  element,  but  was  exerted  in  vain. 

•  See  Stedman,  vol.  il.  p.  143. 


1779.— HiiAP.  XXni.  HETGN  OF   GEORGE  IH.  517 

[Pt  iiloiis  situation  of  Great  Britain.     Combined  fleet  in  the  channel.] 

Unwise  as  Spain  manifested  herself,  in  peeking  a  contest  with  Eng- 
land, >i)v.  had  dexterously  timed  lun  avowal  ofliostile  intentions:  she  had 
su.ptMtd(il  her  declaration  until  tlic  arrival  of  her  annual  treasures  from 
h'.M- (Ujmmions  in  America,  and  until  she  was  ahle  to  join  the  French 
fleet  in  l'iUro|)e.  On  the  12th  of  June,  the  armament  of  France  sailed 
from  Urest  towards  the  coast  of  Spain;  on  the  IGth,  the  Spanish  minister 
had,  as  we  have  seen,  delivered  the  manifesto;  and,  on  the  24tli  of  the 
sarii"  month,  the  Spanish  fleet  joined  the  French. 

The  situ,iti.)M  of  England  at  this  time  appeared  peculiarly  peri]ou.s. 
She  had  formerly  coped  with  the  iiouse  of  IJourhon,  but  had  not  been 
obliged  to  encounter  its  utidivided  strength.  Her  continental  allies,  by 
employing  a  coui-iderable  part  of  the  land  eflorts  of  our  enemies,  had 
prevented  their  principal  exertions  from  being  directed  to  maritime  ope- 
rations. It  had  been  often  objected  to  her  statesmen,  that  they  too  am- 
bitiously courted  foreign  confederacies;  her  ministers  were  now  censured 
for  their  total  avoidance  of  continental  connexions.  She  had  now  to 
stand  alone  against  the  liourhon  force,  joined  to  her  own  revolted  sub- 
jects ;  and  vvhile  a  great  part  of  her  power  was  employed  against  her  an- 
cient colonies,  a  naval  armament  in  nndtitude  of  men,  number,  and  size 
of  ships,  unprecedented  in  maritime  history,  prepared  to  bear  down 
upon  the  r«miainder.  J^oreign  nations,  seeing  her  in  such  circumstances, 
considered  her  ruin  as  fast  approaching :  but  the  event  soon  showed, 
that  however  unvvij^e  it  may  be  in  Britnin  entirely  to  renounce  alliances 
with  European  neighbours,  vet  in  herself,  in  the  resources  of  her  own 
industry,  aiiility,  and  spirit,  she  possesses  the  means  of  repelling  every 
attempt  of  her  enemies;  gigantic  as  were  the  efforts  they  did  not  avail. 

Before  the  comnicncement  of  tlie  chief  naval  o|)erations,  a  squadron 
of  French  made  an  attempt  upon  the  island  of  Jersey.  This  attack, 
though  easily  repulsed,  produced  important  consequences.  Admiral 
Arbuthnot,  on  the  2d  of  May,  was  proceeding  down  the  channel  with  a 
re-enforcement  of  troops,  and  a  large  supply  of  provisions  and  stores,  to 
join  ;-'ir  Henry  Chnton,  when  he  received  intelligence  that  the  French 
were  in  Jersey;  and,  leaving  his  convoy  at  Torbay,  he  with  his  squadron 
hastened  to  the  relief  of  the  i-sland.  This  laudable  movement,  though 
executed  as  rapidly  as  possible,  besides  being  the  cause  of  considerable 
delay  in  his  own  voyage,  interfered  with  our  plan  for  the  naval  campaign 
in  Europe.  It  being  apprehended,  that  as  "the  season  was  advancing, 
the  Brest  fleet  miglit  be  out,  and  attempt  to  intercept  so  valuable  a  con- 
voy, ten  ships  of  the  line,  under  admiral  Darby,  were  despatched  Irom 
the  channel  fleet  to  conduct  Arbuthnot  beyond  all  probable  danger.  Our 
principal  armament,  which  had  been  intended  to  block  up  the  French  in 
Brest  harbour,  to  prevent  its  junction  with  the  Spaniards,  was  deemed 
inadequate  to  the  service,  until  it  should  be  rejoined  by  Darby.  During 
this  interval,  the  two  fleets  of  our  enemies  were  enabled  to  meet:  when 
united,  they  amounted  to  more  than  sixty  ships  of  the  line,  with  nearly 
an  equal  number  of  frigates;  and  soon  after  their  junction,  this  formida- 
ble armada  steered  towards  the  British  coasts.  Su'Charles  Hardy,  with 
thirty-eight  sail  of  the  line  and  a  smaller  proportion  of  frigates,  was 
cruising  in  the  chops  of  the  channel,  when  the  combined  fleet  passed  him 
considerably  to  the  eastward,  about  the  middle  of  August,  and  proceeded 
as  far  as  Plymouth.  The  enemy  in  their  way  took  the  Ardent,  a  ship  of 
the  line  that  was  saihng  to  join  the  British  admiral.     They  made  no  at- 


51S  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXHI.— 1779. 

[Threatened  invasion  by  the  French.    Patriotism  of  all  parties.] 

tempt  to  land,  but  continued  in  sight  of  Plymouth  several  days.     After 
bavins:  paraded  there  to  the  great  alarm  of  the  people,  a  strong  easterly 
gale  drove  them  out  to  the  ocean:  they  ranged  about  the  lands-end,  Scilly 
islands,  and  adjacent  parts,  till  the  end  of  the  month.     On  the  .31st  of 
AugU;;t,  sir  Charlts  Hardy  entered  the  channel  in  sight  of  the  combined 
fleet,  which  made  no  attempt  to  oppose  his  passage.     The  British  admi- 
ral, like  his  renowned  predecessor  Drake  in  similar  circumstances,  en- 
deavoured to  entice  ttie  enemy  into  the  narrow  seas,  where  they  could 
not  have  .sufficiently  expanded  their  force  :  but  perhaps  dreading  the  fate 
of  the  former  armada,  when  it  presumed  to  brave  England  on  her  own 
element,  they  retired.     Tl;e  enemy  accompanied  this  ostentatious  exhi- 
bition of  their  fleet,  with  tlireats  of  an  invasion  by  a  powerful  army.  The 
northern  provinces  of  France  were  every  where  in  motion;  forces  were 
inarched  down  to  the  coasts  of  Normandy  and  Brittany  ;  the  ports  in  the 
bay  and  in  the  channel  were  crowded  with  shipping;  and  the  general  and 
principal  officers  were  named  by  the  king  to  command  and  act  in  a  grand 
intended  expedition.     Tiie  British  government,  with  suitable  vigilance 
and  af;tivity,  prepared  to  defeat  the  expected  attack.    Numerous  cruisers 
were  .stationed  in  the  channel,  to  watch  the  enemy's  motions;  the  militia 
were  embodied ;  they  and  the  regular  troops  marched  to  our  southern 
coasts,  and  cattle,  horses,  and  whatever  else  could  be  conveniently  mov- 
ed,  were,  !iy  a  proclamation,  driven  into   the  interior  country.     The 
prospect  of  such  danger  roused  the  national  spirit ;  party  disputes  were 
by  the  bulk  of  the  people  for  a  lime  forgotten;  they  no  longer  inquired 
whether  North  or  Fo.x  would  make  the  ablest  minister,  but  agreed  in 
thinkin;^  t!iat  Britain,  an  independent  and   free  state,  was  happier,  than 
she  could  be  as  the  dependent  province  of  an  arbitrary  monarchy.  These 
thoughts,    and    the  consequent  sentiments,  animated    every   loyal  and 
patriotic  heart.     Public  bodies  and  private  individuals  made  voluntary 
contribufioiis  to  raise  men  for  the  defence  of  their  king  and  country.  But 
our  cxb-rlions  were  not  confined  to  defence:  while  this  mighty  arma- 
ment hovered  over  our  coasts,  a  squadron  of  ships,  under  commodore 
Johnstone,  alarni'-d  the  opposite  shores  of  France  ;  our  cruisers  and 
privateers  annoyed  the  trade  of  our  enemies ;  our  own  rich  mercan- 
tile ttvxts  from  the  East  and  West  Indies  came  safe  into  harbour,  while 
the  Bourbo'i  armament  was  at  sea.     The  combined  host  returned  to 
Brest  harbour,  wliere  the  bad  state  of  their  ships  and  sickness  of  their 
crews,  confined  them  to  port  for  the  rest  of  the  campaign.     Thus  the 
approach  of  this  immense  equipment,  and  the  threatened  invasion,  prov- 
ed mere  empty  bravadoes.     Sir  Chailes  Haidy  continued  till  the  begin- 
ni'igof  NovembfT,  to  cruise  with  his  fleet.   In  spite  of  her  combined  ene- 
mies, Britannia  still  ruled  the  waves.     Thp  only  commercial  fleet  that 
was  in  any  danger,  owed  its  peril  to  a  private  adventurer.    Paul  Jones,  in 
the  end  of  .July,  sailed  with  a  sciuadron,  consisting  of  a  forty  gun  ship,  a 
frigatii  of  thirty-six  and  another  of  thirty-two  guns,  a  brig  of  twelve  guns, 
und  a  cutter,  from  port  li'Orient,  to  intercept  our  homeward  bound  fleet 
from  the  Baltic.     The.se  merchantmen  were  under  the  convoy  of  the  Se- 
rapi-^,  of  fortv-f')ur  guns,  captain  Picr.«on,  and  the  Countess  of  Scarbo- 
rough of  twenty   guns,  captain   Percy.     On  the  twenty-third  of  Sep- 
tember, captain  Pierson  having  discovered  the  enemy  off*  Scarborough 
made  signal  to  the  convoy  to  run  ashore  as  soon  as   possible ;  and 
•when  near  enough  to  perceive  the  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  sum- 


irrP— Chap.  XXIII.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  5] 9 

[Capture  of  the  Serapis.     Investment  of  Gibraltar.] 

moned  the  otiicr  fiigate  to  his  side.  Jones,  trustinj;  to  the  numbers 
of  his  men  and  guns,  offered  battle  ;  being  within  musket  shot,  he  attack- 
ed the  Serapis,  and  attempted  to  board  her,  but  was  repulsed.  Caplnia 
Pierson,  after  galUintly  maintaining  the  contest  for  a  hjng  time  against 
the  two  largest  ships  of  the  enemy,  at  length  seeing  no  hopes  of  success, 
in  mercy  to  his  men  struck  his  colours.  Percy  with  his  twenty  gun  ship, 
made  a  no  less  valiant  defence  against  Jones's  fiigate  of  thirty-two,  but 
was  compelled  to  strike.  The  loss  of  the  British  in  killed  and  wounded 
was  great;  but  that  of  the  enemy  much  greater.  Jones's  own  ship  was 
so  greatly  damaged,  that  she  sunk  two  days  afterwards.  In  this  engage- 
ment, two  of  the  king's  ships  were  lost ;  but  their  resistance  saved  the 
whole  convoy,  which  escaped  into  different  harbours. 

One  of  the  principal  objects  of  Spain  was  Gibraltar  ;  accordingly  pre- 
parations were  early  made  for  proceeding  against  that  fortress.  Aware 
of  the  natural  strength  of  the  place,  of  the  number  and  valour  of  its  de- 
fenders, lately  re-enforced  with  troops,  and  supplied  with  ammunition 
and  stores,  the  Spaniards  saw  that  a  siege  would  be  impracticable,  and 
that  the  only  means  of  reduction  was  blockade  :  they  therefore,  in  July, 
invested  it  by  sea  and  land,  but  made  no  impression  during  the  first  cam- 
paign. 


520  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  \XIV.—1779. 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


Character  of  a  statesman. — (ieneral  view  of  lord  North's  administration.— Ardu- 
ous struggle  in  which  Britain  was  engaged.— Her  resources  grow  from  !-.er 
calls.--. Her  eftbrls  rise  with  her  difficulties-  -Meeting  of  Darliument.— The 
king's  speech. --Extraordinary  amendment  proposed  to  the  address.— "Views  of 
opposition.-— Plan  of  systematic  attack  on  ministers,  under  three  general  iieads 
—to  be  respectively  carried  on  under  the  conduct  of  Messrs.  Burke,  F"x,  and 
Dunning.— State  of  Ireland— Alarming  associations. --Lord  North's  plan  for  af- 
fording them  satisfaction  —Bills  passed  for  that  purpose.-  -Motions  in  the  house 
of  peers  by  the  duke  of  Hiclimond  and  earl  Shelburne  respecting  the  profusion 
of  public  money. —  Petitions  by  Yoiksliire  and  London--  Mr.  Burke  undenukes 
the  cause  of  public  economy.— Celebrated  bill  of  reform.— Motions  rcspecmg 
the  increasing  influence  of  the  crown— -Increasing  spirit  of  popular  association: 
-"Incident  which  damped  that  spirit— Protestant  society — extends  fror.i  Scot- 
land to  England. — Lord  George  Gordon  becomes  an  enthusiast  against  popery 
— president  of  the  protestant  society, — Petition  to  parliament  for  a  repeal  of 
the  tolerant  law — supported  by  an  immense  multitude  that  surround  the  par- 
liament house- — Firm  and  manly  conduct  of  the  legislature— Dreadful  riots  in 
London.— Numerous  conflagrations— tremendous  aspect  of  the  burning  metro- 
polis--prisons  broken  open--bank  tlireatened— attempt  to  cut  the  pipes  of  the 
new  river-'-military  re-enforcements  airive— at  length  prove  victorious-  -in- 
surrection crushe<l--tranqulllity  reslored--loud  complaints  ag:iinst  the  li.rd- 
mayor.--Parliamcut  resumes  its  functions.— Supplies.— Session  rises.— -Pailia- 
Tnent  dissolved. 

Among  the  varioti.-5  considerations  that  enter  into  our  estimates  of  the 
♦  onduct  and  character  of  statesmen,  there  are  two  to  which  we  may 
safely  resort  as  just  tests  of  executorial  ability  :  the  first  is  general  and 
comprehcn.^ive,  and  depends  on  the  principles  which  direct  their  thoujihts 
nnd  actions  ;  the  second  is  particular,  and  modified  by  the  exi.'^tirig  case. 
The  former  of  these  tests  consists  in  the  nature  and  tendency  of  the  ob- 
jects pursued,  and  mean.-;  employed  in  the  whfde  system  of  (heir  policy, 
accordins  to  the  fitness  of  which  we  are  enabk  d  to  characterize  their  ad- 
ministration  as  a  series  ;  the  latter  in  the  nature  and  tendency  of  sperific 
ends  and  measures,  which  relate  merely  to  the  circumstances  of  the  tiitie : 
according  to  the  rhoice  and  adaptation  of  these,  we  appreciate  any  piven 
part  of  an  administration.  It  would  be  erroneous  and  feeble  reasoning, 
to  infer,  from  the  want  of  one  species  of  talent,  the  ab.sence  of  every 
other,  There  have  been  ministers,  to  whose  proceedings  we  coidd  not 
apply  the  first  of  these  standards,  as  they  were  evidently  guided  by  no 
fi.xed  prmciples  of  political  science,  and  directed  to  no  determinate  ob- 
jects of  pursuit,  or  concerted  plan  of  conduct,  whose  actions  have  been 
isolated  experiments  for  extrication  from  special  difficulties,  and  not  the 
result  of  any  systematic  policy  for  general  security  again.«t  evil,  or  for  the 
advancement  of  good.  Though  such  men  could  not  be  consummate 
statesmen,  yet  might  they  exert,  in  the  invention  of  expedients,  very  con- 
siderable ingentiity.  In  reviewing  the  policy  of  the  succes.?ive  counsel- 
lors concerned  in  our  disputes  with  America,  and  considering  the  value 
of  the  objects,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  means,  an  attempt  to  discover 
fraad,  comprehensive,  and  beneficially  practicable  principles  and  schemes 


1779.— Chap.  XXIV.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  521 

[General  view  of  lord  North's  administration.     Parliament.] 

would  be  vain.  Ministers  had  reasoned  and  acted  as  political  empirics, 
;md  had  even  evinced  themselves  deficient  in  the  limited  experience  to 
which  an  empiric  trusts.  Their  proceedings  not  only  proved  them  devoid 
of  political  wisdom,  but  of  common  information  on  very  obvious  cases, 
whi(;h  it  behoved  them  to  have  thoroughly  investigated.  It  is  easy  to 
see  that  combined  wi'sdom  and  magnanimity  might  have  avoided  the 
American  war ;  by  abstaining  from  imposts  less  productive,  than  ad- 
vantages which  were  enj(tyed  before  their  enactment ;  by  concession, 
when  more  profitable  than  coercion  ;  by  voluntary  grants,  more  glorious 
than  attempts  to  exact;  or  if  conciliatory  offers  of  renewed  intercourse 
availed  nothing,  by  rather  totally  abandoning  the  object,  than  pert^isting 
in  it  through  means  to  which  the  value  of  the  end  was  so  little  propor- 
tionate. By  not  preventing  the  American  contest,  the  British  govern- 
ment afforded  an  opportunity  for  the  Bourbon  atubition  to  bring  on  the 
French  and  Spanish  wars;  and  thus  far  a  retrospect  of  ministerial  con- 
duct justified  a  conclusion,  that  their  policy  was,  in  its  nature,  feeble,  in- 
consistent, and  unwise,  and  in  its  eftect  prejudicial  to  the  country  ;  but 
when  we  trace  their  counsels  and  nieasures  after  we  were  actually  in- 
volved in  those  evils,  we  find  that  it  frequently  possessed  the  secondary 
merit  of  lessening  the  evils  which  had  b(!en  produced  by  themselves.  In 
the  late  campaign,  the  most  threatening  which  Britain  had  ever  expe- 
rienced, the  preparations  of  ministers  had  vvaided  ofi^'the  dangers:  the 
resistance  of^  Great  Britain  to  a  mighty  combination,  filled  European 
spectators  with  astonishment  and  respect :  her  resources  seemed  to  grow 
with  her  necessities,  and  in  no  part  of  the  world  was  her  naval  or  milita- 
ry glory  obscured.  If  many  considered  ministers  as  the  ultimate  authors 
of  our  miseries,  yet  not  a  few  of  these  admitted  their  recent  exertions 
for  defending  the  country  to  have  been  powerful ;  and  in  viewing  our 
actual  situation,  great  numbers  either  overlooked  or  forgot  the  cause. 
Resentment  and  indignation  against  our  enemies,  absorbed  all  thou.'^hts 
of  the  impolicy  which  had  enabled  their  malignity  to  operate.  Patriot- 
ism called  aloud.  Let  us  punish  our  foes,  and  defend  ourselves  ;  and 
prudence  said.  Reflections  on  the  causes  of  our  state  are  now  too  late, 
our  first  care  ought  to  be,  to  discover  the  means  of  extrication  from  our 
difficulties.  &uch  were  the  sentiments  which  prevailed  in  Britain  ;  and 
if  they  implied  no  strong  approbation  of  ministers,  they  contained  at 
least  little  new  reprehension.  During  the  recess  of  parliament,  some 
partial  changes  took  place  in  the  ministry  :  the  earl  ofGower.  lord  pre- 
sident of  the  council,  resigned  that  high  office,  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
earl  of  Bathurst ;  the  earl  of  Hillsborough  was  appointf'd  secretary  of 
state  for  the  southern  department,  in  the  room  of  lord  Weymouth ;  lord 
Stormont  for  the  northern,  lately  occupied  by  lord  SufTolk  :  but  the  three 
chief  ministers  who  presided  over  the  treasury,  American  and  naval  af- 
fairs, continued  to  hold  their  offices. 

Parliament  met  on  the  25th  of  November.  The  speech  from  the 
throne  observed,  that  we  were  called  upon  by  every  principle  of  duty, 
and  every  consideration  of  interest,  to  exert  our  united  efforts  in  the  sup- 
port and  defence  of  our  country,  attacked  by  an  unjust  and  unprovoked 
war,  and  contending  with  one  of  the  most  dangerous  confederacies  that 
ever  was  formed  against  the  crown  and  people  of  Great  Britain.  Here 
our  king  presented  a  description  of  his  subjects,  which  was  applicable  to 
loyal,  patriotic,  and  magnanimous  Britoos,  then,  and  in  all  ages.  "  I  know 

Vol.  VII.— 66 


<99  IIISTOliY  OF  THE  Guap.  XXIV.— 1779. 

[Plan  of  systematic  attack  upon  ministers.] 

the  character  of  my  brave  people  ;  the  menaces  of  their  enemies,  and 
the  approach  of  danger,  liave  no  other  effect  on  their  minds,  but  to  ani- 
mate their  courage,  and  to  call  forth  that  national  spirit,  which  has  so 
often  checked  and  defeated  the  projects  of  ambition  and  injustice,  and 
enabled  the  Britisli  Heets  and  armies  to  protect  their  country,  to  vindicate 
their  riglits,  and  at  the  same  time  to  uphold  and  preserve  the  liberties  of 
Europe."  In  exhorting  his  parhament  to  persevere  in  such,  efforts  as 
would  maintain  tlie  defence  and  security,  and  promote  the  common 
strength,  \ve:\lth,  and  interest  of  all  his  dominions,  he  particularly  recom- 
mended to  their  deliberations  the  state  of  Ireland. 

An  amendment  of  a  very  extraordinary  nature  was  moved  to  the  ad- 
dress ;  its  purport  was,  to  contrast  the  situation  of  this  country  when  his 
majesty  ascended  the  throne,  with  its  present  slate  when  the  twentieth 
year  of  his  reign  had  commenced  ;  and  in  a  very  copious  and  minute  de- 
tail, which  included  the  principal  events  of  the  reign,  it  professed  to  ex- 
hibit the  outset,  progress,  and  result,  and  represented  our  condition  as 
then  prosperous,  but  now  adverse ;  the  prospect  as  then  splendid,  but 
now  gloomy  ;  imputing  the  alleged  alteration  to  a  change  in  the  plans  of 
government,  it  proposed  to  leave  the  new,  and  return  to  the  old  system. 
Presenting  to  the  sovereign  a  dismal  picture  of  his  dominions,  it  declared 
that.,  in  the  opinion  of  its  proposers,  parliament  would  betray  both  their 
king  and  country,  if  they  did  not  distinctly  state  to  his  majesty,  that 
nothing  but  new  counsels  and  new  counsellors  could  prevent  the  con- 
summation of  public  ruin.  In  this  projected  remonstrance,  the  membens 
of  opposition  departed  from  the  tone  which  they  had  usually  assumed, 
and  demonstrated  that  they  had  now  framed  a  much  more  general  plan  of 
operations,  than  in  any  of  their  former  hostilities  against  ministers.  They 
perceived  that  the  public,  in  contemplating  existing  situations,  began  to 
forget  the  series  of  past  events ;  and  to  recall  these  to  the  minds  of  the 
people,  seems  to  have  been  the  chief  object  of  tlic  proposition  which 
they  now  offered  to  parliament.  Never  was  more  ability  displayed  by 
any  parliamentary  opposition,  than  in  the  plan  of  the  minority  this  ses- 
sion ;  or  more  judgment,  than  in  distributing  the  parts  of  the  execution 
according  to  the  talents  of  the  principal  leaders.  They  undertook  to 
prove,  first  in  general  principle,  and  afterwards  in  detail,  that  the  system 
of  government  was  radically,  and  completely  wrong,  and  that  a  total 
change  was  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  the  country.  The  changes 
were  proposed  to  take  place  in  three  different  departments,  economical, 
constitutional,  and  executorial.  The  expanded  and  philosophical  mind 
of  Burke  was  employed  in  grand  schemes  of  political  economy,  so  much 
the  subject  of  analysis  and  deduction,  since  \\w  publication  of  Smith's  pro- 
found work  ;  and  of  practical  comparison,  from  the  exertions  of  Neckar 
in  the  neighbouring  kingdom.  The  preservation  of  the  constitution,  and 
the  correction  of  alleged  abuses  in  that  admirable  system,  was  the  pro- 
vince a-Mgned  to  him,  whose  vigorous  and  acute  mind,  enriched  with 
legal  knowledge,  sharpened  by  forensic  contention,  and  enlarged,  by 
aenatori.il  deliberation,  had  chosen  for  its  principal  object  the  support  of 
constitutional  law  and  practice  :  to  watch  the  balance  of  the  orders,  to 
correct  the  preponderancy  in  cither  scale,  was  the  task  assigned  to  Mr. 
Dunning  :  while  the  powerful  and  comprehensive  genius,  the  penetrating 
sagacity,  the  bold  and  intrepid  spirit,  the  luminous,  forcible,  and  impres- 
sive eloquence  of  Mr.  Fox,  were  employed  on  the  executorial  conduct 


1779.— Chip.  XXIV.  UEIUN  OF  Gl'.OUGE  III.  523 

[State  of  Ireland.     Alarming  associalions.] 

of  ministers.  The  efiorts,  therefore,  of  opposition,  besides  various  and 
separate  objects  of  attack,  were  this  session  principally  directed  to  poli- 
tical economy,  the  balance  of  the  constitution,  and  the  conduct  of  admi- 
nistration, under  three  distinguished  leaders  respectively,  Messrs.  Burke, 
Duru\infr,  ^ind  Fo.x.  The  speeches  in  support  of  the  amendment,  con- 
tained outliiics  of  proceedings,  which  occupied  them  during  the  session. 
After  e.\liibilM)g  the  present  reign  in  an  historical  series  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  preceding  campaign,  they  went  over  the  various  operations, 
and  endeavoured  to  demonstrate,  that,  in  the  whole,  and  evciy  part  of 
th(!ir  conduct,  ;ninisters  had  showed  themselves  totally  unfit  for  their 
ofRces.  'J'hi'-  preliminary  debate  equalled  the  highest  oratorial  efforts 
which  had  ev.-^r  been  employed  in  the  British  senate ;  but  its  result  was 
unfavourahle  to  the  ablest  speakers ;  opposition  were  outvoted  by  a  ma- 
jority of  two  hundred  aiid  thirty-three  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  in 
the  house  of  commons,  and  eighty  to  forty-one  in  the  house  of  lords. 

After  the  preliniiiiary  contention,  the  first  object  of  opposition  was  the 
state  of  Ireland.  It  was  understood,  that  during  the  recess  a  plan  was  to 
have  been  formed  for  giving  our  fellow-subjects  such  satisfaction  as  might 
equally  conduce  to  the  welfare  of  the  sister  kingdom  and  Britain.  Mem- 
bers of  opposition  now  censured  ministers  for  not  having  taken  effectual 
steps  to  satisfy  the  Irish  nation.  They  drew  a  melancholy  picture  of  the 
condition  of  Ireland,  before  its  first  application  to  the  British  parliament 
in  177S :  they  described  the  sentiments  disappointment  had  evnited  in 
that  kingdom,  and  the  subsequent  proceedings  which  had  resulted  I'rom 
calamity  and  discontent.  Separated  trom  the  exaggerations  of  orators, 
the  following  was  the  actual  state  of  affairs :  associations  against  the 
purchase  and  use  of  British  manufactures,  and  for  the  encouragement, 
in  every  possible  degree,  of  their  ovvn,  had  already  taken  place.  At  first 
these  had  only  been  partial,  but  now  they  were  become  universal,  and 
the  non-importation  and  non-consumption  agreements  included  the  usual 
penalties  or  denunciations  of  vengeance,  not  only  against  violators,  but 
against  those  importers  or  sellers  of  the  prohibited  commodities  who  had 
not  acceded  to  the  general  compact :  to  these  had  been  joined  associa- 
tions of  a  very  different  nature,  and  to  the  apprehensions  already  de- 
scribed had  been  lately  added  the  imminent  danger  of  foreign  invasion ; 
a  measure  which  was  evidently  intended,  if  not  absolutely  avowed,  by 
France ;  and  this  situation  was  the  more  alarming,  as  the  military 
force  supported  by  Ireland  had  been  continually  drained  off  and  weak- 
ened by  the  American  war.  In  order  to  provide  for  their  defence,  they 
said  it  must  be  placed  in  those  who  were  the  most  deeply  interested  in 
its  success.  The  state  was  unable,  or  unwilling  to  defend  them  effec- 
tually ;  and  the  mode  of  defence,  which  was  unequal  to  their  protection, 
might  be  ruinous  to  their  hberties.  Military  societies  were  renewed,  and 
their  .spirit  became  universal.  They  declared  that  they  were  designed 
for  the  double  purpose  of  defending  their  safety  against  foreign  enemies, 
and  their  rights  against  domestic  injustice.  They  affirmed  that  they 
were  loyal  to  the  king,  and  affectionate  to  Britain  ;  but  that  it  was  with 
the  loyalty  and  affection  consistent  with  their  own  liberty  and  prosperity. 
In  every  part  of  the  kingdom  were  seen  to  arise,  as  it  were  by  magic, 
vast  bodies  of  citizens  serving  at  their  own  charges,  choosing  their  own 
officers,  who  had  been  trained  to  great  expertness,  and  obeying  with  ex- 
emplary regularity  and  steadiness.     No  nobleman  or  gentleman  could 


324  HIS  TORY  OF  THE  Chap,  XXIV.— 1779. 

[Defence  of  min'sters.     Plan  of  lord  North  for  the  relief  of  Ireland.] 

show  his  face  in  the  country,  who  did  not  fall  in  (which  they  did  gene- 
rally, and  for  the  moi^-t  part  cheerfully)  with  the  prevalent  dispr.pition  of 
the  inferior  and  mitldlinir  cla^ises  of  their  countrymen.  After  having  pro- 
vided for  tlieir  defence  again«t  foreign  enemies,*  the  Irish  hogan  to  look 
towards  their  riglits,  or  claims  of  rights,  and  in  general  declared  the 
authority  of  the  British  parliament  over  them  to  be  a  flagrant  usurpation. 
This  state  of  thing'^  was  not  the  work  of  a  party,  or  of  any  partirular  set 
of  men,  i)ut  was  produced  and  upheld  by  every  rank,  elass  and  denomi- 
nation of  people.  A  free  and  unlimited  conuiierce  with  the  whole  world 
was  the  first,  the  great,  and  central  object  of  redress,  for  which  no  com- 
pensation could  be  admitted,  and  without  which  no  other  concessions  or 
advantages,  however  great  and  beneficial,  could  afford  satisfaction.  This 
was  the  sine  qua  non,  from  which  there  was  no  departure.  Such  was  the 
state  of  affairs  in  Ireland  ;  and  durinn  the  recess  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment, the  Irish  lawgivers  showed  themselves  inspired  with  the  spirit  of 
the  nation.  They  declared  m  their  addresses  to  the  throne,  that  nothii'g 
less  than  a  free  and  unlimited  trade  could  save  the  country  from  ruin. 
From  these  facts  opposition  in  both  ho\ises  endeavoured  to  prove,  that 
the  deplorable  and  alarming  condition  of  Ireland  arose  fiom  the  miscon- 
duct of  ministers,  in  not  having  adopted  measures  for  its  relief;  and  made 
motions  charging  them  with  criminal  negligence  respecting  the  sister 
kingdom.  This  accusation  was  powerfully  supported  by  lord  Shelburne 
and  Mr.  Fox,  in  their  respective  houses  ;  ministers,  without  attempting 
to  refute  the  statements,  made  a  very  able  defence  of  their  own  conduct. 
They  strongly  contended  that  the  condition  of  Ireland  was  owing  to 
causes  over  which  they  had  no  control.  In  this  part  of  the  defence,  the 
forcible  and  well  directed  understanding  of  Mr.  Dundas  was  employed 
in  vindicating  administration ;  and  exhibited  a  clear  and  masterly  view 
of  the  defective  system  of  our  commercial  policy  respecting  Ireland,  in 
which  her  miseries  originated  many  years  before  the  appointment  of  the 
present  ministers,  and  before  the  present  reign.  The  restrictions  im- 
posed in  the  general  system  of  our  trade  laws  were  conceived  in  preju- 
dice, and  founded  in  ignorance  and  impolicy  ;  but  the  prejudices  were  so 
strengthened  by  time,  and  contirmed  by  the  habits  of  a  century,  that  they 
appeared  at  length  to  have  become  a  part  of  our  very  constitution,  which 
affected  members  of  parliament  as  well  as  all  ranks  of  the  people :  and 
thence  the  attempt  made  in  the  two  preceding  sessions  to  obtain  only  a 
moderate  relaxation,  met  with  the  most  determined  opposition.  The 
few  who  undertook  the  mvidious  task,  finding  themselves  obliged  to  en- 
counter prejudice  without,  as  well  as  petitions  and  pleadings  at  the  bar, 
■were  at  length  overborne  by  numbers.  Distresses,  which  arose  from 
the  frame  of  our  commercial  policy,  and  the  errors  of  public  opinion,  it 
was  illiberal  and  unjust  to  impute  to  the  servants  of  the  executive  govern- 
ment. From  the  charge  of  negligence,  in  not  having  formed  a  plan  of 
relief  during  the  recess,  lord  North  himself  undertook  the  defence  of 
ministry.  Notwithstanding  the  nurltiplicity  of  other  affairs  in  which  they 
were  occupied,  they  had  actually  bestowed  much  time  an<l  attention  in 
collecting  information,  and  forming  a  plan  for  the  relief  of  Ireland ;  in  a 
week,  however,  he  should  be  ready  to  bring  forward  propositions  for  that 
purpose.    Accordingly,  on  the  13th  of  December,  ho  opened  his  scheme,* 

•  See  Annual  Register,  1780, 


1780— Chap.  XXIV.  Ul-IGN  OF  GEOHGE  lU.  525 

[Bills  passed  for  that  purpose.     I'roposed  scrutiny  into  the  public  expenditure.] 

and  proposed ;  first,  to  repeal  the  laws  which  proliibited  the  exportation 
of  Irish  woollen  iiianni'actures  from  Ireland  to  any  [)art  of  Europe; 
secondly,  that  80  nnich  of  the  act  of  the  19tli  George  II.  as  prohilnts 
the  iin()ortation  of  <!;lass  into  Ireland,  except  of  liritish  mannfactnre,  or 
to  export  glass  from  tliat  kinj^dorn,  should  he  repealed  :  and,  thirdly,  that 
Ireland  'should  be  suHered  to  carry  on  a  trade  of  export  and  import  to 
and  from  the  Briti.sh  colonies  in  America  and  the  West  Indies,  and  her 
Settlements  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  subject  to  such  limitations,  regula- 
tions, restrictions,  and  duties,  as  the  parliament  of  Ireland  shoidd  impose. 
The  system  of  the  minister  was  received  uith  great  satisfaction,  and 
even  applause,  by  opposition. 

His  introductory  speech,  with  very  great  ability,  accurate  and  exten- 
sive knowledge,  exhibited  a  view  of  the  state  of  Ireland  and  its  causes, 
the  necessity  of  amending  its  condition,  and  the  principles  which  he  pro- 
posed to  apply  as  mo.st  conducive  to  the  purpose.  Bills  founded  on  the 
two  first  propositions  were  accordingly  introduced,  passed  both  houses 
without  any  contest,  and  received  the  royal  assent  before  the  recess. 
The  third,  more  complex  in  its  nature,  and  requiring  a  great  variety  of 
investigation,  was  postponed  till  after  the  holidays ;  not  only  that  time 
might  be  afforded  tor  discussion,  but  that  it  might  be  known  how  the 
new  measures  affected  the  Irish.  It  passed  in  the  month  of  February, 
1780.  These  acts,  imparting  in  so  great  a  degree  the  benefit  of  a  free 
trade,  were  received  with  rapturous  gratitude  by  the  warm  hearts  of  the 
generous  Irish.  Instead  of  being  dictated  by  colleagues  of  more  impe- 
rious dii-positions  and  narrower  capacities,  this  wise  and  liberal  plan  re- 
sulted from  lord  North's  own  heart  and  understanding  ;  and,  by  restoring 
harmony  in  disputes  between  branches  of  the  same  community,  demon- 
strated that  conciliation  is  much  sounder  policy  than  coercion. 

Among  the  various  subjects  of  animadversion  on  the  conduct  of  mi- 
nistry, the  waste  of  public  money  this  session  occupied  more  than  even 
its  usual  attention.  Proi'ision  for  the  national  service  originates  in  the 
representatives  of  the  people  ;  an  inquiry,  however,  into  the  application 
of  the  sums  that  have  been  voted,  is  certamly  not  foreign  to  the  lords, 
who  are  a  branch  of  the  legislature ;  and  consist  of  so  great  proprietors, 
proportionably  affected  by  increase  of  impost :  accordingly,  peers  in  op- 
position took  a  very  active  share  in  endeavouring  to  scrutinize  expendi- 
ture, and  lessen  profusion.  The  duke  of  Richmond  and  lord  Shelburne 
charged  ministers  with  the  greatest  prodigality,  and  respectively  made 
motions  of  inquiry,  intended  to  be  prefatory  to  others  which  should  em- 
brace the  whole  circle  of  expetiditure.  The  duke  of  Richmond  laid 
down,  as  the  basis  of  the  proposed  scrutiny,  a  few  strong  and  compre- 
hensive propositions  :  that  by  the  infatuation  of  government,  we  were 
engaged  in  wars  which  necessarily  demanded  immense  sums  of  money,- 
that  ministers  ought,  by  the  most  rigid  possible  economy,  to  moderate 
enormous  evils  of  their  own  creation  ;  so  far  were  they  from  exercising 
the  frugality  incumbent  on  all  managers  of  the  public  money,  but  more 
especially  on  those  to  whose  folly  and  misconduct  the  cost  was  owing, 
that  unbounded  prodigality  was  evident  in  the  civil  list,  the  army,  the 
navy,  and  the  ordnance,  the  four  great  sources  of  national  expense ;  the 
people  groaned  under  the  burtliens  imposed  on  them  for  a  supply  to  mi- 
nisterial profusion  :  our  chief  rival  was,  under  her  skilful  and  upright 
finaocier,  contracting  her  expenditure,  while  we,  under  our  incapable 


.>2G  lllSTOKY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXIV.— 1780. 

[Petitions  from  Yorksliire  and  London.] 

and  corrupt  steward;;,  were  increasiii'.:  ours  beyond  all  precedents  of  his- 
tory, and  all  possibility  of  longer  endurance.*  From  these  grounds  in- 
terring that  either  economy  or  ruin  was  the  alternative,  he  proposed  to 
commence  the  reform  « ith  the  reduction  of  the  civil  h.-^t.  and  moved  an 
address  to  his  majesty,  praying  !um  to  set  the  example ;  representing, 
that  from  relieving  the  tniseries  of  a  distressed  people,  his  crown  would 
derive  a  lustre  supt^rior  tn  any  whi^h  could  arise  from  external  splen- 
dour ;  and  that  even  after  the  requested  curtailment,  sufficic  nt  means 
would  be  let't  for  every  rational  anrl  beneficial  purpose  of  regal  magni- 
licence.  3Iinisterial  peers  admitted  that  there  had  been  some  want  of 
fVuiiality  during  the  pre- ent  adinini-tration  ;  but  whatever  system  of  eco- 
nomy might  be  adopted,  it  should  not  begin  witii  the  crown,  the  splen- 
dour of  which  should  be  maintained,  as  including  all  the  dignity  and 
honour  of  the  empire.  It  would  be  inconsistent  and  unjust  in  parliament 
to  withdraw  from  the  king  that  which  had  been  unanimously  giai/.ed. 
Lord  Thurlow,  with  his  mascidine  force  of  understanding,  and  acuteness 
of  professional  habits,  encountered  the  motion  more  closely  than  any  of 
the  other  peers.  The  proposition  was  founded  on  the  alleged  distresses 
of  the  people ;  the  fact  had  not  been  establislied,  it  rested  merely  on  his 
grace's  assertion  ;  if  the  miseries  did  exist,  and  did  arise  trom  public  pro- 
digality, the  department  in  which  it  prevailed  ought  to  be  specified,  and 
the  alleged  extravagance  proved,  that  the  remedy  might  be  applied  to 
the  actual  evil  ;  \>ere  the  cure  to  be  an  application  of  the  civil  list,  the 
motion  proposing  merely  a  reduction,  without  specifying  its  extent,  was 
vague  and  nugatory  ;  it  was  impossible  to  understand  its  exact  import ; 
the  house  could  not  vote  for  an  indefinite  requisition.  These  arguments 
prevailed,  and  the  m.otion  wa.s  rejected  by  a  majority  of  seventy-seven  to 
thirty-six.  Proceeding  on  the  same  general  principle,  the  earl  of  Shel- 
burne  proposed  to  inquire  into  the  extraordinaries  of  the  army ;  he  took 
an  historical  view  of  the  sums  expended  under  that  head,  of  the  armies 
supported,  victories  and  advantages  obtained,  from  the  beginning  of  king 
William's  war  to  the  peace  of  Paris,  and  demonstrated  that  the  sums 
charged  in  the  accounts  of  1779,  were  one  million  more  upon  that  article 
than  in  any  year  of  our  former  wars.  After  a  detail  illustrating  minis- 
terial prodigality,  he  moved  a  resolution,  that  the  alarming  addition  an- 
nually made  under  the  head  of  extraordinaries,  required  immediate  check 
and  control ;  but  the  motion  was  negatived  by  a  considerable  majority. 

The  issue  of  these  propositions  for  reducing  the  national  expenditure, 
caused  very  great  discontents  in  various  parts  of  England.  The  enor- 
mous expense  of  our  establishments,  from  the  war,  and  from  waste,  be- 
gan to  be  severely  felt  in  the  nation,  and  awakened  the  attention  of  the 
metropolis,  and  the  diirerent  counties.  Yorkshire  and  London,  the  chief 
districts  of  landed  and  monicd  property,  took  the  lead  in  expressing 
alarm,  pf  titioned  parliament,  and  were  followed  by  other  corporations. 
The  petition  olthe  county  of  Vork,  comprehensive  in  its  object,  explicit 
in  its  avowals,  strong  through  temperate  in  its  language,  constitutional 
in  its  principles,  exact  and  circumstantial  in  its  detail,  was  the  model  on 
which  other  applications  were  formed.  The  nation,  it  set  forth,  had  tor 
several  years  been  engaged  in  a  very  expensive  and  unfortunate  war. 

•  See  parliamentary  debates  for  1780,  duke  of  Richmond's  motion  for  econo- 
mical reform. 


1780.— Chap. XXIV.  liETGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  527 

[Mr  Burke's  plan  of  economical  reform.] 

Many  of  our  valuable  colonies  had  declared  tliemselves  independent,  and 
formed  a  strict  confederacy  with  our  most  inveterate  enemies;  the  con- 
sequence of  these  combined  misfortunes  was  a  large  addition  to  the  na- 
tional del)t,  a  heavy  accumulation  of  taxes,  viith  a  rapid  decline  of  the 
trade,  manufactures,  and  land  rents  of  the  kingdom.  Alarmed  at  the 
diminished  resources  and  growing  burthens  of  the  country,  and  convinced 
that  rigid  frugality  was  now  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  the  state,  they 
observed  with  grief,  that  many  individuals  evijoyed  .sinecure  places  with 
exorbitant  emoluments,  and  pensions  unmerited  by  public  service.  They 
conceived  the  true  end  of  every  legitimate  government  to  be  the  welfare 
of  the  community,  and  that  the  British  constitution,  which  seeks  the 
public  good,  peculiarly  intrusts  the  national  purse  to  the  house  of  com- 
mons ;  and  represented,  that  until  effectual  measures  were  taken  to  re- 
dress these  grievances,  by  suppressing  useless  donatives,  and  preventing 
unnecessary  and  extravagant  largesses,  the  grant  of  any  additional  sum 
of  money,  beyond  the  produce  of  the  present  taxes,  would  be  injurious 
to  the  rights  and  property  of  the  people,  and  derogatory  from  the  honour 
and  dignity  of  parliament.  This  petition  was  introduced  by  sir  George 
Saville,  the  disinterested  and  patriotic  member  of  that  great,  industrious, 
and  opulent  county.  With  much  good  sense,  plain  and  perspicuous 
reasoning,  he  supported  the  representation,  and  urged  the  necessity  of 
giving  it  a  favourable  atienlion.  Ministers  did  not  object  to  the  propriety 
of  receiving  this  address  ;  but,  by  postponing  the  consideration  of  its 
complaints,  they  eventually  defeated  its  purpose. 

These  discussions  concerning  public  expenditure  were  preludes  to  the 
celebrated  plan  of  economical  reform  which  was  introduced  this  session 
by  Mr.  Edmund  Burke.  Before  the  recess,  this  philosophical  orator  de- 
livered a  speech  in  which  he  exhibited  the  action  and  re-ac<ion  of  public 
profusion  and  corrupt  influence  ;  reviewed  the  present  expenses  and  ge- 
neral establishments  ;  stated  principles,  and  expounded  details,  in  order 
to  ascertain  utility.  He  intimated  that  soon  after  the  holidays,  he  would 
bring  forward  a  plan  for  the  reduction  of  public  expenditure.  Able  men 
of  all  parties,  knowing  the  immense  grasp  of  the  author's  capacity,  the 
extent  and  compass  of  his  legnlative  views,  the  fulness  and  accuracy  of 
his  knowledge,  the  variety  and  novelty  of  his  illustrations,  waited  with 
anxious  expectation  for  the  performance  of  his  promise  ;  ministers  and 
their  friends,  anticipated  statements  and  arguments  which  they  would 
not  receive  with  conviction,  at  least  with  pleasure  and  approbation  :  ne- 
vertheless, they  assured  themselves  of  philosophy,  eloquence,  and  poetic 
imagery,  which  would  fill  them  with  delight  and  astonishment.  The 
11th  of  February,  1780,  Mr.  Burke  presented  his  plan,  comprehending 
two  objects,  the  reduction  of  expense,  and  the  better  security  of  the  in- 
dependence of  parliament.  His  introduction  stated  the  difficulties  which 
he  must  encounter  in  conductiri;,-  a  plan  of  reform  lessening  [trivate  emo- 
lument ;  by  which  it  was  proposed  to  sacrifice  individual  gain  from  dona- 
tive, to  general  good  in  the  retrenchment  of  unnecessary  cost.  In  such 
a  case  private  feeling  was  to  be  nverborne  by  legislative  reason;  a  man 
of  long  sii^h'ed  and  strong  nerved  humanity,  would  consider,  not  so  much 
from  whom  he  took  a  superfluous  enjoyment,  as  for  whom  he  might  pre- 
serve the  absolute  necessaries  of  life.  He  laid  down  the  following  ge- 
nerfd  principles,  as  the  basis  on  which  he  was  determined  to  raise  his 
Superstructure  of  reform :  that  all  establishments,  which  furnish  more 


5^8  HISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIV.— 1780, 

[Outlines  of  the  plan — it  is  rejected  by  jwirliament.] 

matter  of  oxpciiso,  nioro  temptation  to  oppression,  or  more  means  and 
instruments  ol"  corrupt  influence,  tlian  advantages  to  justice  or  political 
administration,  ought  to  l)c  abolished  :  these  rules  he  applied  to  certain 
institutions,  puhhc  estates,  oflices,  and  modes  of  disbursement,  and 
]irovcd,  by  accurate  documents  and  concbisive  arguments,  that  tlie  infe- 
rior jurisdictions  answered  no  purpose  which  niight  not  be  better  (;ffected 
by  the  supreme  character  of  the  sovereign.  He  proposed,  tlierefore, 
that  tlie  principality  of  AVales,  the  county  palatine  of  ('hestcr,  the  duchy, 
and  county  |)alatinc  of  Lancaster,  and  the  duchy  of  Cornwall,  should  be 
united  to  the  crown  ;  and  that  offices  now  annexed  to  these  separate 
jurisdictions,  being  sources  of  useless  expense,  and  means  of  corrupt 
influence,  should  be  abolished.  Ilis  chief  attention  was  bestowed  on 
tlie  household  :  he  proposed  to  abolish  the  offices  of  treasurer,  comp- 
troller, cofferer,  and  master  of  the  household  ;  the  wardrobe  and  jewel 
offices,  the  board  of  works,  and  a  great  part  of  the  civil  branch  of  the 
board  of  ordnance ;  subordinate  treasuries,  the  pay  offices  of  the  army 
and  navy,  and  the  office  of  the  paymaster  of  the  pensions.  These  pay- 
ments he  designed  in  future  to  be  made  by  the  exchequer,  and  the  great 
])atent  officers  of  tlie  exchequer  reduced  to  fixed  salaries,  as  the  present 
lives  and  reversions  should  successively  fall.  A  great  number  of  inferior 
places,  too  inconsiderable  for  historical  particujarization,  were  also  to 
he  abolished  by  the  plan  of  Mr.  Burke.  He  proposed  to  suppress  the 
now  oflice  of  third  secretary  of  state,  as  totally  unnecessary ;  also  to 
limit  pensions  to  sixty  thousand  pounds  a  year,  but  without  interfering 
with  present  holders;  and  concluded  his  plan  of  reduction,  by  recom- 
mending the  entire  annihilation  of  the  board  of  trade,  as  an  office  totally 
u^ebss,  answering  none  of  its  avowed  purposes,  merely  providing  eight 
members  for  parliament,  and  thereby  retaining  their  services.  To  his 
scheme  of  reform,  he  subjoined  a  system  of  arrangement,  which  he  con- 
ceived would  eflectually  prevent  all  future  prodigality  of  the  civil  list. 
In  order  to  facilitate  this  regulation,  he  proposed  to  establish  a  fixed  and 
invariable  order  in  payments,  to  divide  liquidations  into  nine  classes,* 
ranked  respectively  according  to  the  importance  and  justice  of  the  de- 
mand, or  to  the  inability  of  the  persons  entitled  to  enforce  their  preten- 
sions. Such  are  the  outlines  of  Mr.  Burke's  scheme  for  economical 
reform,  wherein  an  impartial  examiner  must  admit  the  justness  and  com- 
prehensiveness of  the  general  principles  of  political  economy,  also  the 
accuracy  of  his  details  of  office,  and  acknowledge  that  considerable 
saving  would  accrue  to  the  nation  from  the  adoption  of  the  plan.  The 
utility  of  economy,  however,  would  have  been  much  greater  to  infinitely 
more  momentous  departments  of  public  expense,  than  any  within  the 
«,-.ivil  list — to  the  ordnance,  the  navy,  and  the  army.  It  is  probable,  that 
if  Mr.  Burke  had  succeeded  in  his  first  project  of  reform,  he  afterwards 
would  have  carried  his  eff'orts  to  the  largest  sources  of  expense  :  all  par- 
lies joined  in  bestowing  the  highest  applause  on  the  depth  of  his  financial 
philosophy,  and  the  profound  research  and  acute  discrimination  which 
appeared  in  every  part  of  his  schcnie  ;  but,  when  the  principles  came  to 

•  1st,  the  judges;  2ldy,  ambassadors;  3dly,  tradesmen  to  the  crown;  4thly, 
domestic  servants,  and  all  persons  with  salaries  not  above  two  hundred  a  year; 
.5thly,  pensioners  from  the  privy  purse ;  6lhly,  holders  of  salaries  above  two  hun- 
dred a  year;  7thly,  the  whole  pension  list;  8thly,  holders  of  offices  of  honour 
about  the  king;  9lhly,  the  lords  of  the  treasury  and  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 


1780.--CHAP.  XXIV.  RKIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  529 

[Motion  respecting^  the  increasing  influence  of  the  crown.] 

be  applied  to  the  particular  plans  of  reform,  ministers  did  not  accede. 
Burke  grounded  upon  his  system  five  bills,  which,  after  much  discussion, 
were  at  length  severally  rejected. 

While  Mr.   IJurke  was  engaged  in  recommending  j>ublic  economy, 
Mr.   Dunning  was  actively  employed  in  attempting  to  remedy  <ui  evil 
whicii  he  deduced  from  public  profusion.     Petitions,  both  numerous  and 
strong,  were  presented,  deprecating  the  prevalent  abuses,  and  especially 
the  waste  of  public  money.     The  principle*  of  the  several  ap|)lications 
was  the  same  ;  that  the  national  revenue  ought  to  be  solely  employed  for 
promoting  the  national  benefit :  that  every  shilling  which  was  otherwise 
expended,  was  injustice  to  the  people  ;  and  that  a  great  portion  of  the 
prodigality  was  occupied  in  extending  the  authority  of  the  crown  and 
propping  the  power  of  ministers,  which  they  never  could  support  by  wis- 
dom and  virtue.     On  the  6th  of  April  the  petitions  were  discussed,  and 
a  memorable  debate  ensued,  in  which  Mr.  Dunning  took  the  lead  in  fa- 
vour of  the  applicants  :  he  exhibited,  in  a  connected  series,  the  history 
and  philosophy  of  constitutional  law;   the  measures  and  causes  which 
endangered  our  rights  and  liberties  in  former  times  ;  presented  a  glowing 
picture  of  the  conduct  of  ministers ;  and  endeavoured  to  prove  that  it  had  a 
similar  tendency  to  the  counsels  which  had  produced  so  much  mischief 
under  the  house  of  Stuart.     From  a  very  extensive,  accurate,  and  inter- 
esting detail,  in  a  series  of  acute  and  powerful  reasoning,  he  drew  the 
following  conclusion  :  "  that  the  influence  of  the  crown  has  increased,  is 
increasing,  and  ought  to  be  diminished  ;"  and  proposed  this  allegation 
as  a  resolution  to  be  voted  by  the  house.    Such  a  proposition  summoned 
the  chief  ability  and  eloquence  of  the  house  in  efforts  of  either  attack  or 
defence.     So  strongly  did   Dunning  and  his  coadjutors  impress  many  of 
the  country  gentlemen,  that  they  joined  opposition  ;  and  to  the  conster- 
nation of  ministers,  and  the  surprise  of  their  opponents,  the  motion  was 
successful.     Lord  North  in  a  few  days  recovered  his  wonted  majority; 
but  opposition,  elated  with  their  late  success,  and  the  circumstances  from 
which  it  proceeded,  trusting  they  would  be  ultimately  victorious,  redou- 
bled their  exertions.     The  petitions  were  the  subject  of  repeated  contro- 
versies ;  in  one  of  which,  f  Mr.  William  Adam,  a  young  member  of  high 
promise,  exhibited  a  very  masterly  view  of  the  dangers  which  accrue  from 
agitating  the  multitude  to  an  active  interference  in  the  government  of  the 
country.     This  gentleman,  son  of  the  eldest  of  the  four  celebrated  bro- 
thers, was  a  native  of  Scotland,   and  educated  at   Edinburgh,   at  the 
time  that  university,  headed  by  Robertson  and  supported   by  Blair  and 
Fergusson,  was  at  the  zenith  of  literary  glory.     From  Fergus.'^on  hi.'? 
sound  and  vigorous  understanding  imbibed  the  justest  principles  of  ethics 
and  of  politics,  and  was  taught  to  cherish  and  respect  mingled  liberty  and 
order.     His  friend  and  relation,  Robertson,  instructed  him,  while  he  va- 
lued the  rights  of  the  people,  to  prize  also  the  constitutional  prerogatives 
of  the  crown.     On  the  basis  of  philosophy,  he  raised  the  superstructure 
of  history  and  of  law  ;  and  so  founded  and  prepared,  he  procured  a  seat 
in  parliament.      IMr.  Adam  drew  a  striking  picture  of  the  progress  from 
popular  agitation  to  revolution  and  anarchy  in  the  days  of  Charles  I.,  and 

•  See  petitions  for  York,  London,  Westminster,  and  oUier  places,  in  spring 
1780. 

•f  On  a  motion  of  Mr.  Dunning-,  April  24th,  for  an  address  to  his  majesty,  de^ 
precating  tiie  sudden  dissolution  or  prort'gution  of  parliament. 

Vol.  VI  [.—67 


530  illSTOUY  OF  THE  Chaf.  XXIV.— 1780. 

[Motion  relative  to  the  East  India  company.     Increasing  spirit  of  association] 

alloweJ  that  the  opponents  of  the  court  began  from  justifiable  and  noble 
motives;  he  marked  the  movements  of  .so  formidable  an  engine  as  the 
multitude,  and  followed  its  progre.<s  imtil  its  rapidity  and  force,  becoming 
totally  ungovernable,  crushed  the  constitution.  The  genius  of  Mr.  Fox 
gave  a  diflerent  interpretation  to  the  same  period  of  hi.story,  and  ascribed 
the  fate  of  Charles,  and  the  calamities  of  his  country,  to  the  weak  obsti- 
nacy of  the  king,  who,  by  ret'using,  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  to  gra- 
tify the  reasonable  wishes  of  his  people,  provoked  them  to  a  resistance, 
which  brought  destruction  on  himself.  The  efforts  of  opposition,  great 
as  they  were,  did  not,  in  the  j)resent  session,  recover  the  majority  of  the 
6th  of  April. 

A  bill  was  proposed  for  excluding  contractors  from  parliament,  and  by 
ministers  sufiered  to  pass  the  house  of  commons  with  little  opposition, 
probably  from  either  a  foreknowledge  or  pretlestination  of  its  rejection 
by  the  other  house.  On  the  general  ground  of  diminishing  the  influence 
of  the  crown,  a  bill  was  introduced  for  preventing  revenue  officers  from 
voting  at  elections,  but  rejected  by  a  small  majority.  On  the  23d  of 
March,  lord  North  informed  the  commons,  that  the  East  India  company 
not  having  made  such  proposals  for  the  renewal  of  their  charter  as  he 
deemed  satisfactory,  he  should  move  the  house  for  the  speaker  to  give 
them  the  three  years  notice  ordained  by  act  of  parliament,  previous  to 
the  dissolution  of  their  monopoly ;  that  the  capital  stock  or  debt  of 
4,200,000/.  which  the  public  owed  to  the  company,  should  be  fully  paid 
on  the  25th  of  April,  1763,  agreeably  to  the  power  of  redemption  in- 
cluded in  the  same  act.  Mr.  Fox  inveighed  against  this  measure  of  the 
minister  as  tending  to  deprive  us  of  our  India  possessions,  as  he  had  lost 
us  America.  Lord  North  answered,  that  he  intended  nothing  more  than 
to  prel'or  a  legal  claim,  in  behalf  of  the  public,  to  the  reversion  of  an  un- 
doubted right.  The  proposed  notice  did  not  preclude  any  propositions 
which  niiciit  hereafter  be  made  by  the  company,  and  did  not  restrain 
parliament  from  accepting  any  olTers  \vhich  it  approved  ;  it  merely  in- 
tended to  prevent  a  year  of  the  public  right  to  the  reversion  of  the  com- 
pany's trade  from  slipping  away  without  compensation.  The  company, 
as  it  was  now  established,  was  certainly  the  best  medium  for  drawing 
home  the  revenues  from  the  Indies ;  but  if  they  were  either  so  unreason- 
able or  imprudent  as  not  to  ofler  a  fair  bargain  to  the  public,  a  new  cor- 
poration might  bo  formed,  and  cnectual  measures  adopted  to  prevent  or 
remedy  the  threatened  evils.  These  representations  of  lord  North  were 
so  reasonable,  that  his  adversaries  suffered  him  to  carry  his  motion  with- 
out a  division. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  general  Conway  proposed  a  plan  of  conciliation 
with  America,  by  removing  ail  their  just  complaints,  without  acknow- 
ledging their  independence.  It  was  opposed  by  ministers,  as  degrading 
and  inefl'ectual ;  and  was  I'aintly  supportedby  the  chief  men  of  opposition, 
who  thought  it  totally  inadequate  to  its  object.  Repeated  motions  were 
made  in  both  hou.ses,  for  inquiring  into  the  army  extraordinaries  and  dif- 
ferent articles  of  public  expenditure  ;  but  they  were  all  negatived.  Propo- 
sitions were  al.-:o  offered  for  the  removal  of  ministers,  but  met  with  the 
.same  fate.  Associations  conti.riod  to  be  formed  both  in  Ijondon  and 
other  parts  of  England,  the  object  of  which  was  reform  of  abuses,  with 
a  change  of  measures  and  of  men. 

"♦Vhilc  so  many,  both  within  and  without  parliament,  displayed  enmity 


1/80. -CuAP.  XXIV.  UEIGN  OF  (iCORGK  HI.  53 j 

[Incident  wliicli  damped  that  spirit.     Lord  George  Gordon.] 

to  ministers,  proceeding.s  took  place  which  damped  the  spirit  of  associa- 
tion, suspended  all  oppo.sition,  and  produced  unanimity  in  both  legisla- 
tive assemblies,  in  every  enlightened  well-wisiher  to  his  king  and  coun- 
try, to  whatever  sect  or  denomination  he  might  belong.     Legislature, 
finding  the  populace  of  Scotland  so  much  averse   to   the  relief  of  the 
Konian  catholics,  had  not  extended  their  system  of  tolerance  to  that 
country.     The  successful  resi.stance  of  the  Scottish  zealots  encouraged 
fanatics  in  England,  to  expect  that  by  efforts  equally  vigorous,   they 
might  procm-e  the  repeal,  on  this  side  of  the  Tweed,  of  the  laws  which 
had  been  prevented  on  the  other.     A  protestaut  society  was  ibrmed  in 
England,  consisting  of  members  of  nearly  the  same  rank  and  character 
which  composed  the  association  of  Scotland;  persons  who,  though  many 
of  them  were  well-meaning  fi  iends  to  the  protcstant  religion,  were  gene- 
rally uninformed   men,  and  estimated  popery  by  its  former,  not  its  mo- 
dern state ;  and  who  were  for  applying  towards  papists  that  intolerant  spirit 
which  constituted  one  of  the  worst  qualities  of  popery  during  the  ages  of 
ignorant  credulity  and  clerical  usurj)ation.     The  members  of  this  pro- 
testant  club  had  met,   and  declaimed,  and  wrote,  and  advertised,  dur- 
ing the  whole  winter,  but  attracted  the  attention  of  neither  ministers  nor 
opposition.    Had  these  humble  associatoi's  been  left  to  themselves,  their 
fanaticism  might  have  evaporated  in  harmless  vanity,  gratified  by  the 
distinction  which  its  lowly  votaries  acquired  from  seehig  their  names  in 
print,  as  members  of  committees  for  watching  over  the  interests  of  reli- 
gion; but  the  interference  of  a  nol)leman  in  their  meetings  and  resolu- 
tions, gave  a  very  different  determination  to  their  conduct.   Lord  George 
Gordon,  younger  brother  of  an  illustrious  family,  was  a  youth  of  inge- 
nuity and  volatile  fancy,  but  little  guided  by  prudence  and  sound  judg- 
ment: wild  and  chimerical  in  his  notions,  ungovernable  in  his  passions, 
and  excessive  in  dissipation,  he  was  peculiarly  marked  by  eccentricity 
of  conduct.     To  such  a  character  the  extravagance  of  fanatical  theology 
was  no  less  adanted  than  any  other  fanciful  hypothesis  to  dazzle  his 
imagination,  or  impassioned  enthusiasm  to  inflame  his  heart.     He  was, 
besides,  fond  of  distinction ;  in  the  house  of  commons  his  lively  and  de- 
sultory sarcasms  afforded  relief  to  serious  debate,  but  he  was  by  no 
means  qualified  for  attaining  eminence  asi  a  British  senator.     Emulous 
rather  than  ambitious^  if  he  acquired  notoriety,  he  little  regarded  either 
the  means  or  the  objects.     In   Scotland  he  had  taken  an  active  share  in 
the  violence  of  the  former  year,  and  h.ad  corre.^;ponded  with  the  most 
noted  of  the  fanatical  demagogues.     In  England,  he  intimated  to  the 
protestant  club  his  theological  sympathy :  and  proud  of  a  titled  associate, 
these  persons  complimented  him  with  an  offer  of  the  president's  chair. 
Behold  lord  George  Gordon  now  the  chief  bulwark  of  the  protestant 
faith  against  the  approaches  of  antichrist !    He  entered  the  more  eagerly 
into  the  views  of  those  reforming  saints,  because  he  saw  they  confined 
themselves  to  the  theological  theory,  without  scrupulously  inquiring  into 
moral  practice;  and  that  if  he  displayed  an  ardent  zeal  against  popery, 
the  president  of  the  protestant  association  might  pursue  his  former  course 
of  life  with  as  little  restraint  as  before  his  conversion.*    His  dress,  how- 

•  Mr.  Wilkes,  who  had  often  been  the  companion  of  lord  George's  nocturnal 
adventures,  applied  to  him,  after  his  regeneration,  part  of  a  latin  epitaph  on 
Fleetwood  Shepherd,  another  very  zealous  religionist  of  similar  habit»  and  pro- 


532  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIV.— 17  80 

l^rroceedlngs  of  the  protestants.     Mob  surrounds  (lie  parliament] 

ever,  and  outward  deportinent,  were  formed  entirely  on  the  puritanical 
model:  with  a  fiuuitiral   populace  he   passed  for  a  primitive  saint,  and 
possessed  an  ititluence  compounded  of  the  effects  of  his  exalted  rank, 
sanrtinioiiious  appearance,  and  anti-popish  zeal.     These  causes  com- 
biuiuc  with  the  natural  and  habitual  wildncss  of  his  irregular  mind,  pro- 
duced in  the  end  of  May  propo>:itions  of  a  most  inllanmiatory  nature,  which 
were  speedily  adopted  as  resolutions  by  tlio  society.     On  Monday  the 
29t'i  of  May,  a  meetiui:  wis  held  at  coacii-makers'  hall,  to  consider  the 
mode  of  pre-entins  to  the  house  of  commons  a  petition  against  popery. 
In  a  most  furious  speech,  lord   George  endeavoured  to  persuade  his 
hearers  of  the  rapid  and  alarming  progress  of  the  Romish  doctrines;  de- 
clared that  the  only  wav  to  obstruct  their  progress   was  by  approaching 
parliauicnt  witli  a  (irm  and  resolute  tone,  and  demonstrating  to  iheir  re- 
presentatives that  they  were  determined  to  preserve  their  reliffious  free- 
dom with  their  lives.    He  would  himself  run  all  hazards  with  the  people, 
when  their  conscience  and  their  country  called  them  t'orth  :  he  was  not 
a  lukewarm  man  :  if  they  meant  to  spend  their  time  in  mock  debate  and 
idle  opposition,  they  must  choose  another  leader.    A  speech  so  perfectly 
coineiilent  w  it!i  the  pa-;sions  and  prepossessions  of  its  hearers,  was  re- 
ceived witli  the  loudest  applause.     Tlie  president  moved  a  resolution, 
that  the  whole  protestant  association  should,  on  the  following  Friday, 
meet  in  St.  George's  T^ields,  at  ten  o'clock,  and  thence  proceed  to  the 
house  of  commons.     They  were  to  advance  in  four  divisions,  the  pro- 
testants of  the^ city  of  London  occupying  the   right  wing,  were  to  file  off 
to  London-bridge,  and  to  march  through  the  city;  those  of  Southwark  in 
the  centre,  were  to  take  the  route   of   Clackfriars  ;  the.  left  wing  belong- 
ing to  Westminster  wheeling  to  the  left,  were  to  cross  Westminster-bridge, 
followed  by  the  pre.sbyterians  from  Scotland,  who  were  to  cover  the  rear. 
The  friends  of  (he  reformed  religion   were  to  ascertain  their  attachment 
to  the  faith  by  blue  cockades,  bearing  the  inscription  JVo  papery.    These 
resolutions  and  dispositions  might  have  alarmed  men,  who  considered 
the  powerful  operation  of  religious  fury,  and  the  dreadful  effects  which 
it  has  so  often  produced  ;  but  ministers  appeared  to  apprehend  no  dan- 
ger, and  actually,  in  the  intervening  days,  adopted  no  measures  for  pre- 
venting tumult. 

On  Friday,  the  second  of  June,  at  the  hour  appointed,  about  fifty 
thousand  persons  met  in  the  fiolds,  and  llience  proceeded  in  the  pre- 
scribed order  to  the  house  of  commons  ;  hdviui^  ariived  at  the  avenues 
to  both  houses  of  parliament,  they  insulted  many  of  the  members  who 
were  procecdintj;  to  discharc^e  their  senatorial  duly.  Lord  George  re- 
peatedly came  from  the  place  whicli  he  held  as  a  senator,  and  ha- 
ran^^ued  the  populace,  exhorting  them  to  persevere  in  urging  their 
application,  so  as  to  threaten  the  violation  of  a  senator's  privilege. 
Several  members  expostulated  with  him  on  the  outrages  which  his 
conduct  was  likely  to  protluce.*    Tiie  petition  being  presented,  was, 

pensities  :     A'u/fu  merrtrix  ilin/iliciiil,  prater  Uabyhnicam — Except  the  harlot  of  Ba- 
bylon, he  iguH  n  friend  to  the  -ivholc  tist'frhorjcl. 

•  Lord  (ieor^je  still  exhorted  the  mob  to  persist,  anrl  many  feared  that  the  ban- 
ditti would  break  into  the  house;  whereupon  a  gallant  veteran,  belonging  to  as 
noble  a  family  as  lord  George  himself,  and  a  member  of  parliament,  piuiing  his 
hand  upon  his  swoid,  said,  "  Lord  (Jeorge,  if  one  man  of  your  lawless  followers 
enter  our  house,  I  shall  consider  rebellion  as  begini,  and  plunge  my  sword  into 
you  23  its  leader  and  prnmo'.er."    This  resolute  speecli  restrained  the  violence  of 


1780.— Chap.  XXIV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  533 

[Dreadful  riots  in  London.    Numerous  conflagrations] 

after  very  little  debute,  rejected  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two  to  six.    In  the  evenint^,  a  mob  burned  the  Romibh  chapels 
belonging  to  the  Sardinian  and  Bavarian  ambassadors.     On  Saturday, 
the  riots  partly  subsided.    Sunday,  the  zealots  again  assembled  to  dis- 
turb the  tranquillity  of  their  fellow- subjects,  to  violate  law,  order,  and 
justice.    Directing  their  outrages  against   Moorfields,   where  there 
were  many  catholics,  they  destroyed  dwelling-houses  and   chapels. 
On  Monday,  the  rioters  again  assembled,  and  were  joined  by  a  mul- 
titude of  those  profligate  and  disorderly   wretches,    whom   folly  and 
vice,  in  the  luxuries  of  a  large  and  opulent  city,  impel  to  supply  by 
depredation  the  want  of  industry  and  virtue.    Lawless  atrocity  being 
now  united  to  religious  frenzy,  produced  more  extensive  and  perni- 
cious operations.     They  burnt  the  houses  of  prolestants  as  well  as 
catholics,  and  added  plunder  to  conflagration.     A   proclamation  was 
issued,  offering  a  reward  of  500/.  for  the  discovery  of  the  incendiaries, 
who,  the  first  evening  of  the  tumults,  had  set  fire  to  the  chapels  of  the 
ambassadors.    Persons  charged  with  this  crime  were  sent  to  New- 
gate, escorted  by  a  party  of  guards  ;  and  the  soldiers  were  insulted 
and  abused  by  the  insurgents  for  performing  their  duty.     On   Tues- 
day, all  the  troops  in  town  were  distributed  to  assist  the  civil  powers 
in  protecting  the  lives  and  properties  of  their  fellow-subjects,  against 
the  frantic  outrages  of  temporary  insanity,  joined  to  the  skilful  and 
dexterous  wickedness  of  habitual  depravity.     But  the  precautions  of 
ministers  had  been  neither  proportionate  to  the  danger,   nor  adopted 
at  the  season  when  the  first  appearance  of  tumult  called  for  vigilance 
and  vigour.    The  military  force  was  on  that  day  inadequate  to  its  pur- 
poses, robbery  and  destruction  rapidly  increased.  After  burning  many 
private  houses,  the  insurgents  proceeded  to  Newgate,  set  that  building 
on  fire,  and  by  releasing  the  prisoners,  acquired  a  re-enforcement  of 
three  hundred  ruffians,  eager  to  promote,  and  ready  to  execute,  their 
projects  of  desperate   villany.     Instigated  and  assisted  by  this  new 
band  they  directed  their  attempts  against  the  magistrates  who  were 
most  active  in  apprehending  felons  and  repressing  crimes,  and  with 
peculiar  exultation  they  destroyed  the  house  and  effects  of  sir  John 
Fielding.    Resolved  to  attack  justice  in  every  department,  they  pro- 
ceeded from  her  operative  instrument  to  her  supreme  and  wisest  in- 
terpreter, and   most   vigilant    guardian.    Hastening  to    Bloomsbury-' 
square,  they  attacked  the  house  of  the  illustrious  Mansfield,  plundered 
and  destroyed  the  valuable  furniture,  the  constituents  of  accommoda- 
tion and  ornament;   pictures,  staiues,  and  sculpture,  the  monuments 
of  the  attic  elegance  and  taste  which  decorated  genius  and  philosophy  : 
but  they  effected  a  more  momentous  and  irreparable   mischief;  pro- 
ceeding to  the  library,  they  destroyed  not  only  the  books,  but  the  ma- 
nuscripts.   The  efforts  of  the  highest  talents,  directed   to   the    most 
important  objects,  with  complete  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the 
science  of  jurisprudence,  the  laws  of  this  country,  the  details  of  cases 
varying  so  greatly  in  the  manifold  and  complicated  engagements  of 

Gordon,  and  is  supposed  to  have  contributed  powerfully  to  save  the  house  from 
such  audacious  intrusion. • 

•  Of  this  fact  I  was  informed  many  years  ago,  by  a  gentleman  who  was  present ; 
and  often  have  heard  it  repeated  by  others.  The  officer  was  generalJames  Mur- 
ray, uncle  to  the  duke  of  Athol. 


534  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chaf.  XXIV.— 1780. 

[Suppression  of  the  insurrection.] 

social,  civil,  and  commercial  life,  in  a  great,  powerful,  and  free  peo- 
ple;  the  judicial  and  lep^islalive  wisdom  of  sixty  years  fell  a  sacrifice 
to  the  ruffian  violence  of  an  hour.    When  the  yell  of  savage  fury  was 
heard  approachnig,  lord  Mansfield  and  his  lady  escaped  by  a  postern, 
sought  and  found  an  asylum  from  royal  hospitality.*    On  Wednesday, 
proceeding  to  Holborn,  they  set  fire  to  two  houses  belonging  to  Mr. 
Langdale,  an  eminent  distiller,  which  contained  immense  quantities 
of  spirituous  liquors  :  here  the  conflagration  was  terrible.     Different 
gangs  now  undertook  and  eflecled  tlie  demolition  of  the   several  pri- 
sons.   All  trade  was  at  a  stand,  houses  and  shops  were  shut,  dread  and 
consternation  oveispread  the  whole  city.    Wednesday  evening,  when 
drawing  to  a  close,  presented  a  scene  tlie  most  tremendous  and  dis- 
mal, apparently  portending  the  speedy  downfall  of  the  British  metro- 
polis, and  llie  overthrow  of  the  British  government.    At  the  same  in- 
stant were  s.een  flames  ascending  and  rolling  in  clouds  from  the  king's 
bench  and  fleet  prisons,  new  brideweli,  the  toll  gates  on  Blackfriar's- 
bridgc,  houses  in  every  quarter  of  the  town,  and  especially  the  com- 
bustion of  distilled  spirits  in  Holborn.    The  approaching  niglit  was 
expected  to  bring  destruction  and  desolation,   and  thirty  fires  were 
now  seen  blazing  at  one  time  in  diff"erent  quarters  of  the  city ;  men 
and  women  were  running  from  place  to  place,  trying  to  secure  their 
most  valued  cilccts,  and  to  deposit  in  safety  their  helpless  children. 
Now  was  heaid  the  fell  roar  of  savage  ferocity,  now   the  reports  of 
musketry,  endeavouring  by  the  last  resource  of  necessity,  to  repress 
rebellious  fury,   but  hitherto  with  little  effect ;  and  every  thing  ap- 
peared to  menace  uiiivcisal  anarchy  and  devastation.    Attempts  were 
made  on  the  repositories  of  national  treasure.     A  banditti  of  rioters 
made  an  effort  to  break  into  the  pay  office,  while  the  main  body  di- 
rected their  attempt  against  the  bank,  and  a  powerful  detachment  was 
sent  off"  to  co-operate  with  the  incendiaries,  by  cutting  the  pipes  of 
the  new  river.    But  now  the  career  of  infatuation  and  anarchy  was 
destined  to  have  an  end. 

The  ministers  were  certainly  too  tardy  in  collecting  the  armed 
force  of  the  country,  and  thus  suffered  the  insurgents  to  incur  hein- 
ous guilt,  and  perpetrate  irremediable  and  immense  mischief.  The 
chief  municipal  magistrate,  overwhelmed  with  the  same  terror  that 
had  seized  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants,  brought  no  active  or  efiicient 
civil  force  to  assist  the  militai-y.  Though  ministers  were  tardy,  yet 
they  were  at  length  by  necessity  roused  to  vigour  and  energy.  They 
assembled  the  militia  and  regulars  in  sufiicient  time  to  preserve  the 
capital  from  conflagration, and  the  kingdom  from  ruin.  Until  Wednes- 
day evening  the  insurgents  had  been  paramount,  and  the  soldiers  un- 
able to  oppose  their  outrages  ;  but  they  were  now  assembled  in  such 
numbers,  and  inspirited  with  such  resolution,  as  effectually  to  resist, 
and  afterwards  to  overpower  the  depredators  and  anarchists.  The 
three  preceding  days  and  nights  had  been  to  the  incendiaries  seasons 
of  unresisted  victory  :  this  was  a  night  of  contest.  The  troops  at 
length  prevailed.    The  numbers  killed  in  this  conflict  were  consider- 

•  They  passed  the  two  following  days  at  liuckiiigham-lioiise  ;  where  the  sage, 
after  so  recent  a  view  of  the  dreadful  effects  of  unrestrained  passion  and  trium- 
phant vice,  entertained  his  queen  with  reciting  from  the  instructive  inculcations, 
elegant  composition,  and  impressive  eloquence  of  Blair,  the  charms  of  wisdom, 
and  the  happiness  of  virtue. 


I 


irao.— Chap.  XXIV.  J  IlEIGX  OF  GEORGE  ML  535 

[Loud  complaints  against  the  lord-mayor.] 

able  :  many  indeed  died  of  inebriation,  especially  at  the  distillery  of 
tlie  unlorliinate  Mr.  Langdale,  from  whose  vessels  the  liquor  ran 
down  the  middle  of  the  street,  was  taken  up  by  pail-fuls,  and  held  to 
the  mouths  of  the  deluded  multitude.  The  soldiers  had  been  so  suc- 
cessful durinfj  the  night,  and  received  such  re-enforcements,  that  on 
Thursday  the  inhabitants  began  to  recover  from  their  consternation. 
The  riots,  however,  being  by  no  means  quelled,  the  shops  continued 
universally  shut,  and  no  business  was  transacted  but  at  the  bank. 
During  this  day,  the  soldiers  were  so  active,  that  the  insurgents  were 
dispersed,  and  did  not  attempt  to  rally  at  night;  the  following  day 
London  appeared  restored  to  order  and  tranquillity,  lord  George  Gor- 
don being  apprehended  by  a  warrant  from  the  secretary'of  state,  and 
committed  to  the  Tower.    Thus  ended  the  tumult  of  1780. 

In  retracing  this  tremendous  insurrection,  this  horrible  carnage  and 
devastation,  through  the  several  causes,  more  or  less  proximate,  to  the 
ultimate  ;  from  military  execution  to  rebellious  outrage ;  English  pro- 
testant  association,  springing  from  Scottish  association  ;  we  find  that  the 
series  originated  in  the  well  meant,  but  misguided  zeal  of  a  few  Scottish 
clergymen,  who,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  ablest  and  wisest  men  of 
their  order,  agitated  the  subject  in  the  general  assembly,  and  thereby  ex- 
cited a  ferment  through  the  people.  So  cautiously  ought  men  to  inves- 
tigate and  appreciate  objects,  and  to  consider  consequences  before  they 
set  in  motion  such  a  formidable  engine  as  popular  enthusiasm.  Issuing 
from  impassionecl  fanaticism,  this  insurrection  began,  most  fortunately  for 
the  country,  without  any  concerted  plan.  Had  the  bank  and  the  public 
offices  been  the  first  objects  of  tumultuous  fury,  instead  of  the  houses  of 
individuals,  the  chapels  and  the  prisons,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they 
would  have  succeeded  in  their  attempt.  To  the  lord-mayor,  government 
and  many  others  imputed  the  progress  of  the  riots  to  such  a  pitch  of  atro- 
city. Very  strong  and  pointed  representations  from  the  secretary  of  state 
urged  him  to  use  every  legal  exertion.  These  not  having  produced  the 
desired  effect,  were  necessarily  repeated  in  the  form  of  remonstrances. 
It  was  alleged,  on  the  other  hand,  in  defence  of  the  magistrate,  that  the 
provision  of  military  force  in  the  environs  of  London  was  so  little  adequate 
to  the  exigency  of  the  case,  as  to  render  every  eflort  of  civil  power  una- 
vailing. To  this  defence  it  was  replied,  that  the  inefficiency  of  the  civil 
power  could  not  be  certainly  pronounced,  as  it  was  not  actually  tried  ; 
I,  and  that  since  the  soldiers  by  themselves  prevented  the  utter  destruction 
of  the  capital,  until  the  arrival  of  sufficient  troops  from  the  country,  if 
they  had  been  assisted  by  the  municipal  force,  they  might  have  much 
sooner  repressed  the  insurgents,  and  prevented  a  great  part  of  the  mis- 
chief. P'^'either  duty  nor  policy,  it  was  said,  can  justify  the  commander 
of  a  considerable  force,  in  the  moment  of  threatened  ruin  to  his  country, 
to  withhold  his  efforts,  on  a  supposition  that  they  may  not  ultimately  pre- 
vail. Both  wisdom  and  patriotism  dictate  resistance,  as  the  only  means 
of  success  against  the  invaders  of  our  law,  liberty,  and  property. 

The  effects  produced  by  the  riots  on  the  public  mind,  are  not  undeserv- 
ing of  historical  notice.  Before  this  period,  an  English  mob  was  gene- 
rally considered  as  a  test  of  the  public  opinion,  an  effusion  of  popular  en- 
ergy ;  military  interference  was  reckoned  dangerous,  if  not  altogether  un- 
constitutional. This  seemed  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  duke  of  Newcastle, 
when  he  kept  a  mob  in  pay,  ready  trained  and  disciplined,  to  support  the 


536  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIV.— 1780. 

[Parliament  resumes  its  functions.] 

recent  accession  of  the  liouse  of  Hanover,  and  to  suppress  tory  tumults  ; 
a  mode  of  conduct  which  had  a  more  succej^sful,  or  at  least  a  more  po- 
pular effect,  than  recourse  to  miHtary  force.  But  this  conduct  of  the  mob 
of  1780,  destroyed  the  credit  and  consequence  of  such  a  body  ;  and  the 
disturbance  has  been,  upon  th.e  whole,  deemed  fortunate  for  the  internal 
peace  of  the  country,  as  it  has  taught  government  to  oppose  the  smallest 
beginnings  of  riot  or  popular  commotion. 

On  the  6th  day  of  June,  durmg  the  insurrection,  above  two  hundred 
members  of  tlie  house  of  commons  had  the  courage  to  attend  their  duty, 
in  spite  of  the  banditti  that  occupied  every  avenue  to  the  senate.  They 
forced  their  \vay  through  the  mob,  and  having  taken  their  places  in  the* 
house,  unanimously  passed  spirited  resolutions,  becoming  the  dignity  of 
legi.slators  who  disdained  to  succumb  to  lawless  outrace.  The  hrst  was 
an  assertion  of  their  own  privileges  ;  the  second,  a  motion  for  a  commit- 
tee to  inquire  into  the  late  and  present  outrages,  and  for  the  discovery  of 
their  authors,  promoters,  and  abettors ;  the  third,  for  a  prosecution  by 
the  attorney-general ;  and  the  fourth,  an  address  to  his  majesty,  for  the 
reimbursement  of  the  foreign  ministers,  to  the  amount  of  the  damages 
which  they  had  sustained  by  the  rioters.  They  afterwards  met  on  the 
8th,  but  judged  it  expedient  to  adjourn  to  the  19th,  that  order  might  be 
completely  restored  ;  and  the  house  of  lords  adjourned  to  the  same  day. 
At  their  ne.xt  meeting,  his  majesty  was  pleased  to  come  to  parliament, 
in  order  to  exhibit  to  the  legislature  a  general  view  of  the  measures  which 
had  been  employed  during  the  recent  suspension  of  regular  government. 
"  The  outrages,"  said  the  king,  "committed  by  the  hands  of  desperate 
and  abandoned  men  in  various  parts  of  this  metropolis,  having  broke  forth 
with  violence  into  acts  of  felony  and  treason,  had  so  far  overborne  all  ci- 
vil authority,  and  threatened  so  directly  the  immediate  subversion  of  all 
legal  power,  the  destruction  of  all  property,  and  the  confusion  of  every 
order  in  the  state,  that  I  found  myself  obliged,  by  every  tie  of  duty  and 
affection  to  my  people,  to  suppress  in  every  part  those  rebellious  insurrec- 
tions, and  to  provide  for  the  public  safety  by  the  most  effectual  and  im- 
mediate application  of  the  force  intrusted  to  me  by  parliament.  Though 
I  trust  it  is  not  necessary,  yet  I  think  it  right  at  tliis  time  (o  renew  toyou 
my  solemn  assurances,  that  I  have  no  other  object  but  to  make  the  laws 
of  the  realm,  and  the  principles  of  our  excellent  constitution  in  church 
and  slate,  the  rule  and  measure  of  my  conduct  ;  and  I  shall  ever  consider 
it  as  the  first  duty  of  my  station,  and  the  chief  glory  of  my  reign,  to  main- 
tain and  preserve  the  established  religion  of  my  kingdoms,  and,  as  far  in 
me  lies,  to  secure  and  perpetuate  the  rights  and  liberties  of  ray  people." 
All  parties  agreed  in  applauding  their  sovereign's  spectli,  and  in  voting  a 
loyal  address;  though  some  members  censured  the  tardiness  with  which 
ministers  had  prepared  for  the  defence  of  the  metropolis.  The  following 
day,  a  committee  of  the  whole  house  considered  the  several  petitions, 
praying  for  a  repeal  of  the  late  bill,  which  had  been  made  the  occasion 
of  so  much  mischief.  No  repeal  was  proposed  u])on  those  petitions  ;  no 
evil  had  actually  happened  from  the  relaxation  of  the  single  penal  Jaw 
Avhich  had  been  mitigated,  and  the  consequences  apprehended  from  it 
were  considered  as  improbable  and  visionary.  The  protectant  associa- 
tion still  continuing  to  urge  parliament  to  attend  to  their  application,  a 
bill  was  brought  in  by  way  of  compromise,  to  prevent  Roman  catholics 
from  teaching  protestanls;  a  measure  which  was  supposed  to  be  both 


J 780— Chap.  XXIV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  537 

[Supplies.     Dissolution  of  parliament.] 

conciliatory  and  innoxious,  as  very  few  of  that  religion  were  teachers. 
The  bill  having  passed  the  commons,  was  carried  to  the  house  oflords : 
several  peers,  considering  it  a  great  indignity  to  parliament,  and  to  that 
house  particularly,  to  pass  a  bill  which  carried  all  the  appearance  of  being 
forced  upon  them  by  outrage  and  tlireat,  opposed  its  enactment.     At 
length,  others  being  impressed  with  the  same  idea,  it  was  set  aside  by 
the  usual  expedient  of  fixing  its  farther  consideration  on  a  day  after  the 
time  when  they  knew  parliament  was  to  be  prTogued. 
.  The  supplies  for  the  service  of  the  year  178v  amounted  to  21,196,4967. 
The  number  of  seamen  employed  was  eighty- five  thousand,  including 
marines,  and  ihirty-tive  thousand  British  troops,  including  invalids,  be- 
sides the  forces  abroad.     No  more  tlian  a  million  and  a  half  of  the  navy 
debt  was  discharged.     The  extraordinary  expenses  of  the  army  amount- 
ed to  2,418,805/.     The  new  taxes,  which  had  been  levied  the  two  pre- 
ceding years  to  pay  the  interest  upon  the  nioni-y  borrowed,  were  found  to 
be  very  inadequate  to  their  object;  recourse  was  therefore  had  to  the 
sinking  fund  to  make  good  this  failure.     To  provide  for  these  expenses, 
in  addition  to  the  usual  resources  of  land  and  tnalt,  exchequer  bills  were 
renewed  to  the  fame  amount  as  the  former  year.     The  sinking  fund  was 
to  provide  two  millions  and  a  half,  twelve  millions  were  borrowed  upon 
annuities,  and  480,000/.  raised  by  a  lottery.     The  annuity  bore  four  per 
cent,  interest,  and  a  farther  annuity  of  1/.  16s.  Sd.  for  every  100/.  for  the 
term  of  eight  years,  the  subscribers  to  be  entitled  to  four  lottery  tickets 
for  every  thousand  pounds  subscribed,  on  payment  often  pounds  for  each 
ticket.     The  additional  duties  were,  on  malt,  low  wines,  spirits,  brandy, 
and  rum,  wines  of  Portugal  and  France,  and  legacies ;  on  tea,  coffee, 
and  chocolate  ;  and  on  advertisements  in  newspapers.     All  these  taxes 
were  levied  from  luxuries,  or  benefits  enjoyed  by  the  persons  taxed  :  but 
duties  on  coals  and  on  salt  enhanced  tiie  price  of  necessaries,  and  bore 
heavy  on  the  poor,  whom  every  wise  financier  endeavours  to  preas  light- 
ly.    A  vote  of  credit  also  for  a  million  was  passed,  in  addition  to  these 
supplies.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  session,  his  majesty,  after  having  con- 
sidered in  his  speech  the  war  supplies  and  other  usual  topics,  spoke  in 
the  following  terms,  at  once  generally  descriptive  of  the  duties  of  sena- 
tors when  retired  to  the  sphere  of  their  respective  influence,  and  appro- 
priate to  the  present  time  and  situation :    "  My  lords  and  gentlemen,  let 
me  earnestly  recommend  to  you,  to  assist  me  by  your  influence  and  au- 
thority in  your  several  counties,  as  you  have  by  your  unanimous  support 
in  parliament,  in  guarding  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  from  future  disturb- 
ances, and  watching  over  the  preservation  of  the  public  safety.     Make 
my  people  sensible  of  the  happiness  they  enjoy,  and  the  distinguished  ad- 
vantages they  derive  from  our  excellent  constitution  in  church 
AND  STATE.     Warn  them  of  the  hazard  of  innovation,  point  out  to  them 
the  fatal  consequences  of  such  commotion  as  have  lately  been  excited, 
and  let  it  be  your  care  to  impress  on  their  minds  this  important  truth — 
that  rebellious  insurrections,  to  resist,  or  to  reform  the  laws,  must  end 
cither  in  the  destruction  of  the  persons  who  make  the  attempt,  or  in  sub- 
version of  our  free  and  happy  constitution."     Thus  ended,  on  the  8th  of 
July,  a  very  long  and  important  session  :   ami  two  months  after  the  pro- 
rogation, parliament  was  dissolved. 

Vot.  VII.--68 


53t  HISTORY  OF  THE  LBaf.  XXV.-178f>. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


War  with  the  French  in  India — siege  and  capture  of  Pondicherry — confederac/ 
against  the  British  interest — war  with  the  Mahrattas — is  concluded  by  the 
treaty  at  Poonah. — Hyder  Ally  instigates  and  forms  a  combination  of  native 
power  against  British  India. — Warren  Hastings — lofty  genius — grand  scheme 
for  dissolving  the  confederacy — preparations  of  Hyder  A^iy  to  invade  the  Car- 
natic. — Europe — Admiral  Rodney — vindicates  the  naval  glory  of  England  by  » 
signal  victory  over  the  Spanish  fleet — important  effeds  of  this  battle — relieves 
Gibraltar — Spanish  and  French  fleets  do  not  attempt  a  junction — Capture  of  the 
outward  bound  merchantmen — admiralty  severely  blamed  — America. — Expedi- 
tion against  Charleston  by  sir  Henry  Clinton — strength  of  that  place,  natural  and 
artificial — siege — reduction — the  province  of  South  Carolina  yields  to  the  British 
arms. —  Leaving  the  government  of  Carolina  to  lord  Cornwaiiis,  Clinton  returns 
to  New-York. — Wise  administration  of  his  lordship — obliged  to  take  the  field 
against  general  Oatca — battle  of  Camden — lord  Rawdon — victory  of  the  king's 
troops. — Achievements  of  Tarleton — of  major  Fergnsson:  that  able  and  gallant 
officer  surprised  and  overpowered  by  numbers — death  and  character. — Affairs 
at  New-York— defection  of  general  Arnold — character,  enterprise,  and  fate  of 
major  Andre.— West  Indies—Rodney  arrives— his  skill  draws  the  enemy  to 
battle— established  mode  of  forming  the  naval  line — Rodney  adopts  a  new  plan 
of  attack  by  breakiso  the  knemy's  LiNE"-some  captains  misconceiving  his  in- 
tention, disconcert  the  execution--the  event  tlicrefore  indecisive— partial  con- 
flicts, but  the  enemy,  thouf»h  murh  5<it>erior  in  number,  will  not  venture  a  close 
f)ght.-"The  enemy  are  disappointed  in  their  chief  objects  of  the  campaign  1780. 


When  Britain  and  France  quarrel,  the  contests  of  these  two  boldest, 
most  enterprising,  and  ablest  of  modern  nations,  afffct  the  remotest  re- 
gions of  the  earth.  Disputes  springing  on  the  neighbouring  coasts  of  the 
channel,  tinge  the  distant  Ganges  with  blood  ;  and  the  pacihc  feebleness 
of  eastern  Asia  mourns  the  warlike  energy  of  western  Europe. 

The  English  Ea^it  India  company,  with  a  perspicacity  sharpened  by 
private  interest,  had  r^rly  penetrated  into  the  hostile  intenlioas  of  France, 
and  saw  that  the  semblance  of  peace  could  not  long  be  preserved,  and  that 
no  intermediate  state,  however  coloured  or  disguiaed,  could  be  kept  long 
free  from  all  the  consequences  of  war;  they  were  aware  that,  long  before 
any  account  of  their  proceedings  in  the  East  could  be  received  in  Eu- 
rope, these  consequences  would  take  such  effect  as  to  afibrd  a  sufficient 
cover  and  sanction  to  their  measures.  Before  the  commencement  of 
the  former  war,  the  French  h'J  clandestinely  conveyed  so  great  an  army 
to  the  islarids  of  Mauritius  and  Bourbon,  as  to  endanger  the  destruction 
of  the  British  interest  in  India.  Such  a  force  might  soon  again  be  formed 
in  tho.s<i  lalonds  with  equal  privacy,  and  passing  to  Pondicherry,  might 
enter  the  company's  dominions  so  suddenly,  as  irresistibly  to  secure 
their  possessions.  Against  so  probable  a  danger,  they  immediately,  on 
the  delivery  of  the  French  rescri))!,  resolved  on  a  bold  and  decisive  mea- 
sure ;  and  numerous  as  their  body  was,  they  conducted  their  plan  with 
such  extraordinary  secrecy,  that  none  entertained  the  smallest  idea  of 
the  design,  until  the  elTect  was  publicly  disclosed  by  the  accounts  from 


irSO.— Chap.  XXV.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III,  539 

[Siege  and  capture  of  Pondicherry.] 

India.     They  proposed  to  undertake  the  siege  of  Pondicherry,  the  prin- 
cipal possession  of  the  French;   and   fortunately  the  instructions  were 
conveyed  with  unusual  despatch   to  Madras.     Major-general   Munro, 
early  in  August  1778,  advanced  at  the  head  of  the  company's  troops  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  Pondicherry.  The  naval  force  of  England  in  those 
seas  was  commanded  by  sir  Edward  Vernon,  and  consisted  of  the  Rip- 
pon  of  sixty  gnns,  the  Coventry  of  twenty-eight,  the  Sea-horse  of  twenty, 
the  Cormorant  sloop,  and  the  Valentine  East  Indiaiuan.   This  small  force 
fearlessly  adventured  to  attack  this  strong  city  of  the  French.     On  the 
10th  of  August  they  arrived  at  this  station,  and  discovered  a  squadron, 
which  was  commanded  by  M.  De  TronjoUy,  consisting  of  one  ship  of 
sixty-four  guns,  one  of  thirty-six,  one  of  thirty-two,  and  two  French 
India  ships  armed  for  war.     A  very  hot  engagement  ensued,  and  lasted 
above  two  hours,  when,  on  the  approach  of  night,  the  French  retreated. 
Vernon  expected  that  tiie  admiral  of  the  enemy,  trusting  to  his  superior 
force,  would  renew  the  battle  the  next  morning:  a  contrary  wind,  how- 
ever, and  a  northern  current,  drove  the  British  ships  from  their  station  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  and  they  were  not  able  to  recover  it  until  the 
20th  of  the  month.     Having  regained  sight  of  Pondicherry,  they  per- 
ceived the  French  fleet  in  the  road  :  an  immediate  engagement  was  now^ 
expected,  and  nothing  was  left  undone  by  the  commodore,  in  order  to 
close  with  the  enemy ;  but  the  alternate  failure  and  contrary  direction  of 
the  wind  rendered  all  his  efforts  ineffectual:  he  trusted,  however,  that  a 
battle  would  certainly  take  place  the  following  morning.     The  French 
commander  consulted  the  preservation  of  his  ships  more  than  the  de- 
fence of  the  town,  and  during  the  night  abandoned  Pondicherry ;  and  so 
expeditious  was  he  in  his  means  of  escape,  that  his  squadron  was  totally 
out  of  sight  in  the  morning.     The  success  of  Vernon,  and  the  departure 
of  the  French  fleet,  facihtated  the  operations  of  the  besiegers,  and  ap- 
peared to  afford  a  certain  prospect  of  success.     On  the  21st  of  August, 
the  land  forces  invested  the  town  and  fortress,  while  the  fleet  blockaded 
it  by  sea.     Though  the  fort  of  Pondicherry  was  dismantled  on  its  resto- 
ration to  the  French  by  the  peace  of  Paris,  yet  fresh  works  had  been 
since  raised ;  but  the  chief  strength  consisted  in  the  valour  and  conduct 
of  its  governor,  M.  de  Bellecombe,  and  the  courage  of  the  garrison,  who, 
nearly  cut  oft'  from  every  hope  of  succour,  persevered  to  the  last  extre- 
mity in  a  determined  and  gallant  defence ;  they  were  opposed,  however, 
by  equal  courage  and  military  ability,  with  superior  numbers.     On  the 
18th  of  September,  the  batteries  were  opened,  under  the  powerful  fire 
of  twenty-eight  pieces  of  heavy  cannon,  and  twenty-seven  mortars.  The 
artillery  of  the  besiegers  soon  gained  an  evident  superiority,  and  they 
were  indefatigable  in  carrying  on  their  approaches;  but  the  activity  and 
obstinate  defence  of  the  garrison  rendered  caution  necessary,  and,  with 
violent  rains  which  then  frequently  fell,  could  not  fail  of  considerably  re- 
tarding their  works.     Notwithstanding  these  impediments,  the  siege  was 
eo  far  advanced  by  the  middle  of  October,  as  to  render  a  general  assault 
practicable  ;  and  on  the  17th,  every  thing  was  ready  for  beginning  the 
attack.  Aware  of  the  hopelessness  of  longer  defence  against  such  force, 
and  of  the  ruin  in  which  an  obstinate  and  unfounded  perseverance  would 
involve  his  garrison  and  the  inhabitants,  the  French  commander  propos- 
ed a  capitulation,  which  was  willingly  accepted  by  the  Enghsh  leaders. 
The  victorious  warriors,  with  the  generosity  of  British  conquerors,  bor» 


540  HISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXV.— 1780. 

[Confederacy  against  the  British  interest.     War  with  the  Mahruttas.] 

tho  most  ample  and  honourable  testimony  to  the  jrallantry  of  their  ene- 
my, and  liberally  agreed  to  every  requisition  that  did  not  interfere  with 
the  public  benefit  or  security.  The  garrison  were  allowed  al!  the  ho- 
nours of  war:  and,  as  a  particular  mark  of  attention  to  M.  de  Bellecoiiibe, 
the  regiment  of  Pondicherry  was,  at  his  request,  allowed  to  keep  their 
colours.  A  numerous  artillery  became  a  prize  to  the  victors;  all  public 
property  underwent  the  same  fato,  but  whatever  was  private  was  pve- 
aerved  to  the  owners.  TW^  company's  troops  employed  in  this  siege 
consisted  of  ten  thousand  five  hundred  men,  of  whom  fifteen  hundred 
were  Europeans;  the  garrison  of  near  three  thousand,  of  whom  nine 
hundred  were  Europeans.  The  loss  of  the  British  amounted  tci  two 
hundred  and  twenty-four  slaifi,  and  six  hundred  and  ninety-three  wound- 
ed; and  of  the  garrison  to  two  hundred  killed.  Mr.  Law,  who  had  seen 
and  undergone  so  many  changes  of  fortune  in  India,  was  included  in  this 
capitulation,  and  again  behehl  the  power  of  his  country  anniliilated  in 
that  quarter  of  the  globe.  Thus  commenced  our  efforts  in  British  India, 
in  the  war  against  the  French. 

While  our  enemy  was  defeated  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  an  ex- 
tensive and  powerful  confederacy  was  formed  with  our  European  anta- 
gonists by  the  native  powers  of  Hindostan.  From  the  decline  of  the 
Mogul  empire,  the  principal  state  of  India  within  the  Ganges,  in  popula- 
tion, valour,  and  resources,  was  the  Mahratta  empire,  the  original  mha- 
bitants  of  the  mountains ;  hardened  by  their  situation  and  secured  by 
their  fastnesses  and  defiles,  this  warlike  nation  had  continued  unsubdued 
by  the  successive  conquerors  of  lowland  India,  and  never  submitted  to  a 
Mahomedan  yoke.  Deriving  a  precarious  subsistence  from  pasturage 
and  hunting,  these  highlanders  were  accustomed  to  supply  their  wants 
by  depredation.^  on  the  agricultural  and  fertile  country,  and  hence  ac- 
quired all  the  enterprise  and  activity  which  result  from  an  incursive  and 
predatory  life.  Though  divided  into  a  variety  of  tribes,  yet  deeming 
themselves  sprung  from  the  same  origin,  they  acknowledged  one  para- 
mount superior  to  all  their  separate  chieftains,  and  had  established  a 
system  of  connexion  and  dependence,  not  unlike  the  feudal  gradations 
of  Europe.  At  their  head  was  Ram  Rajah,  the  descendant  of  a  cele- 
brated leader.  In  India,  both  Mahomedan  and  Gentoo,  the  principal 
offices  of  state  descend  by  inheritance,  and  official  influence,  combining 
with  hereditary  power,  frequently  renders  ministers  very  formidable  rivals 
to  their  sovereigns.  A  little  before  this  time,  Madar  Row,  the  prime 
minister,  held  tho  reins  of  government,  which  his  father  having  with  his 
assistance  seized,  had  at  his  death  left  undivided  to  the  son.  Both  the 
older  and  younger  usurpers  had  exerted  considerable  ahihty,  and  ac- 
quired distinguished  popularity.  This  youth's  uncle,  Raganaut  Row, 
treacherously  procured  his  as.sassination,  and  being  obliged  to  fly  his 
country,  found  shelter  at  Bombay.  The  refuge  aftorded  to  the  fugitive 
greatly  incensed  the  Mahrattas  against  the  English.  The  presidency  of 
Bombay  concluded  a  treaty  wfth  Raganaut,  by  which  they  engaged  to 
place  him  in  the  ofli'ial  situation  recently  held  by  his  nephew,  while  he, 
on  his  part,  stipulated  the  cession  of  extensive  territory  to  the  company ; 
and  the  British  from  this  inducement  actually  commenced  a  war. 

By  the  treaty  of  1769,  Hyder  Ally  had  stipulated  with  the  company  re- 
ciprocal assistance,  if  either  party  was  attacked:  he  accordingly  engaged  in 
the  war  agamst  the  Mahrattas ;  but  when  thus  involved,  he  complained  that 


1780.-Chap.XXV.  HEIGN  OF  GEOKGE  IH  5/iJ 

[Warren  Hastings.     Combination  of  Hyder  Ally  with  other  native  powers] 

the  presidency  of  Madras  had  not  furnished  him  with  the  promised  suc- 
cours, lie  indeed  vviis  reduced  to  great  danger,  from  which  having  ex- 
tricated himself  with  distinguished  abihty,  he  concluded  a  peace  with  the 
Mahrattas:  and  was  the  more  dissatisfied  with  the  presidency  of  Madras, 
as  lie  imputed  tlie  lUihue  of  support,  not  to  neghgence  but  to  design.  He 
wa.s  aware  of  the  extraordinary  influence  which  the  Nabob  of  Arcot  pos- 
sessed in  the  Enghsh  council,  and  not  ignorant  of  the  disposition  of  that 
prince  to  embroil  liim  and  the  company,  and  therefore  began  to  connect 
himself  with  the  enemies  of  Britain.  A  desultory  war  was  carried  on 
between  Bombay  and  the  Mahrattas  until  October  1774,  when  three 
gentlemen  arrived  in  Bengal,  who,  by  the  act  of  1773,  were  to  be  asses- 
sors in  council  to  the  governor-general :  these  were  general  Clavering, 
colonel  Monson,  and  Philip  Francis,  esquire  ;  and  their  first  act  was  to 
urge  the  presidency  of  Calcutta  to  condemn  the  Mahratta  war.  The 
council  complied,  and  sent  an  ambassador  to  negotiate  a  peace:  after  a 
variety  of  discussion,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Poonah,  on  the  loth  of 
March,  177G. 

The  professed  objects  of  the  three  new  counsellors  were,  peace  with 
the  country  powers,  along  with  an  inviolable  observation  of  the  p'.iblic 
faith,  and  a  strict  attention  to  justice  in  all  transactions  with  the  natives. 
The  governor  at  this  time  was  Warren  Hastings,  a  man  of  lofty  genius 
and  acute  understanding,  of  a  very  comprehensive  range,  great  in  his 
designs,  fertile  in  invention,  dexterous  in  plan,  and  firm,  bold,  and  rapid 
in  execution.  The  death  of  colonel  Monson  in  1776,  and  of  general 
Clavering  in  1777,  left  Mr.  Francis  unsupported  in  council,  and  placed 
Mr.  Hastings  in  a  majority.  The  governor-general  had  been  outvoted 
in  the  question  respecting  the  peace  of  Poonah,  which  was  extremely 
disagreeable  to  the  presidency  of  Bombay.  That  body,  knowing  the 
resolution  that  had  taken  place  in  the  council  at  Calcutta,  began  to  hope 
for  a  revisal  of  the  treaty,  and  the  acquirement  of  much  more  advantage- 
ous terms.  The  governor-general  appeared  not  unwilling  to  second  tlieir 
wishes  :  but  a  variety  of  complicated  considerations  produced  from  Has- 
tings a  much  grander  scheme  of  policy,  and  a  more  extensive  system  of 
measures,  than  the  council  of  Bombay  had  expected,  or  even  conceived. 
Hyder  Ally,  ever  since  his  late  peace  with  the  Mahrattas,  had  sought 
the  closest  connexion  with  that  nation,  and  by  his  great  political  abilities, 
as  well  as  his  high  personal  character,  had  acquired  powerful  influence 
in  their  counsels.  He  had  also,  with  singular  zeal,  assiduity,  and  suc- 
cess, paid  court  to  the  sui>ah  of  the  Decan  :  after  the  Mahrattas  and 
Mysore,  the  chief  native  powers  in  the  hither  Peninsula,  a  negotiation 
was  also  opened  between  France,  and  both  Mysore  and  the  Mahrattas. 
Informed  of  all  these  circumstances,  and  from  situation  and  conduct  in- 
ferring design,  Hastings  entertained  no  doubt  that  a  confederacy  was  pro- 
jected against  British  India ;  though  its  specific  object  might  not  be 
hitherto  defined,  nor  its  extent  ascertained,  he  had  most  probat)le  grounds 
for  concluding  that  a  hostile  combination  was  formed  against  those  inte- 
rests, with  the  advancement  of  which  he  principally  was  intrusted.  He 
conceived  it  his  duty  to  employ  anticipatory  measures,  and  began  with  a 
scheme  worthy  of  his  towering  genius.  As  the  Mahratta  nation  wcuid 
be  the  most  formidable  member  of  the  hostile  league,  he  conceived  the 
project  of  wresting  the  government  of  that  country  from  the  hands  that 
now  held  it,  and  bestowing  it  on  a  sovereign,  dependent  on  himself. 


542  UJSTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXV.--1780. 

[Victory  over  the  Spanish  fleet  off  Cape  Si.  Vincent.] 

The  deposed  Ram  Rajah  being  dead  without  heirs,  one  of  the  pretenders 
to  the  Mahratta  throne  was  Moodajee  Boosla  the  rajah  of  Berar,  a  con- 
siderable principahty  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Mahratta  empire,  and  near 
the  British  territories.  This  prince  was  on  amicable  terms  with  the  pre- 
sidency of  Calcutta,  and  at  variance  with  the  Nizam  and  Hyder  Ally,  its 
apprehended  enemies  ;  he  had  a  great  army,  unimpaired  by  war.  Ra- 
ganaut  was  promised  the  place  of  prime  minister,  when  the  rajah  should 
be  elevated  to  the  throne;  and  having  a  considerable  number  of  parti- 
sans in  his  country,  was  esteemed  an  important  auxiliary.  Meanwhile 
the  presidency  of  Bombay  having  proposed  conditions  to  the  Mahrattas 
which  they  would  not  admit,  declared  that  the  treaty  of  Poonah  was 
violated,  and  no  longer  binding  on  the  company.  An  expedition  being 
undertaken  from  Bombay,  proved  unsuccessful  by  the  treachery  of  Ra- 
ganaut,  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Wargaum  between  the  presidency 
of  Bombay  and  the  Mahrattas.  Meanwhile  preparations  were  making 
for  elevating  the  rajah  of  Berar  to  the  throne  ;  but  at  last  this  prince  him- 
self refused  to  have  any  concern  in  the  undertaking,  and  was  gained  over 
by  Hyder  Ally  to  take  a  part  in  the  confederacy  against  the  English.  In 
1779,  a  formal  league  was  concluded  between  the  four  chief  native  pow- 
ers against  England  ;  and  to  this  the  inferior  princes  soon  afterwards  ac- 
ceded. From  Delhi  to  cape  Comorin,  from  the  Indus  to  the  coast  of 
Coromandel,  all  except  Arcot,  was  hostile  to  the  English  name.  The 
first  object  of  attack  was  the  Carnatic,  which  expedition  Hyder  Ally  un- 
dertook to  conduct ;  but,  as  military  operations  did  not  begin  till  the  lat- 
ter end  of  the  year  1780,  not  to  break  the  unity  of  that  portion  of  his- 
tory, I  must  reserve  the  narrative  of  those  transactions  until  I  can  carry 
them  to  a  more  advanced  period. 

The  naval  campaign  of  1780  opened  honourably  and  advantageously 
for  Britain.  Gibraltar  having  been  closely  blockaded  by  the  Spaniards, 
<he  relief  of  that  important  fortress  was  intrusted  to  admiral  Rodney,  an 
officer  highly  distinguished  for  intrepidity,  nautical  skill,  and  naval  con- 
duct: in  his  plans  and  execution  he  eminently  displayed  a  boldness  of 
adventure,  tiiat  befitted  a  leader  of  Britons,  who  neither  feared  the  dan- 
gers of  the  sea  nor  the  enemy,  and  introduced  a  system  of  tactics  the 
i)est  suited  to  the  men  he  had  to  command.  Having  sailed  at  mid-win- 
ter, he  had  been  but  a  short  time  at  sea  when  he  fell  in  with  a  consider- 
able convoy  bound  from  St.  Sebastian  to  Cadiz,  consisting  of  fifteen 
merchant  ships,  guarded  by  a  sixty-four  gun  ship,  four  frigates,  and  two 
sloops  :  the  whole  fleet  was  taken.  The  ship  of  war  and  some  trading 
vessels,  laden  with  bale  goods  and  naval  stores,  he  sent  to  England;  the 
rest,  whose  cargoes  were  flour,  he  took  with  him  to  Gibraltar.  Proceed- 
ing in  iiis  voyage,  on  the  15th  of  January,  he  descried  off"  Cape  St.  Vin- 
cent, a  Spanish  squadron  of  eleven  ships  of  the  line  under  the  command 
of  Don  Juan  de  Langara.  The  wind  blowing  towards  the  shore,  the 
British  admiral  on  perceiving  the  cnerny,  immediately  kept  to  leeward  in 
ordor  to  prevent  them  from  escaping  into  their  ports,  favoured  by  the 
shortness  of  the  day.  The  Spaniards  in  vain  endeavoured  to  avoid  a 
conflict.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  English  fire  commenc- 
ing with  the  usual  energy  and  rapidity,  was  returned  with  spirit  and  re- 
solution by  the  Spaniards.  The  battle  was  obstinately  fought :  the  night 
soon  arriving,  was  dark,  tempestuous,  and  dismal,  and  its  aspect  was 
rendered  more  terrible  to  the  British  fleet,  from  being  involved  among 


1780.— Chap.  XXV.  JIRIGN  OF  GEORGE  ilf.  '  543 

[Important  consequences  of  this  battle.     Capture  of  Britibh  merchantmen.] 

the  .shoals  of  St.  Lucar,  in  endeavouring  to  intercept  the  enemy  from 
attaining  the  shore :  but  these  difficulties  and  dangers  only  stimulated 
their  courage,  and  invigorated  their  efforts.  The  Spanish  ship  St.  Do- 
mingo of  seventy  guns,  with  six  hundred  men,  blew  up,  and  all  on  board 
peri.shed.  The  English  man  of  war  with  which  she  was  engaged  nar- 
rowly escaped  a  similar  fate.  The  action  and  pursuit  continued  with  a 
constant  fire  until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  headmost  of  the 
enemy's  line  struck  to  the  admiral. 

The  Spani.sh  admiral's  ship,  the  Phoenix  of  eighty  guns,  with  three  of 
seventy,  were  tak^n  and  carried  safely  into  port ;  the  St.  Julian  of 
seventy  guns,  commanded  by  the  marquis  dc  Medina,  was  taken,  the 
officers  shifted,  and  a  lieutenant,  with  seventy  British  seamen,  put  on 
board ;  but  by  her  running  on  shore,  the  victors  experienced  the  caprice 
of  war,  by  becoming  themselves  prisoners.  Another  ship  of  the  same 
force  was  afterwards  run  upon  the  breakers,  and  totally  lost ;  two  more 
escaped  greatly  damaged,  and  two  less  injured  were  sent  into  Cadiz. 
Such  was  the  final  disposal  of  the  whole  Spanish  squadron.  Notwith- 
standing the  inferiority  of  the  enemy  in  print  offeree,  yet,  as  the  British 
admiral  had  to  encounter  a  boisterous  ocean,  during  the  storms  of  mid- 
winter, and  gloomy  darkness,  with  the  additional  danger  of  a  lee  shore, 
few  actions  have  required  a  higher  degree  of  intrepidity,  more  consum- 
mate naval  skill,  or  greater  dexterity  of  seamanship. 

This  was  a  very  important  victory  ;  besides  the  great  damage  sustain- 
ed by  the  enemy,  six  ships  of  the  line  were  added  to  the  royal  navy  of 
England  ;  and  the  value  of  other  prizes,  in  a  public  view,  was  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  nature  of  their  cargoes,  the  critical  season  in  which  they 
"were  taken,  and  the  essential  service  to  which  they  were  applied.  The 
victorious  admiral  proceeded  to  Gibraltar,  furnished  the  garrison  with 
necessary  supplies,  sent  also  stores  and  provisions  to  Minorca,  and  with 
part  of  his  fleet  set  sail  for  the  West  Indies  ;  the  rest  returned  with  the 
Spanish  prizes  to  England,  under  admiral  Digby,  who  in  his  way  cap- 
tured a  French  ship  of  sixty-four  guns,  one  of  a  convoy  to  a  fleet  of 
transports  destined  for  Mauritius.  The  success  of  admiral  Rodney 
caused  great  joy  in  the  nation,  for  some  time  disused  to  tidings  of  vic- 
tory :  besides  the  signal  advantage  obtained,  they  considered  it  as  the 
general  restoration  of  naval  supremacy  ;  and  the  discomfiture  of  the  Spa- 
nish fleet  off"  St.  Vincent's  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the  operations  in 
other  scenes  of  naval  hostility. 

Sir  Charles  Hardy  having  died  in  May,  the  command  of  the  channel 
fleet  was  bestowed  on  admiral  Geary,  who  sailed  in  the  beginning  of 
June.  The  enemy  did  not  attempt  to  face  our  armament,  but  left  their 
trade  exposed  to  the  British  cruisers.  In  the  beginning  of  July,  the  ad- 
miral fell  in  with  a  rich  fleet  of  merchantmen  from  St.  Domingo,  and 
took  twelve  of  the  number ;  the  rest  escaped  through  a  thick  fog.  After 
cruising  for  several  weeks  longer  that  commander  returned  into  harbour, 
resigned  the  command,  and  was  succeeded  by  admiral  Darby.  Mean- 
while the  British  commerce  received  a  severe  blow :  an  outward-bound 
fleet  of  merchantmen  for  the  East  and  West  Indies  sailed  from  Ports- 
mouth, under  the  convoy  of  captain  Moutray  of  the  Ramillies,  and  three 
frigates.  The  Spanish  fleet,  joined  by  a  squadron  of  French,  was  cruis- 
ing off"  the  coast  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  without  venturing  to  the  north- 
ward of  Cape  Finisterre.     The  convoy  included,  besides  the  merchant- 


544  IIISTOllY  OF  THE  Chap,  XXV.— 1780. 

[Uis3alisf:<ction  ngainst  the  ministry.    Operations  in  America.] 

men,  eighteen  victuallers,  store-ships,  and  transports,  destined  for  the 
service  of  the  West  Indies.  One  of  these  was  of  particular  importance, 
being  laden  with  tents  and  camp  equipage  for  the  troops  that  were  de- 
signed tor  active  service  in  the  Leeward  Islands  :  the  five  Indiamen  like- 
wise, besides  arms,  ammunition,  and  a  train  of  artillery,  conveyed  a 
large  quaMtiiy  of  naval  .stores  for  the  supply  of  the  British  squadron  in  the 
east.  The  convoy  took  a  course  much  nearer  the  enemy's  coast  than 
was  usual,  or  at  least  expedient.  On  the  9th  of  August  it  met  with  the 
enemy's  fleet,  and  most  of  the  merchantmen  were  captured.  This  losij 
caused  great  dejection  among  commercial  men,  and  increased  the  di-ssa- 
tisfaction  which  iiad  before  prevailed  against  ministry.  It  was  alleged 
by  ihe  friends  of  administration,  that  the  convoy  had  pursued  that  track 
in  order  to  accommodate  the  merchants  and  the  Ea->t  India  company, 
who  were  4aking  in  wines  at  Madeira  :  but  it  was  replied,  that  the  ac- 
commo  laiion  of  the  merchants  was  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  touching 
at  that  i-iand,  with  such  danger  of  interception  ;  that  a  course  so  near 
the  enemy's  coast  was  not  necessary  in  order  to  steer  to  Madeira  :  and 
that  if  so  easterly  a  track  had  been  unavoidable,  the  convoy  of  sucii  an 
immense  property  ought,  instead  of  a  single  man  of  war  and  three  fri- 
gates, to  have  been  tlie  whole  channel  fleet.  Admiral  Darby  havmg 
been  detained  by  contrary  winds  at  Torbay,  put  to  sea  about  the  middle 
of  Septemher,  and  steered  to  the  coast  of  Spain.  Count  de  Guichen  was 
ordered  with  a  squadron  to  re-enforce  the  fleet  in  the  Wt^st  Indies,  but 
finding  his  ships  in  a  very  indifferent  condition,  and  being  informed  that 
the  English  fleet  had  sailed,  he  resolved  for  safety  to  join  the  combined 
armament  otf  Cadiz.  The  Fre  ich  fleet,  commanded  by  D'Estaing,  be- 
ing thus  re-enforced,  consisted  of  thirty-six  sail  of  the  line,  which  under- 
took to  conduct  the  West  India  convoy  to  the  ports  of  France.  Don 
liOuis  de  Cordova,  the  Spanish  admiral,  acrompanied  the  French  as 
far  as  Cape  Finisterre.  After  their  separation  from  the  Spaniards,  the 
French  fleet  descried  admiral  Darby,  on  the  7th  of  November,  with 
twenty-two  ships  of  the  line,  and  two  ships  of  fifty  guns.  D'Estaing, 
notwithstanding  the  great  superiority  of  his  numbers,  being  incumbered  by 
the  convoy,  and  aware  of  the  bad  condition  of  his  ships,  did  not  choose 
to  hazard  an  engagement.  Darby,  on  t!ie  other  hand,  observing  the 
vast  superiority  of  number  on  the  side  of  the  enemy,  did  not  think  it  ex- 
pedient to  venture  a  battle.  Mini>ters  conceived  that  in  the  relative  cir- 
cumstances the  most  decisive  advantages  must  have  ensued,  and  with- 
out imputing  any  blame  to  the  admiral,  expressed  their  reLtretthat  he  had 
not  attacked  the  enemy.  Darby,  in  the  end  of  November,  returned 
into  port. 

The  campaign  both  in  America  and  the  West  Indies  was  much  more 
active  and  important  than  in  Europe.  In  the  former  year,  the  arrival  of 
D'Estaing  with  the  French  force  on  the  American  coast  had  turned  the 
attention  of  sir  Henry  Clifton  chiefly  to  defence  ;  but  the  defeat  and  de- 
parture of  that  enemy,  with  the  i)rilliant  achievements  and  important  suc- 
cesses of  British  detachments,  encouraged  him  to  hope  for  proportionate 
advantage  from  a  comprehensive  scheme  of  offensive  operations  to  be 
carried  on  by  his  main  army.  He  accordingly,  in  the  close  of  1779, 
made  dispositions  for  invading  South  Carolina  and  besieging  Charleston: 
with  this  view,  leaving  general  Knyphausen  to  command  at  New-York, 
he,  on  the  26th  of  December,  sailed  from  Sandy-hook,  escorted  by  ad- 


1780.— Chap.  XXV.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  545 

[Expedition  against  Charleston-     Strength  of  that  place.] 

miral  Arbuthnot,  and  directed  his  course  to  Savannah  ;  where,  from  the 
stormy  season,  he  did  not  arrive  until  the  end  of  January.  The  ship.s 
being  considerably  damaged,  he  deferred  his  expedition  for  about  twelve 
days,  that  they  miglit  be  refitted. 

Charleston,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina,  is  situated  between  the  ri- 
vers Ashley  and  Cooper  to  the  north  and  south  ;  with  a  harbour  formed 
by  the  coiiilux  of  those  streams,  and  an  inlet  of  the  sea  to  the  east :  com- 
municating to  the  west  with  the  main  land  by  an  isthmus  between  the  two 
rivers  called  Charleston  Neck,  by  which  only  the  town  can  be  approach- 
ed by  land.  To  these  natural  constituents  of  security,  art  and  skill  were 
not  wanting.  The  fortifications  had  been  considerably  strengthened  in 
1776,  to  oppose  sir  Peter  Parker :  but  chiefly  on  the  side  ne.xt  the  sea, 
whence  the  attacks  had  been  directed.  The  Americans  beinji  now  in- 
formed  of  the  movements  and  force  of  the  British  arms,  and  aware  that 
the  town  would  be  attempted  on  the  side  of  the  land,  comprehended  that 
quarter  in  their  scheme  of  defence.  They  constructed  a  chain  of  re- 
doubts, lines,  and  batteries,  extending  from  Ashley  to  Cooper  river,  up- 
on which  were  mounted  upwards  of  eighty  pieces  of  cannon  and  mortars. 
In  front  of  the  lines  a  canal  had  been  dug,  which  was  filled  with  water, 
and  from  the  dam  at  both  ends  a  swamp  oozed  to  each  river,  forming 
natural  impediments  where  the  artificial  terminated.  Behind  these  were 
two  rows  of  abattis,  some  other  obstructions,  and  immediately  in  front  of 
the  works  a  double  picketed  ditch.  The  fortifications  on  the  right  and 
left  were  not  only  strong,  but  advanced  so  far  beyond  the  range  of  the  in- 
termediate lines,  as  to  enfilade  the  canal  almost  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  In  the  centre  there  was  a  hornwork  of  masonry,  which  being 
closed  during  the  siege,  became  a  citadel. 

Such  were  the  defences  of  Charleston,  on  the  only  side  on  which  it 
could  be  approached  by  land  ;  and  towards  the  water,  numerous  batte- 
ries covered  with  artillery  forbade  the  approach  of  ships.  But  besides 
the  security  which  Charleston  derived  from  its  numerous  batteries,  it  was 
still  more  effectually  protected  by  the  bar  or  sand  bank  at  the  mouth  of 
the  inlet  from  the  sea  .This  bar,  impassable  by  the  larger  ships  of  war, 
rendered  the  entry  of  others  difficult  and  dangerous  :  and  just  within  it,  a 
five  fathom  hole,  of  a  sufficient  depth  of  water,  furnished  a  convenient 
station  for  a  squadron  to  command  the  bar,  and  further  obstruct  the  be- 
siegers. This  station  was  occupied  by  the  American  commodore  Whip- 
ple, with  a  squadron  of  nine  sail  under  his  command,  the  largest  carrying 
forty-four  and  the  smallest  sixteen  guns.  After  the  perils  and  difficulties 
of  the  bar  were  surmounted,  before  a  fleet  could  reach  Charleston,  Fort 
Moultrie  upon  Sullivan's  Island  was  to  be  passed,  the  fire  from  which 
had,  on  a  former  occasion,  proved  so  destructive  to  a  British  squadron; 
and  since  that  period,  the  works  had  been  considerably  strengthened  and 
enlarged.  General  Lincoln  trusting  to  those  defences,  and  at  the  same 
time  expecting  large  re-enforcements  from  the  other  colonies,  shut  him- 
self up  in  Charleston  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  inhabitants;  and  with 
the  force  under  his  command,  amounting  to  seven  thousand  men  of  all 
denominations  under  arms,  resolved  to  defend  it  to  the  last  extremity. 
On  the  11th  of  February  the  fleet  sailed,  and  took  possession  without  op- 
position of  the  islands  of  St.  John  and  of  James  to  the  southward  of 
Charleston  harbour,  ^^hilc  the  army  advanced  across  the  country  to  the 
bank  of  A.shley  river.  ]>eing  at  groat  pains  to  fortify  posts,  and  preserve 
Vol.  VII.— 69 


54G  HISrOltY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXV.— 1780. 

[Siege  ami  rediiclion  of  Cliarleston  ] 

his  communication  Avitli  the  sea,  CHnton  did  not  attempt  to  pass  the  Ash- 
ley until  the  :i9tli  ot'  ^[.-irch.  This  operation,  in  itself  very  difiicult,  was 
effected  with  expc(htion  and  snccess,  through  the  skill  and  activity  of 
captain  Keith  l^lphinslone,  who  conducted  the  passajje  of  the  troops  with 
distinsiiished  address  and  abilits'.  Having  disenibarUed  on  the  northern 
shore  of  Ashley,  the  army  the  tbllowing  day  encamped  in  front  of  the 
American  line  ;  and  on  the  1st  6f  A[)ril,  began  to  break  ground  before 
Charleston,  at  the  distance  of  eight  hiuidred  yards  from  the  provincial 
works.  Meanwhile  the  Britisli  lleet  approached  the  bar,  in  order  to 
second  the  operations  of  the  army.  For  this  pjirpose  admiral  Arbuthnot 
shifted  his  llag  from  the  Europa  of  the  line,  to  the  Roebuck  of  forty-four 
guns,  which,  with  the  Renown  and  Ramillies,were  lightened  of  their  guns, 
provisions,  and  water  ;  the  lighter  iVigates  being  capable  of  passing  the 
bar  without  such  preparation.  Yet  so  difficult  was  the  task  in  any  state, 
that  they  lay  in  that  situation,  exposed  on  an  open  coast  in  the  winter 
season,  to  the  danger  of  the  seas  and  to  the  insults  of  the  enemy,  for 
above  a  fortniglit  before  a  proper  opportunity  offered  :  the  bar  was,  how- 
ever, passed  on  the  20th  of  Marc!),  without  loss. 

The  American  conmiodore  retired  to  Charleston  ;  the  British  ships 
etnbraced  the  first  opportunity  for  passing  Fort  Moultrie  on  Sullivan's  Isl- 
and, and  notwithstanding  a  severe  and  impetuous  fire,  made  good  the 
way.  Still  the  Americans  hail  preserved  the  command  of  the  Cooper 
river.  General  Clinton  having  now  ascertained  the  co-operation  of  the 
fleet,  and  completed  his  first  parallel,  before  he  opened  his  batteries  sent 
a  summons  to  the  American  general  to  surrender.  Lincoln,  trusting  to 
the  strength  of  the  place,  and  to  the  supplies  and  re-enforcements,  which 
he  might  still  receive  by  the  Cooper,  refused  to  yield  ;  and  to  render  the 
entrance  of  that  river  impracticable,  ordered  a  chain  of  vessels  to  be  sunk 
across  its  mouth.  On  the  9th  of  April,  the  British  batteries  opened, 
with  visible  effect.  Meanwhile  a  force  was  detached  'under  lord  Corn- 
wallis,  in  order  to  possess  the  other  side  of  the  Cooper  river;  and  his 
lordship,  assisted  by  the  enterprising  activity  of  colonels  Webster  and 
Tarleton,  and  major  Fergusson,  soon  cut  off  all  communication  between 
tlie  garrison  of  Charleston  and  any  part  of  the  country.  Completely  in- 
vested, the  Americans  offered  conditions  of  capitulation;  Which  being 
much  too  favourable  for  the  present  state,  were  instantly  rejected  by  tlie 
British  commander.  IMajor  Moncricff,  who  had  gained  so  much  honour 
in  the  defence  of  Savannah,  acquired  no  less  applause  from  the  very  su- 
perior and  masterly  manner  in  which  he  conducted  the  oftensive  opera- 
tions of  the  siege.  The  second  parallel  was  completed  on  the  19th  of 
April,  and  the  third  on  the  6th  of  May.  The  last  of  these  had  been  push- 
ed so  near  to  the  provincial  works,  as  to  be  close  to  the  canal ;  and  the 
canal,  for  a  considf.-rable  part  of  its  extent,  was  quickly  drained  of  its  wa- 
ter. On  the  same  day,  colonel  Tarleton  attacked  and  defeated  another 
body  of  cavalry,  whicii  the  (mcmy  had  with  infinite  difiicnity  collected  to- 
gether. The  admiral,  who  had  constantly  pressed  and  annoyed  the  ene- 
my, received  information  which  induced  him  to  attack  Fort  Moultrie  on 
Sullivan's  Island  :  he  thcTofore  despatched  captain  Hudson  of  the  navy, 
with  two  hundred  seamen  and  marines,  to  attack  the  fort  by  land,  while 
he  with  the  ships  should  batter  it  by  water ;  but  before  the  battery  was 
opened,  the  garrison  surrendered,  .\fter  this  advantage,  general  Clin- 
ton, wishing  to  preserve  Charleston  from  the  dreadful  effects  of  a  cap- 


irSO.— Chip. XXV.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  547 

[Sanguine  expectations  of  Clinton.     He  returns  to  New-York] 

ture  by  storm,  again  urged  the  American  general  by  capitulation  to  avert 
destruction  :  but  the  provincials  not  being  sufficiently  humbled  hy  tlieir 
misfortunes,  still  refused  to  comply.  The  hostilities  were  recommenced  : 
the  batteries  on  the  third  parallel  were  then  opened,  and  so  great  a  supe- 
riority of  fire  obtained,  that  the  besiegers  were  enabled  to  gain  the  coun- 
terscarps of  the  outwork  which  flanked  the  canal  :  this  they  likewise 
passed,  and  then  pushed  on  their  works  directly  towards  the  ditch.  Ge- 
neral Lincoln  and  the  inhabitants,  seeing  that  iartlier  resistance  would  be 
ineffectual,  offered  to  surrender.  The  British  commanders  were  not  dis- 
posed to  press  to  unconditional  submission,  an  enemy  whom  they  wished 
to  conciliate  by  clemency ;  they  therefore  granted  now  the  same  condi- 
tions which  they  had  before  offered,  and  the  capitulation  was  accordingly 
signed.  The  garrison  was  allowed  some  of  the  honours  of  war,  but  nei- 
ther to  uncase  their  colours,  nor  beat  a  British  march  on  their  drums. 
The  continental  troops  and  seamen  were  to  keep  their  baggage,  and  re- 
main prisoners  of  war  until  they  were  exchanged.  The  militia  were 
permitted  to  return  to  their  respective  houses,  as  prisoners  on  parole ; 
and  while  they  adhered  to  their  engagement,  were  not  to  be  molested  by 
the  British  troops  :  and  the  citizens  were  allovv-ed  the  same  terms  as  the 
militia.  The  loss  of  the  royalists  at  the  siege  of  Charleston  amounted  to 
seventy-six  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  wounded.  Of  the 
garrison,  the  number  of  the  killed  and  wounded  was  smaller.  The  pri- 
soners were,  the  deputy-governor  and  the  council  of  the  province,  seven 
general  officers,  a  commodore,  ten  continental  regiments,  but  much  re- 
duced, three  battalions  of  artillery,  with  town  and  country  militia,  amount- 
ing to  more  than  five  thousand  men  ;  to  whom  must  be  added  about  one 
thousand  American  and  French  seamen,  and  near  four  hundred  pieces  of 
ordnance,  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  stores.  The  commander  in 
chief  bestowed  th6  highest  encomiums  on  the  officers  and  privates  in  the 
various  departments  of  service.  The  officers  most  particularly  specified 
were,  earl  Cornvvallis,  major-generals  Leslie,  Hayne,  and  Kospotch,  and 
brigadier-general  Patterson  ;  lieutenant-colonels  Webster  and  Tarleton, 
major  Fergusson,  and  major  Moncrieft'of  the  engineers  in  the  land  ser- 
vice ;  and  captain  Keitli  Elphinstone  in  the  navy. 

In  the  sanguine  hopes  that  spring  from  unusual  success,  sir  Henry 
Clinton  considered  the  reduction  of  Charleston  as  the  completion  of  the 
conquest  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  prelude  to  the  speedy  recovery  of  the 
southern  colonies,  lie  expected,  indeed,  that  the  provincials  themselves 
would  now  effectually  co-operate  in  the  re-establishment  of  their  former 
connexion  with  the  mother  country.  Great  numbers  flocked  to  Charles- 
ton from  all  parts  of  Carolina,  to  pay  their  court  to  the  conquerors,  and 
offer  their  services  in  support  of  his  majesty's  government.  The  general, 
with  exulting  joy,  transmitted  to  the  American  minister  these  professions, 
and  attributed  to  the  aft'ection  of  loyalty,  vvhatpenctration  might  have  dis- 
covered, and  experience  soon  ascertained  to  be,  in  most  instances,  the 
dissimulation  of  policy,  or  the  extorted  homage  of  fear.  Confident  that 
his  projects  could  be  accomplished  by  a  part  of  his  army,  he  left  a  divi- 
sion for  that  purpose  under  lord  Cornwallis,  and  returned  with  the  rest 
to  New-York.  Betbre  Clinton's  departure,  Cornwallis  had  been  employ- 
ed to  drive  out  of  the  province  a  body  of  continental  troops  under  colonel 
Burford,  who  arriving  too  late  to  throw  succours  into  Charleston,  had 
posted  himself  on  the  northern  banksj  of  the  Santce.     Here  being  joined 


548  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXV.— 1780. 

[Wise  administration  of  lord  Cornwallis.    Battle  of  Camden.] 

by  those  of  the  American  cavalry  who  had  survived  their  last  defeat  by 
Tarleton,  he  made  a  show  of  opposition  to  the  British  interest,  and  en- 
deavoured to  keep  alive  the  expiring  hopes  of  the  provincials.  On  the 
ISth  of  May,  earl  Cornwallis  began  the  pursuit,  and  on  the  1st  of  June 
he  overtook  the  enemy,  and  gained  a  complete  victory.  Of  the  Ameri- 
cans one  hundred  and  thirteen  were  killed,  and  two  hundred  and  three 
taken  prisoners,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  wounded  :  Burford 
made  his  escape  on  liorscback. 

The  American  force  being  entirely  driven  from  South  Carolina,  his 
lordship  directed  his  attention  to  the  internal  administration  of  the  pro- 
vince ;  while  he  was  also  making  dispositions  for  marching  into  North 
Carolina,  as  soon  as  the  heat  should  be  abated,  and  the  harvest  being 
iinished  should  enable  him  to  form  magazines  for  subsisting  his  troops. 
He  established  a  board  of  polioe  for  the  administration  of  justice,  until 
the  state  of  the  province  should  admit  of  the  regular  re-establishment  of 
its  former  civil  government.  He  made  commercial  arrangements  for 
permitting  the  inhabitants  to  export  the  produce  of  their  country,  enrolled 
the  militia  for  assisting  in  defending  the  colony,  and  brought  the  country 
to  a  state  of  tranquillity  and  order  ;  but  these  pleasing  appearances  had 
no  long  duration.  Of  the  persons  attached  to  the  American  cause,  who 
since  the  capture  of  Charleston  had  submitted  to  the  British  government, 
either  by  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  or  obtaining  a  parole,  some  were 
influenced  by  the  ruinous  appearance  of  American  aiihirs,  the  despair  of 
ultimate  success,  and  a  wish  to  save  the  remains  of  their  property  that 
had  escaped  the  ravages  and  devastations  of  war  ;  and  others  were  deter- 
mined by  the  fear  of  punislunent.  The  congress  and  Washington  well 
acquainted  with  the  fallacy  of  the  loyal  professions,  and  with  the  real  dis- 
positions of  a  great  majority  in  South  Carolina,  resolved  to  send  a  detach- 
ment of  tiie  grand  army  to  their  assistance.  The  exertions  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  greatly  increased  the  dcstmed  Ibrce  ;  and  general 
Gates  with  a  considerable  army  advanced  to  the  southern  provinces. 

Informed  that  the  American  general  was  marching  towards  Camden, 
lord  Conwallis  was  compelled  to  leave  the  civil  arrangements,  in  which  he 
had  been  so  meritoriously  and  beneficially  engaged,  and  to  resume  mili- 
tary operations.  On  the  10th  of  August  he  set  out,  with  fifteen  hundred 
regular  troops  and  five  hundred  militia  ;  on  his  march  he  was  mformed 
that  Gates  with  near  six  thousand  men  had  already  entered  the  province. 
On  the  15th,  the  armies  came  in  sight  of  each  other  at  Camden  :  both 
generals  ordered  their  troops  to  halt  and  form  :  but  it  being  very  late  in 
the  evening,  they  did  not  engage  till  the  next  morning.  Lord  Cornwallis 
was  posted  on  ground  partii-ularly  advantageous  to  inferior  numbers;  a 
swamp  on  each  side  secured  his  army  from  being  flanked,  and  narrowed 
the  ground  in  front,  so  as  to  render  the  whole  nndtitude  of  the  enemy  un- 
able to  act.  At  the  dawn  of  the  16th,  he  made  his  last  disposition  for  bat- 
tle. His  front  line  was  drawn  up  in  two  divisions,  of  which  the  right 
was  commanded  by  colonel  Webster,  and  the  left  was  headed  by  lord 
Kawdon.*     A  second  line  was  formed  lor  a  reserve,  and  in  the  rear  Ihe 

•  This  younp  nobleman,  tlie  eldest  son  of  t  lie  carl  of  Moira,  wlio  possessed  the 
advatitapes  of  liigh  l>irtli  and  ain[)le  fortune,  acc()ni[)lislinieiits  to  grace  ihe  court, 
abilities  to  inform  the  cabinet,  to  convince  and  deliglu  the  senate,  with  taste  and 
learning  to  charm  and  instruct  the  polished  and  literary  circles  of  the  metropolis. 


1780.--CUAP.  XXV.  KEIGN  OF  GEOltGE  !ir.  549 

[Defeat  of  general  Sumpter.] 

cavalry  were  disposed,  being  ready  either  to  charge  or  pursue,  as  circum- 
stances might  require.  The  artillery  was  divided  between  the  two  lines, 
to  second  and  support  their  respective  efforts :  the  Americans  formed 
their  troops  also  into  two  lines.  The  opposite  armies  being  thus  marshal- 
led, colonel  Webster  and  lord  Ravvdon  began  the  charge  with  such  im- 
petuosity as  quickly  to  throw  the  provincial  line  into  confusion  ;  rallying, 
however,  they  made  a  very  gallant  resistance,  and  the  second  British  line 
advancing,  the  enemy  were  entirely  broken,  and  the  cavalry  completed 
their  route. 

The  judgment  of  the  general  in  planning,  his  promptitude  in  executing, 
and  his  coolness  and  self-possession  during  the  whole  of  the  engage- 
ment, were  the  themes  of  universal  admiration  and  applause.  The  vic- 
tory was  decisive  ;  the  broken  and  scattered  enemy  were  pursued  as  far 
as  Hanging  Rock,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  field  of  battle  ;  all  their 
artillery,  amounting  to  seven  or  eight  brass  field  pieces,  with  two  thou- 
sand stand  of  arms,  and  their  military  waggons,  were  taken  ;  about  nine 
hundred  were  killed,  and  a  thousand  captured  ;  the  general  baron  de 
Kail,  second  in  command,  was  mortally  wounded  and  made  prisoner. 
Lord  Cornwallis  had  no  sooner  overthrown  the  enemy,  than  he  prepared 
to  render  his  success  as  beneficial  as  possible  to  the  cause.  Sumpter, 
an  American  general,  had  annoyed  the  royalists  by  cutting  off"  or  captur- 
ing detached  parties,  and  intercepting  convoys.  The  British  command- 
er, with  great  prudence,  resolved,  before  he  pursued  his  victory  by  march- 
ing into  North  Carolina,  to  rid  the  southern  province  of  this  troublesome 
enemy  ;  he  accordingly,  on  the  very  evening  of  the  battle  of  Camden, 
gave  directions  to  that  gallant  and  enterprising  officer  colonel  Tarleton, 
to  attempt  the  interception  of  Sumpter.  The  American  commander,  as 
soon  as  he  heard  of  the  late  ot  his  countrymen,  retreated  with  great  de- 
spatch, and  having  proceeded  so  far  as  to  appreliend  no  dai;ger  of  being 
overtaken,  he  halted  to  refresh  his  fatigued  troops.  Tarleton  having  re- 
ceived his  general's  orders,  executed  them  with  the  utmost  quickness  : 
on  the  10th  of  August  he  came  up  with  the  Americans,  and  before  they 
had  time  to  assemble,  entered  their  camp,  and  cut  them  off"  from  their 
arms  and  artillery.  Being  thus  surprised  the  provincials  were  all  killed, 
taken,  or  dispersed,  and  the  whole  of  their  stores,  ammunition,  baggage, 
artillery,  and  one  thousand  stand  of  arms,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  con- 
querors. 

The  discomiiture  of  general  Gates's  army,  and  the  defeat  and  dis- 
persion of  Sumpter's  corps  so  soon  after,  crushed  the  provincial  force 
in  the  south  ;  lord  Cornwallis  now  waited  only  for  supplies  from 
Charleston,  before  he  proceeded  to  North  Carolina.  Until  provisions 
for  the  army  arrived,  he  resumed  the  consideration  of  civil  affairs. 
Finding  that  many  of  the  Americans,  after  swearing  allegiance  to  the 
British  government,  on  the  approach  of  Gales  had  revolted,  he 
thought  it  prudent  and  necessary  to  restrain  perfidy,  and  prevent  fu- 
ture defection,  by  wholesome  severity  towards  the  most  active  and 
forward  in  treachery  and  violation  of  their  oaths,  ThQ  estates  of  all 
who  after  having  professed  obedience  to  Great  Britain  had  joined  the 

or  to  enjoy  the  calm  recesses  of  rural  life;  when  his  coiintr\ 's  cause  was  at  stake, 
sacrificed  ease,  however  elegant,  refined,  or  rationally  employed,  to  the  geneions 
love  of  glory,  and  the  imperious  duties  of  patriotism  ]  cojubined  genius  and  hero- 
ism soon  raised  him  to  high  command. 


550  IlISTOUY  OF  THE  Chai'.  XXV.— 1780. 

[Account  of  major  Fergusson.] 

enemy,  were  sequestered ;  but  in  this  confiscation,  separating  their 
innocent  families  iVom  the  traitorous  delinquents,  he  allowed  from  the 
property  a  liberal  proportion  for  the  maintenance  of  their  wives  and 
children.  Instant  death  was  denounced  against  those  who,  after  having 
taken  protections  from  the  British  government,  should  be  found  in 
arms  for  the  Americans.  On  the  eighth  of  September,  his  lordship 
marched  towards  North  Carolina,  and  as  he  passed  through  the  most 
populous  and  hostile  parts  of  the  province,  he  sent  colonel  Tarleton 
and  major  Fergusson  to  scour  the  country  to  his  right  and  left.  Hav- 
ing arrived  at  Charlotteburgh,  and  judging  that  place  from  its  inter- 
mediate position  between  Camden  and  Salisbury,  a  favourable  situa- 
tion for  farther  advances,  he  prepared  to  establish  a  post. 

While  he  was  making  the  proper  dispositions  for  this  purpose,  the 
commanders  of  his  detachments  were  proceeding  in  their  respective 
expeditions.  Of  these  the  most  signal  in  its  efforts,  though  fatal  in  its 
event,  was  the  last  enterprise  of  the  gallant  and  meritorious  Fergusson. 
This  gentleman  had  already  displayed  that  combination  of  intrepid 
heroism,  inventive  genius,  and  sound  judgment,  which  constitute  the 
valiant  soldier  and  the  able  commander.  The  son  of  an  eminent  Scot- 
tish judge,*  and  nephew  of  a  nobleman f  of  great  literary  talents,  he 
sought  fame  by  a  diH'erent  direction  of  equally  vigorous  and  brilliant 
powers.  In  early  youth  he  entered  the  army,  and  while  a  subaltei-n 
of  eighteen,  in  the  German  war,  was  distinguislied  by  a  courage  as 
cool  as  it  was  determined,  his  principal  object  being  to  become  bene- 
ficial by  professional  skill  and  effort.  The  interval  of  peace  he  em- 
ployed, by  improving  himself  in  military  knowledge  and  science. 
When  the  disputes  between  Britain  and  her  colonies  were  verging  to 
a  civil  war,  the  boasted  skill  of  the  Americans  in  the  use  of  the  rifle 
was  exhibited  as  an  object  of  terror  to  the  British  troops.  These  ru- 
mours operated  on  the  genius  of  Fergusson,  and  his  invention  pro- 
duced a  new  species  of  the  rifle,  which  he  could  load  at  the  breech 
without  using  the  rammer,  or  turning  the  muzzle  away  from  the 
enemy,  and  with  such  quickness  of  repetition  as  to  fire  seven  times 
in  a  minute.  The  riflemen  might,  meanwhile,  be  prostrate  on  the 
ground,  and  protected  from  the  shot  of  the  enemy  by  tiie  smallest 
eminence,  either  natural  or  artificial.  Fergusson  displayed  his  con- 
trivance to  the  satisfaction  of  lord  Townshend,  master  of  the  ordnance, 
and  other  military  men.  When  the  war  commenced,  his  regiment 
not  being  ordered  for  warlike  service,  he  was  extremely  anxious  to 
be  actively  em]doycd  for  his  king  and  country,  tie  was  accordingly 
introduced  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  appointed  to  command  a 
corps  drafted  from  regular  regiments,  and  to  discipline  them  for  the 
practice  of  his  new  invention.  At  the  battle  of  lirandywine  he  pre- 
sented the  first  specimen  of  the  use  of  his  iiflcmen,j  and  obtained 
great  praise  for  his  skill  and  successful  efforts.  In  the  following  year, 
he  was  employed  in  several  of  the  detached  expeditions,  which,  unim- 
portant as  thev  proved  in  result,  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  called  forth  a 

•   .Tamf-s  FtTjjusson  of  I'iifoiir,  lord  of  session  and  justiciary. 

I  I'alrick  .Murray,  lord  I'",libank,  deemed  by  Itobcrlson,  Fergusson,  Hume,  and 
cotemporary  sages,  in  g»nius  and  erudition  equal  to  the  authors  of  the  Scottish 
Augubtan  age 

4  ^ee  accouni  of  the  battle  nt  Brandy  wine,  this  volume,  chap.  x\x. 


17S0.— Chap.  XXV.  UEIGN  OF  (;EOrvGF,  III.  55 ^ 

[Expedition  against  the  provincials] 

great  degree  of  British   valour  and  ability ;  and   partictilarly  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  incursive  war  on  the  North  river,   in    1779. 
Fergusson  being  engaged  in  the  expedition  to  Charleston,  was  of  very- 
signal  importance  to  the  besieging  army,  and  is  mentioned  with  great 
praises  by  sir  Henry  Clinton.*    After  the   reduction  of  that  place, 
when  Cornwallis  was  attempting  by  justice  and  mildness  to  restore 
harmony  between  the  province  and  the  mother  country,  he  called  for 
the  assistance  of  Fergusson.    To  the  valour,  enterprise,  and  invention 
which  were  so  important  in  Avar,  Fergusson  was  known  to  add  the 
benignant  dispositions  and  conciliating  manners  which  generate  good 
will  and  cement  fiiendship  in  situations  of  peace.    Among  the  propo- 
sitions of  Cornwallis  for  the  security  and  tranquillity  of  the  recovered 
colony,  one  scheme  was  to  arm  the  well-afiected  for  their  own  de- 
fence.   Fergusson,  now  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  America,  was  intrusted 
with  the  charge  of  marshalling  the  militia  throughout  a  wide  extent 
of  country.    Under  his  direction  and  conduct  a  militia  at  once  nume- 
rous and  select,  was  enrolled  and  disciplined.    One  of  the  great  tests 
of  clearness  and  vigour  of  understanding,  is  ready  classification,  either 
of  things  or  men,  according  to  the  qualities  which  they  possess  and 
the    purposes   that  they  are  filled  or  intended   to  answer.    Fergus- 
son  exercised  his  genius  in  devising  a  summary  of  the  ordinary  tac- 
tics and  manual  exercises,  for  the  use  of  the  militia:  he.  had  them 
divided  in  every  district  into  two  classes  ;  one,  of  the  young  men,  the 
single  and  unmarried,  who  should  be  ready  to  join  the  king's  troops 
to  repel  any  enemy  that  infested  the  province  ;  another,  of  the  aged 
and  heads  of  families,  who  should  be  ready  to  unite  in  defending  their 
own  town,   ships,  habitations,  and   farms.     In  this  progress  among 
them,  he  soon  gained  their  confidence,  by  the  attention  which  he  paid 
to  the  interests  of  the  well-affected,  and  even  by  his  humanity  to  the 
families  of  those  who  were  in  arms  against  him.    "  We  came  not," 
he  said,  "  to  make  war  on  women  and  children  ;"  and  gave  them  mo- 
ney to  relieve  their  distresses.    The  movements  of  the  Americans 
having   compelled  Cornwallis  to  proceed  with  great  caution  in  his 
northern  expedition,  the  genius  and  rapid  efforts  of  Fergusson  were 
required  for  protecting  and  facilitating  the  march  of  the  army,  and  a 
plan  of  collateral  operations  was  devised  for  that  purpose.    In  the  ex- 
ecution of  their  schemes,  he  had  advanced  as  far  as  Ninety-six,  about 
two  hundred  miles  from  Charleston  ;  and  with  his  usual  vigour  and 
success  was  acting  against  different  bodies  of  the  colonists  that  still 
disputed  the  possession  of  the  country,  when  intelligence  arrived  from 
colonel  Brown,   commander  of  the  king's  forces  in  Upper  Georgia, 
that  a  corps  of  rebels  under  colonel  Clarke  had  made  an  attempt  upon 
Augusta,  and  being  repulsed,  was  retreating  by  the  back  settlements 
of  Carolina.    To  this  information  colonel  Brown  added,  that  he  him- 
self meant  to  hang  on  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  that  if  Fergusson 
would  cut  across  his  route,  he  might  be  intercepted,  and  his  party  dis- 
persed.   This  service  seemed  to  be  perfectly  consistent  with  the  pur- 
pose of  his  expedition,  and  did  not  give  time  to  wait  for  fresh  orders 
from  lord   Cornwallis;   Fergusson  yielded  to  his  usual  ardour,    and 
pushed  with  his  detachment,  composed  of  a  few  regulars  and  militia, 
into  Tryon  county.    In  the  mean  time  numerous  bodies  of  back  set- 

•  See  this  volume,  p.  547. 


552  rilSTOlJY  OF  the  Chap.  XXV.— 1780. 

[Defeat  of  Fergiisson.    Retreat  of  lord  Cornwallis.] 

tiers  west  of  the  Allerjhany  mountains  wore  in  arms,  some  of  them  in- 
tending to  seize  upon  the  presents  intended  for  the  Creek  and  Chero- 
kee Indians,  which  they  understood  were  but  slightly  guarded  at  Au- 
gusta; others  had  assembled  upon  the  alarm  of  enemies  likely  to  visit 
them  from  South  Carolina.  These  meeting  with  colonel  Clarke,  se- 
cured his  retreat,  and  made  it  expedient  for  Brown  to  desist  from  his 
pursuit  and  return  to  his  station  at  Augusta  ;  while  Fergusson  having 
no  intelligence  of  Brown's  retreat,  still  continued  the  march,  which 
was  undertaken  at  his  jcquest.  As  he  was  continuing  his  route,  a  nu- 
merous, fierce,  and  unexpected  enemy  suddenly  sprung  up  in  the 
woods  and  wilds.  The  inhabitants  of  tiie  Alleghany  mountains  assem- 
bled without  noise  or  warning,  under  the  conduct  of  six  or  seven  of 
their  militia  colonels,  to  the  num.ber  of  sixteen  hundred  daring,  well- 
mounted,  and  excellent  horsemen.  Discovering  these  enemies  as  he 
crossed  King's  Mountain,  Fergusson  took  the  best  position  for  re- 
ceiving them  that  the  ground  would  permit.  But  his  men,  neither 
covered  by  horse  nor  artillery,  and  being  likewise  dismayed  and  asto- 
nished at  finding  themselves  so  unexpectedly  surrounded  and  attack- 
ed on  every  side  by  the  cavalry  of  the  mountains,  were  not  capable  of 
withstanding  the  impetuosity  of  their  charge.  Already  a  hundred  and 
fifty  of  his  soldiers  were  killed  upon  the  spot,  and  a  greater  number 
was  wounded.  Sill,  however,  the  unconquerable  spirit  of  this  gallant 
ofiicer  refused  to  surrender.  He  repulsed  a  succession  of  attacks  from 
every  quarter,  until  he  received  a  mortal  wound.  By  the  fall  of  ma- 
jor Fergusson,  his  men  were  entirely  disheartened  :  animated  by  his 
brave  example,  they  had  hitherto  preserved  their  courage  under  all 
disadvantages.  In  the  resources  of  his  fertile  genius  they  deservedly 
placed  the  utmost  confidence,  and  with  him  perished  every  hope  of 
success.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  second  in  command,  judging 
all  farther  resistance  to  be  vain,  ofi'cred  to  surrender,  and  sued  for 
quarter. 

From  the  ability  and  exertions  of  colonel  Fergusson,  very  great 
advantages  had  been  expected  ;  and  had  he  not  been  surprised  and 
cut  off,  there  is  no  doubt  that  every  expectation  would  have  been  fully 
gratified.  By  his  unfortunate  fall,  and  the  slaughter,  captivity,  or  dis- 
persion of  his  whole  corps,  the  plan  of  the  expedition  into  North  Ca- 
rolina was  entirely  deranged.  The  western  frontiers  of  South  Carolina 
were  now  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  mountaineers,  and  it  be- 
came necessary  for  lord  Cornwallis  to  fall  back  for  their  protection, 
and  wait  for  a  re-enforcement  before  he  could  proceed  farther  upon 
his  expedition.  On  the  14th  of  October  he  began  his  march  to  South 
Carolina:  his  lordship  and  his  army  rnet  with  very  great  difficulties 
and  hardships;  their  provisions  were  so  nearly  exhausted  that  the 
soldiers  were  limited  as  to  (j'lantity,  with  hardly  any  means  of  cook- 
ing ;•  the  country  was  overflowed  with  incessant  rains,  they  had  no 
tents,  and  could  rarely  find  a  dry  hpot  to  kindle  a  fire  ;  but  the  sol- 
diers bore  their  hardships  without  repining,  as  they  knew  their  officers 
and  p^enerals  fared  no  better  than  themselves.  His  lordship  himself 
was  taken  ill ;  but  nevertheless  preserved  his  vigour  of  mind,  and  ar- 
rived on  the  29th  of  October  with  his  army  at  Wymesborough,  to 
wait  for  fresh  re-enforcements  from  sir  Henry  Clinton.     Meanwhile 

•  Siedman,  vol  ii.  p.  229. 


irSO— Cbap.  XXV.  16EIGN  OF  GEOKGK  fll  553 

[State  of  affairs  at  New- York.] 

the  mountaineers  had  dispersed,  but  the  northeast  part  of  the  province 
■was  infested  by  the  depredations  of  an  enterprising  partisan  of  the 
name  of  Marion.  i 

In  the  northern  part  of  America,  operations  and  events  were  of 
much  less  importance  than  in  the  south.  Tlie  force  left  for  the  secu- 
rity of  New-York,  appeared  adequate  to  the  defence  of  that  city  at  the 
departure  of  Clinton  ;  but  the  extraordinary  rigour  of  the  winter  soon 
after  exposed  the  Briiibh  garrison  to  an  unforeseen  danger.  One  of 
the  chief  causes  of  the  safety  of  New-York  was  its  insulated  situation, 
which  gave  full  effect  to  our  naval  superiority.  The  uncommon  in- 
tenseness  of  the  frost  during  the  winter  of  1779-80,  deprived  it  of  this 
protection.  By  the  middle  of  January,  the  North  river  Was  so  com- 
pletely covered  with  thick  ice,  that  the  largest  army,  with  the  heaviest 
artillery  and  baggage,  might  have  passed  on  it  with  ease.  In  other 
quarters,  towards  the  country,  New-York  was  no  less  accessible, 
whilst  its  communication  with  the  sea  was  entirely  cut  off.  In  this 
perilous  situation,  the  veteran  general  Knyphaiisen  took  such  precau- 
tionai  y  measures  as  prudence  dictated  ;  the  seamen  were  landed  from 
the  ships  and  transports,  and  formed  into  companies;  the  inhabitants 
■were  embodied,  officered,  and  took  their  routine  of  duty  with  the  re- 
gular garrison.  They  were  deprived  of  those  supplies  which  a  com- 
munication by  water  would  have  afforded,  and  in  particular  suffered 
so  severely  for  want  of  fuel,  that  it  became  necessary  to  break  up 
some  old  transports,  and  to  pull  down  siome  uninhabited  wooden 
houses,  to  supply  their  present  necessities.  Fortunately  for  the  Bri- 
tish garrison,  Washington's  aimy  was  in  no  condition  to  profit  by  the 
accessibility  of  New-York ;  it  had  been  greatly  weakened  by  detach- 
ments that  were  sent  to  the  relief  of  Charleston,  was  in  extreme  want 
of  provisions,  and  other  necessaries,  and  from  that  cause  seized  with 
the  spirit  of  discontent  almost  rising  to  mutiny.  No  attempt  was  made 
on  the  British  garrison,  except  to  straiten  its  quarters,  and  to  inter- 
cept convoys.  In  February,  major  Matthews  having  defeated  a  party 
of  Americans  posted  at  Kingsbridge  to  interrupt  the  communication 
of  the  garrison  with  the  country,  opened  the  way  for  more  liberal 
supplies.  The  spring  advanced,  and,  thawing  the  ice,  restored  New- 
York  to  its  insular  situation;  and  the  British  commander,  exempted 
from  the  necessity  of  attending  to  defence,  made  dispositions  for  of- 
fensive measures.  Informed  of  the  prevalence  of  a  mutinous  spirit  in 
the  American  army,  and  imputing  to  disaflection  what  really  arose 
froTTfi  distress,  on  that  supposition  hoping  for  the  co-operation  of  the 
Americans,  he  attempted  to  establish  the  royal  standard  in  the  Jer- 
seys :  but  he  soon  found  that  the  American  soldiers,  though  they  re- 
pined at  their  difficulties,  persevered  in  their  inveteracy ;  and  finding 
that,  opposed  by  the  provincials,  his  troops  could  obtain  no  footing  in 
that  country,  he  recalled  them  to  New-York.  Such  was  the  state  of 
affairs  when  general  Clinton  returned  from  Charleston,  on  the  23d  of 
June.  General  Washington,  expecting  the  speedy  arrival  of  a  French 
armament,  confined  his  operations  to  desultory  and  detached  excur- 
sions. On  the  loih  of  July,  the  expected  re-enforcement  reached 
Rhode-Island  :  it  consisted  of  seven  ships  of  the  line,  some  frigates, 
and  a  great  number  of  transports,  having  on  board  six  thousand 
troops.  The  fleet  was  commanded  by  De  Ternay,  and  the  troops  by 
Rochambeau  :  in  order  to  prevent  discussions  of  rank  in  command, 

Vol.  VII.— 70 


554  IIISTOllY  OF  TflK  Chap^  XXV.— 178U. 

[Defection  of  general  Arnold.] 

and  to  obviate  every  difficulty  that  might  arise  tVom  the  junction  of 
the  French  troops  with  the  American  army,  a  commission  was  sent  to 
general  Washington,  appointing  him  a  lieutenant-general  of  France, 
and  commander  of  the  forces  now  sent.  So  powerful  a  re-enforce- 
ment revived  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  Atnericans,  and  invigorated 
the  exertions  to  recruit  their  own  army.  The  French  squadron  being 
superior  to  that  of  Arbuihnot,  the  British  commander  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  act  on  the  defensive  ;  but  six  ships  of  tlie  line  arriving  from 
England,  they  prepared  for  an  expedition  to  Rhode-Island,  in  order  to 
act  offensively  against  the  French.  Meanwhile  Washiaglon  having 
his  army  strongly  re-cnforced,  hastened  across  the  North  river,  and 
approached  Kingsbridge.  So  unexpected  a  movemont  obliged  sir 
Henry  Clinton  to  abandon  the  expedition  against  Rhode- Island,  and 
return  with  the  troops  for  the  protection  of  New  York,  leaving  admi- 
ral Arbuthnot  to  block  up  the  French  fleet  at  sea.  Washington  ex- 
pected the  count  de  Guichen  with  a  fleet  of  twenty  ships  of  the  line 
from  the  W^est  Indies,  and  entertained  sanguine  hopes  that  the  whole 
combined  force  would  overpower  Clinton  and  Arbuthnot,  and  wrest 
New-York  from  the  hands  of  the  British  :  to  concert  measures  for 
this  design,  he  left  his  army,  and  repaired  to  the  French  commanders 
at  Rhode  Island. 

While  Washington  was  absent  for  this  purpose,  a  scheme  was 
formed  for  delivering  to  sir  Henry  Clinton  the  strong  post  of  West 
Point  in  the  highlands  upon  the  North  river,  the  possession  of  which 
would  have  nearly  cut  oif  all  communication  between  the  northern  and 
middle  colonies.  The  author  of  this  project  was  the  celebrated  gene- 
ral Arnold.  This  officer,  after  the  campaign  in  the  Jerseys,  had  been 
appointed  commander  of  the  American  garrison  that  occupied  Phila- 
delphia :  there  he  had  lived  so  luxuriously  and  splendidly,  as  to  dis- 
gust the  quakers,  who  were  the  principal  inhabitants  of  that  city,  and 
to  displease  the  congress,  by  a  conduct  so  totally  inconsistent  with  the 
austerity  of  republicans  beset  with  danger  ;  he  lived  also  so  profusely 
as  far  to  outgo  his  stated  income.  To  supply  his  deficiencies  he  took 
shares  in  privateers,  and  embarked  in  other  speculations  ;  but  his  va- 
rious projects  proved  uiisuccessfid.  He  made  considerable  claims  on 
the  public,  but  when  his  accounts  were  examined  by  commissioners, 
a  great  part  of  his  demand  was  refused.  He  appealed  to  the  congress, 
which  gave  judgment  that  the  inspectors  of  his  claims  had  allowed 
him  too  much.  Seeing  the  embarrassment  of  his  affairs,  his  creditors 
became  extremely  importunate.  Such  a  situation  galled  the  proud 
and  irritable  temper  of  Arnold;  who,  giving  vent  to  his  resenttnent, 
and  recapitulating  his  services,  complained  in  strong  and  indignant 
terms  of  the  ingratitude  of  congress  Provoked  at  the  freedom  and 
severity  of  his  expostulation,  that  body  appointed  a  court-martial,  to 
examine  into  his  conduct  as  commander  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  general  reprehension,  and  also  a  reprimand  from  Washing- 
ton, whom  he  deemed  his  personal  enemy.  From  this  time  Arnold  ap- 
pears to  have  formed  a  design  of  betraying  the  interests  which  he  pro- 
fessed to  support,  and  joining  the  Britisli  ;  but  to  have  suspended  the 
execution  until  an  opportunity  should  offer,  of  materially  injuring  the 
cause  which  he  was  about  to  desert,  and  serving  the  pov/er  he  was 
about  to  join.  The  interval  of  Washington's  absence  appeared  to  him 
'4  favourable  opportuijity  for  delivering  an  important  post  to  Clinton. 


1780— Chap.  XXV.  UEIGN  OF  GKORGE  lU.  555 

[Character  and  enterprise  of  major  Andre.] 

He  accordingly  opened  a  correspondence   with  the   British  general; 
and  us  fie  required  a  confidential  agent  to  be  sent,  major  Andre,  aid- 
de-camp  to  sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  adjutant-general  of  the  British  ar- 
my, undertook  to  confer  with  him,  and  bring  tlie  negotiation  to  a  con- 
clusion.   Tills  was  a  gentleman  of  very  great  merit,  and  rising  fast  to  a 
high  character  in  the  army.    Though  open  and  honourable,  yet  sensible 
that,  in  war,  stratagem  is  no  less  necessary  than  military  prowess,  he 
could  find  nothing  in  the  employment  assigned  him  which  was  incon- 
sistent with  the  character  of  a  gallant  soldier.    Perceiving  that  very 
momentous  advantage  might  result  to  his  country  from  the  success  of 
the  scheme,  he  was  by  loyalty  and  patriotism  stimulated  to  undertake 
its  execution.    Able  and  ingenious,  he  was  conscious  th.it  he  was  well 
iiticd  to  promote  its  success.    The  Vulture  sloop  of  war  had  been  sta- 
tioned so  near  general  Arnold's  post,  as  to  facilitate  private  commu- 
nication without  exciting  suspicion.    On  the  21st  of  September,  An- 
dre went  on  board  the  sloop,  and  vms  at  night  conveyed  in  a  boat  to 
the  beach  without  the  liiies,  wht-ie  he  met  with  general  Arnold.  Day- 
light approaching  before  the  business  was  finally  adjusted,  Andre  was 
told  that  it  would  be  necessary' to  conduct  him  to  a  safe  place,  where 
he  should  lie  concealed  during  the  day,  and  return  at  night  on  board 
the  sloop.   The  retreat  to  which  he  was  brought,  was  against  his  inten- 
tions, and  without  his  knowledge,  witliin  the  American  lines.    Here 
Arnold  delivered  to  him  various  p-.'.pers  concerning  the  state  of  the 
forces,  and  other  matters,  for  the  information  of  Clinton,  to  show  that 
general  the  most  expe<;Utious  and  effectual  means  of  getting  the  Ame- 
rican army  into  his  power.    The  outlines  of  the  project  were,  that  Ar- 
nold should  make  such  a  disposition  of  the  wing  of  the  army  under 
his  command,  as  would  enable  sir  Henry  Clinton  completely  to   sur- 
prise their  strong  posts  and  batteries,  jnd  throw  the  troops  /<>  entirely 
into  his  hands,  that  they  must  inevitably  either  lay  down  tN^f  arms,  or 
be  cut  to  pieces.    Besides  the  immediate  possession  of  "^^'^^  strong 
holds,  and  the  cutting  off  so  great  a  part  of  the  ene-'y  '^  °est  lorce 
without  loss  or  difficulty,  the  consequences  would  h;^®  reached  much 
farther,  for  the  remainder  of  Washington's  army  w'"!'^  ^^^^^  have  been 
laid  open  in  such  a  manner  to  the  joint  exertior^f  ^'^^.  ^''*^^^"  forces 
by  land  and  water,  that  nothing  less  than  slaU5^^^''>  dispersion,  and 
final  ruin,  could  have  been  the  result.    Wit'  respect  to  the  Ameri- 
cans,  such  a  stroke,  it  was  conceived,  could'^o'^  1^^*^^  ^®^"  recovered  : 
independent  of  the  loss  of  artillery,  magazines,  Mid  stores,  a  destruc- 
tion of  their  whole  disciplined  force,  anc'of  mcst  if  not  all  of  their  best 
officers,  must  have  been  immediatel'  f'ltal.    While  Andre  was  with 
Arnold,  the  Vulture  had  shifted  he- position,  m  consequence  of  an 
attack  from  some  artillery  on  shoe,  ayd  was  gone  down  nearer  to 
New  York;  thence  it  being  im'^acti^ble  for  Andre  to  return  m  the 
same  way  that  he  had  come,  ^e  wa»  obliged  to  proceed  by  land.    In- 
volved in  such  circumstances  wititout  any  fault  of  his  own,  necessity 
compelled  him  to  emplo-  deception  for  his  extrication.    Hitherto  he 
had  worn  his  regiment's  ;  now  dressing  himself  in  a  plain  suit,  he 
received  a  passport. ''"^er  tfte  name  of  John  Anderson,  by  which  he, 
on  horseback,   ps'sed  the  outposts.     Conceiving  himself  in  perfect 
safety,   he  was  tvell  advanced  on  his  return,  when  three  militia  men 
meeting  him  ^n  the  road,  suddenly  seized  the  bridle,  and  interrogated 
him  whence  he  came.    Confused  at  so  unexpected  an  encounter,  be 


556  Jiisrouv  uv  riiB  chxp.xxv.    ithj. 

[Trial  and  execution  of  Andre.] 

• 

answered /r07«  beLKv:  he  itnmejlialely  recollected  his  mistake,  but  too 
late  ;  the  suspicions  of  his  intcrroi^ators  were  roused,  and  they  insist- 
ed on  searchin;^  him.    He  offered  liis  purse  and  watch,  and  promised 
very  liigh  rewards  if  they  would  sutler  him  to  depart  :  but  all  was  un- 
availing.   The  generous  Andre,  now  regardless  of  his  own  fate,  had 
no  anxiety  but  to  save  Arnold  from  the  certain  destruction  that  await- 
ed him  when  the  contents  of  the  papers  should  l>e  niatie  known  to  the 
Americans.    This  object  he  effected  by  a  dexterous, stratagem  •  pro- 
ducing his  passport  from  that  general,   he  desired  that  he   might  be 
informed  of  his  seizure,  and  liiai  he  himself  should  be  detained  in  cus- 
tody until  Arnold's  orders  wcie  known.    The  captors  complying  with 
this  request,   a  message  was  sent  to  Arnold,  which,  announcing  the 
detention  of  John  Anderson,  induced  him,  as  Andre  desired  and  ex- 
pected,  to  seek  safety  by  flight.    He  escaped,  got  on  board  the  Vul- 
ture, and  repaired  to  New-York.    Andre  being  informed. that  Arnold 
was  out  of  reach  of  the  Americans,  avowed  himself  under  his  proper 
name  and  character.    Washington  having  now  remrned,  Andre  wrote 
to  him,  detailing  the  circumstances  of  the  case.    Disregarding  ever)-- 
danger,  his  only  concern  was  to  prove  that  he  had  conducted  himselt 
as  became  a  man  of  honour,  and  had  no  intention  to  be   within  the 
American  lines,  nor  to  act  as  a  spy ;  that  he  was  merely  the  agent  of 
a  nego»iation,  in  which  neither  he  nor  his  employer  liad.  piactised 
treachery,  or  done  any  thing  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  war.    He 
had  gone  upon  public  business  under  a  flag  of  truce,  dressed  in  his 
uniform,  to  confer  with  the  commander  of  that  post ;  and  had,  with- 
out Kis  knowledge,been  brought  within  the  Anierican  lines.   His  sub- 
sequeij;  disguise  had   been  the   result  of   necessity,   not  of  choice. 
Washington  appointed  a  board  of  general  oflicers  to  take  cognizance 
of  the  cast;  a^^  before  these  gentlemen  Andre  made  an  explanation, 
similar  in  substance  to  that  which  his  letter  to  Washington  had  con- 
tained, but  mt,-h  more  copious  in  detail.    His  enemies  heard  with  ad- 
miration a  defeiog^  which  with  a  magnanimous  indifference  to  life, 
admitted  the  fact,v^,jt  with  a  generous  regard  to  reputation,  vindicated 
the  rnotives.    The  Vmerican  board,  however,  confining  themselves  to 
the  literal  and  simpkf^ct  of  his  being  in  disguise  within  the  Ameri- 
can  lines,  instead  of  taKpg  into  consideration  all  the  concomitant  cir- 
cumstances, doomed  the^allant  Andre  to  suffer  death  as  a  spy.    The 
only  evidence  of  the  fact\,as  Andre's  own  admission  :  not  only  hu- 
manity, but  justice  requirei^  that  his  own  evidence,  if  allowed  such 
weight  against  him,  should  ar,o  be  allowed  in  his  favour;  and  that  his 
declaration  of  pure  intcuions  night  to  be  considered,  as  well  as  his 
acknowledgment  of  an  act  tontra^  to  the  laws  of  war.    At  New  York, 
all  ranks,  from  a  sentinel  t^  the  vommander-in-chief,  felt  the  most 
poignant  concern  at  the  situauon  oi  .he  unfortunate  captive,  whom 
they  respected  and  admired  as  an  offictr.,  and  loved  and  esteemed  as 
a  man.    Sir  Henry  Clinton  emplo>ed  eve^y  effort  to  save  so  valuable 
a  life  :  he  opened  a  correspondence  with  N'^ashington  by  means  of  a 
flag  of  truce,  and  urged  every  motive  which -justice,  policy,  and  hu- 
manity could  suggest,  to  induce  a  remission  of  t.e  sentence.  Finding 
his  letters  ineffectual,  he  sent  out  genera\  Robertson  with  a  flag,  to 
confer  upon  the  subject  with  any  oflicers  that  shoulobe  appointed  by 
general  Washington.     An  interview  took  place  betwetn  general  Ro- 
bertson and  general  Greene,  who  had  been  president  cf  the  court- 


irSO.— C«u-.  XXV.  RE1GN*0F  (.t'.OKGE   III.  55* 

[  West  Indies.    Arrival  of  Rodney.    Naval  operations.] 

martial  :  but  all  efToris  to  save  the  vinfortunate  Andre  were  unavail- 
ing. Andre  finding  iiis  doom  unavoidal)lc,  wrote  a  most  pathetic  let- 
ter, praying  that  he  might  not  die  the  deuth  of  a  cotninon  malefactor, 
but  by  a  mode  more  befitting  a  soldier.  I\,ven  this  small  boon  was  re- 
fused to  a  generous  enemy,  by  the  inexoral^lc  ris^our  of  stern  repub- 
licanism. On  the  22d  of  October,  the  ill-fated  hero  met  his  death, 
with  a  comi)osure,  serenity,  and  fortitude,  worthy  of  conscious  inno- 
cence sufl'ering  unmerited  punishment. 

Thus  fell  ttie  gallant  Andre,  losing  his  life  forJoyalty  and  patriotically 
endeavouring  to  serve  hi.s  king  and  country,  if  ciiminality  is  to  be  esti- 
mated by  intention,  he  was  put  to  death  without  any  proofs  of  guilty  de- 
sign, and  with  the  strongest  presumptions  of  innocence.  Such  relentless, 
inhuman  rigour  could  answer  no  purpose  of  policy,  as  it  certainly  neither 
enhanced  tlie  character,  nor  promoted  the  interest,  of  the  Americans  ;  it 
was  evidently  the  ed'ect  of  revenge,  and  of  revenge  foiled  in  its  princi- 
pal object.  Andre  suffered  for  the  defection  of  Arnold.  Had  that  gene- 
ral been  caught,  and  undergone  the  punishment  due  to  treachery,  the 
impartial  reader  would  not  perhaps  have  blamed  the  sentence,  and  might 
iiave  considered  that  as  justice  to  a  traitorous  iViend,  which  he  must  re- 
probate as  cruelty  to  a  fair  and  generous  foe.* 

The  death  of  Andre,  which  Washington  could  have  easily  prevented, 
will  certainl)'^  in  future  ages  be  regarded  as  a  dark  spot  in  the  bright  cha- 
racter of  the  American  general.  Arnold  published  a  declaration  of  his 
motives  for  leaving  the  service  of  America,  consisting  chiefly  of  invectives 
against  his  late  associates,  which,  v/hether  true  or  false,  had,  coining 
I'rom  him,  the  less  weight,  that  the  character  of  the  Americans,  now  the 
object  of  his  reprobation,  was  identically  the  same  as  before,  when  the 
object  of  his  panegyric.  Winter  now  approaching,  and  the  count  de  Gui- 
chen  not  having  arrived  from  the  West  Indies,  both  parties,  after  con- 
cluding an  agreement  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  retired  into  cpiarters. 
For  the  prevention  of  Guichen's  arrival  in  North  America,  we  are  to  find 
the  causes  in  the  transactions  of  the  West  Indies. 

Sir  George  Rodney  having,  as  we  have  seen,  left  Gibraltar  in  Febru- 
ary, and  sailed  for  the  West  Indies,  had  arrived  at  St.  Lucia,  and  taken 
the  command  of  tUr)  fleet  upon  the  leeward  island  station  by  thelatter  end 
of  March.  Just  previous  to  his  arrival,  M.  de  Guichen,  with  twenty-five 
ships  of  the  line,  and  eight  frigates,  all  full  of  troops,  had  paraded  for  se- 
veral days  before  that  island,  with  a  view  either  of  surprising  or  of  over- 
whelming the  British  force  by  their  great  superiority.  The  good  dispo- 
sition of  the  troops  made  by  general  Vaughan  and  of  the  ships  by  rear- 
admiral  Parker,  however,  trustrated  their  design.  Sir  George  Rodney, 
with  twenty  ships  of  the  line,  and  the  Centurion  of  fifty  guns,  followed 
the  French  fleet  into  Martinique,  and  offered  them  battle ;  but  the  ene- 
my, notwithstanding  the  superiority  of  their  numbers,  would  not  venture 
to  engage.  To  entice  the  enemy  to  leave  the  harbour,  the  British  ad- 
nriiral  retired  to  Gross  Islet  Bay  in  St  Lucia,  leaving  swift  sailing  frigates 
K)  watch  their -motions,  and  convey  to  him  intelligence.  On  the  16th  of 
April,  Guichen  sailed  with  his  fleet;  the  following  day  Rodney  came  in 
sight  of  the  enemy  late  in  the  evening,  and  found  them  disposed  to  avoid 
an  engagement.     He  watched  them  with  such  vigilance  as  to  prevent 

*  Stctlman,  vol.  li.  p.  2-55. 


558  HISTORY  OF  triF:  Cuaf.  xxv.~i7t;o# 

[New  plan  of  attack  by  breaking  the  enemy's  line.] 

their  escape.  The  next  morning,  the  French  admiral  made  very  master- 
Jy  dispositions  for  avoiding  an  cngairement :  this  the  British  command- 
er counteracted  with  equal  nautical  skill  and  professional  ability,  which  at 
last  rendered  a  battle  unavoidable. 

In  forming  the  line  of  battle,  the  long  establis'licd  mode  was,  when 
fleets  were  nearly  equal  in  number,  to  oppose  ship  to  ship,  by  which 
means  superior  force  and  seamanship  pievni'.ed,  without  any  extraordina- 
ry efforts  of  naval  ability  or  conduct,  Rodney  possessed  not  only  that 
professional  experience,  guided  by  which  brave  men  fight  in  the  way  in 
which  brave  men  have  fouglit  before,  but  a  comprehensive  genius,  which 
could  adopt  measures  to  existing  cases,  and  leave  precedent  when  novel- 
ty tended  more  effectually  to  secure  the  object.  The  enemy  being  con- 
siderably superior  in  number,  he  proposed  not  t(t  attack  the  whole  at 
once,  but  with  all  his  force  to  bear  down  on  a  part  of  theirs,  so  tiiat  by 
mastering  one  division,  he  might  easily  overpower  the  rest.*  For  that 
purpose  he  directed  his  van  to  attack  the  hindmost  ships  of  the  enemy's 
centre,  and  the  remainder  of  his  fleet  the  rear.  He  also  made  a  gene- 
ral signal  to  his  ships  to  lie  close  to  the  enemy,  and  take  example  by  the 
admiral.  His  fleet  being  in  the  proper  position  for  engaging  the  enemy, 
according  to  the  plan  which  he  had  arranged,  he  made  the  signal  for  eve- 
ry ship  to  attack  her  opposite  in  the  enemy's  line.  The  commander  of 
liis  vantnost  ship,  a  gentleman  thoroughly  experienced  in  the  precedent- 
ed  mode  of  tactics,  misconceived  the  admiral's  meaning,  and  supposed 
his  orders  to  be  to  steer  towards  the  vanmost  ship  of  the  enemy.  This 
misapprehension  communicating  itself  to  the  succeeding  ships,  tended  to 
disconcert  the  masterly  design  of  the  admiral.  His  orders  were  not  ful- 
ly regarded  in  another  particular  :  he  had  given,  and  had  been  obliged  to 
repeat  his  signal  for  lying  close  to  theeneiny.  Several  ships  of  his  fleet 
kept  at  so  great  a  distance,  as  not  to  second  and  support  the  admiral. 
The  admiral's  own  ship,  however,  and  some  others,  did  very  great  exe- 
cution ;  but  the  deviation  from  his  orders,  both  as  to  plan  and  nearness, 
prevented  a  decisive  issue  to  an  engagement,  for,  and  in  which  the  com- 
mander had  used  every  efi'ort  of  design  and  execution  which  could  lead 
to  victory. 

The  French  fleet  was  beaten  from  the  scene  of  ac  ion  :  Rodney  pur- 
sued them  as  soon  as  the  crippled  state  of  the  ships  that  had  engaged  ac- 
cording to  his  orders,  and  the  arrival  of  others  in  their  proper  position, 
permitted.  Such  despatch  was  used  to  repair  the  damaged  ships,  that 
on  the  20th  they  again  descried  the  enemy,  but  not  in  sufficient  time  to 
prevent  them  from  taking  refuge  under  Gaudaloupe.  In  the  beginning 
of  May,  the  French  fleet  again  sailed  ;  and  on  the  10th,  it  was  seen  by 
the  British  a  ^qv,-  leagues  to  windward.  The  enemy  having  the  advan- 
tage of  the  wind,  were  able  either  to  hazard  or  to  avoid  an  engagement 
at  pleasure,  but  chose  the  latter  alternative.     Rodney  endeavoured  to 

•  The  examiner  of  the  naval  tactics  which  Rodney  introduced,  and  which  he 
liimself  in  tl)e  last  war,  anil  others  in  the  present,  have  practised  wit!)  such  terri- 
ble effect  and  glorious  success,  will  see  that  it  proceeded  on  the  same  principle 
that  regulated  the  military  tactics  formed  and  exercised  by  the  illustrious  Frede- 
rick :  and  wliich  produced  the  systems  and  movements  of  the  Macedonian  Philip, 
and  his  preceptor  Epaminondas.  The  battle  of  Leuctra  was  gained  by  the  master- 
ly skill  of  tlte  Theban  hero  directing  iiis  whole  force  on  apart  of  the  enemy's  with 
such  disposition  and  compactness  as  to  break  their  line.  See  description  of  the 
battle  of  Leuctra,  GiUies's  History  of  Greece,  vol.  iii.  p.  368 


1780.— Chap.  XXV.  IIKIGN  OF  GliOliGE  III.  ^j*^ 

[French  disappointed  in  the  chief  objects  of  the  campaign.] 

gain  the  Ice-gage,  but  was  not  able  to  succeed.  By  feigning  flight,  on 
the  15th,  he  had  ahnost  drawn  the  enemy  to  battle;  but  after  a  partial 
cannonade  bet'veen  tlie  extreme  ships  of  the  respective  fleets,  the  ene- 
my retired  without  a  general  battle.  On  tlie  lyth,  admiral  Rodney  en- 
deavoured to  turn  the  fleet  of  the  enemy  •,  and  from  his  movements  both 
parties  became  so  entangled  as  to  lender  a  conflict  unavoidable  between 
the  British  van  and  t!ie  enemy'.s  rear.  The  enemy  having  suflered  con- 
siderable loss,  bore  away  to  Martinique.  Eodney  repaired  to  Carlisle 
Bay  in  Barbadoes,  to  refit  his  shattered  ships.  In  these  conflicts  the 
P -ench  evinced  themselves  considerably  improved  in  naval  warfare,  and 
our  ships  were  much  damaged  in  the  repeated  encounters  ;  but  the  very 
object  of  their  improved  attack  manifested  conscious  inferiority.  Their 
chief  purpose  was  to  aim  at  our  rigging,  and  thereby  avoid  close  fight, 

WHICH  UNIFORM  EXPERIENCE  HAS  TAUGHT  EVERY  OPPONENT  OF  THE  EN- 
GLISH NAVY  TO  SHUN,  IF  THEY  WOULD  AVOID  DESTRUCTION.        Spain  SCUt 

a  considerable  naval  force  to  join  her  ally  in  the  West  Indies  ;  and  thus 
recruited,  the  Bourbon  fleet  amounted  to  thirty-six  ships  of  the  line,  a 
force  that  apparently  must  be  able  to  overwhelm  tlie  British  West  Indies; 
but  this  ostensible  accession  of  strength  proved  eventual  weakness  :  the 
Spanish  troops  were  too  much  crovvcled  on  board  their  transports  :  that 
circumstance  co-operating  with  the  length  of  the  voyage,  the  change  ol 
climate  and  diet,  and  above  all,  their  peculiar  laziness  and  want  of  clean- 
liness, the  whole  of  those  combined  causes  generated  a  mortal  and  con- 
tagious distemper,  which  first  infecting  their  own  seamen,  at  length 
spread,  though  not  entirely  with  so  fatal  an  effect,  through  the  French 
fleet  and  land  forces.  The  pestilential  disease  still  continuing,  prevent- 
ed the  French  from  profiting  by  their  fleet.  The  Spanish  admiral  pro- 
ceeded to  the  westward,  and,  having  parted  with  the  French  at  St.  Do- 
mingo, went  on  to  the  Havannah.  Besides  the  infectious  disorder,  there 
appeared  to  be  a  want  of  concert  between  the  armaments  of  the  two  al- 
lies, which  very  greatly  obstructed  their  schemes  for  annoying  Britain. 
Part  of  the  French  plan  of  operations  had  been,  after  the  expected  reduc- 
tion of  the  British  power  in  the  West  Indies  by  the  combined  forces, 
that  their  fleet  should  proceed  to  New- York,  and  in  conjunction  with 
the  Americans  and  the  French  ships  and  army,  who  were  tiiere  be- 
fore, should  capture  New-York,  and  drive  the  British  from  Ameri- 
ca. But  after  the  first  of  these  projects  had  failed,  Guichen  con- 
sidering his  former  disappointments,  the  present  state  of  his  army,  of  his 
ships  and  men,  found  the  expedition  utterly  impracticable,  and  proceeded 
directly  to  Europe.  Rodney,  aware  of  the  original  design,  and  on  the 
departure  of  Guichen  conceiving  that  he  was  bound  for  New-York,  sail- 
ed himself  for  the  same  place,  where  he  thought  his  assistance  would  be 
so  much  wanted  ;  but  finding  his  services  not  necessary  in  that  quarter, 
he  returned  in  the  close  of  the  year  to  St.  Lucia.  Besides  the  opera- 
tions between  the  fleets  of  llie  belligerent  pov.'ers  during  this  campaign, 
various  conflicts  took  i>iace  among  single  ships,  both  in  Jairope  and  the 
West  Indies,  which  did  signal  honour  to  the  courage  and  .-^kil!  of  botli 
parties,  but  in  the  result  of  every  action  manifested  the  superiority  of  Bri- 
tain upon  her  own  element. 


5G0  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVI.—irSO. 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


Proceedings  against  llie  rioters. — Lord  Loughbormiph's  c'.iarge  to  ilie  ijrand  ju- 
ry— dirtcrtnce  of  opinion  on  il>e  construction  of  Edward  lll.'s  treason  statute 
— lej^al  autliorities  not  aUogciher  conformable  to  statutory  definition — literal 
and  free  interpreters  of  siatutes — lord  Loujhboroupli  fellows  high  authorities. 
— No  grounds  for  tlie  cliarge  of  rig<>rous  seventy  ai^aist  the  rioters. — Political 
effects  of  the  riots. — General  election — contest  for  Westminster. —  Mr.  Fox  is 
chosen  on  tlie  lOih  of  October,  which  thenceforward  is  conseorated  to  anniver- 
sary celebration. — Continental  affairs — the  character  of  Joseph  opens — he  as- 
pires at  the  possession  of  Bavaria — is  opposed  by  Frederick. — Hostilities  be- 
lueen  Frussiaand  Austria — are  terminated  by  the  peace  of  Te.schen  — Continen- 
tal powers  are  jealous  of  Drilish  commercial  and  naval  greatness, — Conduct  of 
Kussia — armed  neutralitj — real  objects  of. — State  and  interest  of  Holland. — 
Holland  favours  the  revolted  colonies — remonstrances  of  Britain. — Discovery 
of  a  treat}-  between  tlu-  Dutch  and  the  Americans — rupture  with  Holland — the 
Dutch  are  the  aggressors. — Meetii.g  of  parliament — clioice  of  a  speaker— King's 
speech — Mr.  Fox's  phin  of  attack  against  ministers — he  begins  with  charges 
against  lonl  Sandwich — his  motion  concerning  the  appointment  of  sir  Hugh 
Falliser. — Mr.  Burke  resumes  his  plan  of  economical  reform. — Beginnings  of 
lord  Chatham's  second  son,  Mr.  William  Pitt. — The  celebrated  comic  poet, 
Sheridan,  turns  his  extraordinary  talents  to  politics. —  India  afl'airs  are  exten- 
sively considered  in  parliament — two  committees  of  inquiry  are  appointed — 
one  has  for  its  chairman  Mr.  Henry  Dundas. — Questions  for  future  deliberation 
jcspecting  India,  proposed  by  lord  North. — Petitions  from  counties  for  redress 
of  grievances. — Dift'erent  opinions  of  Messrs.  Fox  and  Burke  c)n  the  marriage 
law. — Supplies. — Extravagant  teims  of  the  noted  loan  of  twelve  millions. — 
Lord  Noith,  incorrupt  himself,  permits  wasteful  corruption  in  others — ineffica- 
cy,  in  arduous  situations,  of  talents  and  benevolent  dispositions,  without  firm- 
ness of  resolution.— Session  rises. 

Two  internal  subjects  principally  attracted  the  public  attention  during 
the  reccs.s  of  1780  ;  the  trial  of  the  rioters  and  the  general  election.  Per- 
.sons  accused  of  tumults  committed  within  the  county  of  Middlesex  and 
the  city  of  London,  were  arraigned  at  Hicks's  hall ;  and  bills  being  fotmd 
for  felony,  either  in  robbery  or  arson,  they  were  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey. 
The  judge  had  not  thought  it  necessary,  in  addressing  the  grand  jury,  to 
be  peculiarly  minute  in  explaining  the  law  applicable  to  crimes  which 
came  no  frequently  under  their  consideration  ;  and  though  well  adapted 
to  his  view  of  the  subject,  the  charge  delivered  no  doctrines  that  particu- 
larly deserve  historical  record.  Eighty-five  persons  being  indicted,  for- 
ty-three were  acquitted,  and  forty-two  capitally  convicted  ;  but  of  the  con- 
demned, twelve  obtained  mercy.* 

For  trying  persons  alleged  to  have  committed  outrages  in  the  county 
of  Surrey,  a  .sp»;cial  comniis.sion  was  appointed  to  sit  at  St.  Margaret's 
Hill  in  the  IJorough  :  and  ibe  lirst  nominee  was  Alexander  Wedderburn, 
who  was  recently  promoted  to  l)c  lord  chief  justice  of  the  common  pleas, 
and  called  to  the  house  of  peers  by  the  title  of  lord  Loughborough.  The 
persons  here  presented  were  accused  of  treason,  and  the  judge  delivered 
to  the  grand  jury  a  charge,   which  the  magnitude  of  the  crime  imputed. 

•See  Anniial  Register,  1780  ;  Appendix  to  Chronicle,  p.  271—277. 


irSO.— Chap.  XXVI.  ItEIGN  OF  Gr.ORGE   111.  5(31 

[DtfTerence  of  opinion  respecting  Edward  1 1 1. 's  treason  Blatutc] 

the  doctrines  promulgated,  the  high  character  of  the  speaker,  and  the 
splendid  oratory  of  this  exertion,  combined  in  very  strongly  imj)ressing  on 
the  public  attention. 

The  learned  reader  must  know  that  a  very  material  difference  subsists 
between  the  law  of  treason  as  it  is  expressed  by  the  statute  of  Edward 
III.  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  interpreted  by  lawyers  and  judges.* 
The  two  chief  species  contained  in  the  celebrated  law  of  Edward  are,  to 
compass  or  intend  the  king's  death,  or  to  levy  war  against  his  person  and 
government.  But  lawyers,  partly  desirous  of  paying  court  to  the  sove- 
reign, and  partly  convinced  that  such  narrow  limitations  of  legal  definition 
may  often  screen  enormous  guilt,  had  introduced  a  greater  latitude. 
They  observed,  that  if  a  man  should  enter  into  a  conspiracy  for  rebellion, 
fix  a  correspondence  with  foreign  powers  for  that  purpose,  or  even  plot 
the  overthrow  of  the  existing  constitution,  if  he  was  detected,  and  no  re- 
bellion or  insurrection  ensued,  by  the  letter  of  this  statute,  he  could  not 
be  convicted  of  treason.  To  prevent  this  inconvenience  they  had  com- 
monly laid  their  indictment  for  intending  the  death  of  the  king,  and  had 
produced  the  intention  of  rebellion  as  a  proof  of  the  other  intention,  and 
thus  confounded  the  two  species  of  treason,  which  the  statute  had  accu- 
rately distinguished  ;|  whereas  the  law  had  made  only  one  kind  o{  inicn- 
tional  treason,  a  purpose  to  put  the  king  to  death  ;  the  lawyers  had  made 
two,  a  design  to  levy  war  or  rebel.  It  was  frequently  alleged,  that  by  such 
an  interpretation,  lawyers  and  judges  assuming  to  themselves  a  legisla- 
tive authority,  which  is  not  vested  in  them  by  the  constitution  of  their 
country,  exercised  it  in  extending  penal  law,  and  rendering  designs  capi- 
tal that  were  not  legally  criminal.  The  object  of  this  constructive  inter- 
pretation was  no  doubt  so  far  laudable ;  in  estimating  criminality,  they 
proposed  to  take  into  the  account  moral  depravity  and  political  mischief, 
and  to  provide  against  new  devices  of  flagitious  ingenuity ;  but  on  the 
other  hand,  the  admission  of  such  constructions  might  be  abused  to  the 
most  oppressive  and  tyrannical  purposes. t  There  were  always  in  Rome,§ 
and  have  been  and  are  in  England,  two  classes  of  interpreters  of  law,  the 
literal  and  the  free  ;  or,  in  the  language  of  professional  men,  the  argu- 
ers  from  law  and  from  equity.  ||  Persons  early  instructed  in  the  civil  law 
have  more  frequently  belonged  to  the  latter  class  than  the  former.  This 
was  the  case  with  lord  Loughborough,  who  has,  on  all  great  questions, 
shown  himself  a  liberal  ratherthan  a  literal  interpreter.  He  in  this  charge 
proceeded  according  to  the  practice  of  lawyers,  and  opinions  of  judges  ; 
and  on  this  sanction  he  supported  the  constructive  doctrine,  instead  of 
the  precise  definition,  of  legislature.  Arguing  on  the  authorilij  of  For- 
tescue,  sir  Matthew  Hale,  and  other  luminaries  of  judicial  history,  he 
stated,  that  every  insurrection  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  law,  is  ia- 

•  See  Blackstone,  vol.  iv.  p.  74 — 93. 

f  Most  of  these  observations  are  either  extracted  from,  op  suggested  by  Hume'i? 
account  of  the  trial  of  lord  Kiissel. 

t  The  danger  of  departure  from  established  law,  to  punish  even  the  most  atro- 
cious culprits,  is  perhups  no  where  more  ably  exiiibited,  than  in  Cxsar's  speech 
on  the  discovery  of  Catiline's  conspiracy,  as  presented  by  Saliust. 

§  See  Gibbon's  account  of  the  Sabinians  and  Proculeians,  in  his  view  of  the  .Ths- 
tinian  code.     Vol.  vi. 

(1  In  tiie  parting  view  of  the  illustrious  Mansfield,  I  endeavour  to  state  the  .se- 
parate and  comparative  iidvantages  and  disadvantages  of  these  two  modes  of  in- 
terpretation. 

Vol..  VII.-  71 


562  HISTORY  OF  THE  (jiiap.  XXVI.— 178o' 

[Political  cflVcis  of  the  riots.     General  cleclion.] 

tnnded  amin-t  the  person  of  the  king,  be  it  to  dethrone*  or  imprison  him, 
or  to  (  .m  to  alter  Ihs  measures  of  government,  or  to  remove  evil 

counsLiiors  from  aliout  him,  amounts  to  levying  war  within  the  sta- 
tute, whether  attended  with  the  pomp  and  circumstances  of  open  war  or 
not;  and  every  conspiracy  to  levy  war  for  these  purposes,  though  not 
treason  within  the  clause  of  levying  war,  is  yet  an  overt  act  within  the 
other  clause  of  comjiassing  the  king's  death.  Some  lawyers  contended, 
that  it  was  not  consistent  with  legal  propriety,  to  rest  opinions  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  judges,  when  they  contravened  an  express  statute  ;  and 
that  the  substitution  of  a  judge's  opinion  for  the  enactment  of  a  legisla- 
tive asseinbly,  was  changing  judges  into  lawgivers. 

Tlic  judge  did  not  escape  witliout  censure  for  the  doctrines  which  his 
address  contained ;  and  persons  who  hastily  examined  his  conduct,  deem- 
ed him  severe  and  sanguinary  ;  but  for  that  blame  just  grounds  are  not 
to  be  found  either  in  his  charge  or  proceedings.  Whether  it  be  constitu- 
tionally riiiht  that  treason  is  to  be  ascertained  by  judicial  interpretation, 
it  is  historically  true  that  such  has  been  the  mode  usually  adopted  by  the 
most  reputed  judges  on  criminal  trials :  lord  Loughborough  therefore 
merely  applied  the  rules  and  followed  the  example  of  his  eminent  prede- 
cessors. As  the  insurrection  had  been  very  atrocious,  severe  punish- 
ment was  a  requisite  sacrifice  to  justice,  order  and  tranquillity  ;  but  so 
far  was  the  judge  from  the  superfluous  rigour  which  was  imputed  to  him, 
that  he  recommended  to  mercy  such  of  the  guilty  as  had  extenuating  cir- 
cumstances in  their  favour.  It  may  be  farther  observed,  that  whether 
the  construction  of  the  judge  concerning  the  guilt  of  a  conspiracy  to  levy 
war  were  or  were  not  just,  no  one  was  condemned  who  had  not  been 
found  guilty  of  actual  insurrection  and  rebellion  against  the  king  and  go- 
vernment. His  constructive  treason  therefore  produced  no  effects  to  the 
accused,  which  would  not  have  arisen  from  the  most  rigid  interpretation. 
Forty-three  were  tried,  of  whom  twenty-six  were  found  guilty  and  the 
rest  acquitted.! 

The  riots,  wliich  V(-cre  llms  effectually  suppressed,  really  strengthen- 
ed administration  :  the  scenes  of  enormity  which  were  exhibited  in  the 
metropolis  struck  men  with  horror,  and  by  a  natural,  though  an  errone- 
ous effect,  inspired  a  general  dread  of  popular  meetings,  however  legal 
or  peaceable.  These  dispositions  reached  to  the  country  meetings,  pe- 
titions, and  associations,  and  consequently  to  all  applications  for  redress 
of  grievance,  and  schemes  for  a  reform  in  parliament. 

The  capture  of  Charleston,  of  which  the  news  arrived  soon  after  the 
riots,  tended  to  erase  the  memory  of  past  disappointm.ents  in  the  war, 
and  to  revive  the  sanguine  hopes  of  the  speedy  subjugation  of  the  colo- 
nies. The  victory  of  Rodney,  which  had  opened  the  naval  campaign, 
.<!ucceeded  by  tlie  stationary  inaction  of  the  French  and  Spanish  fleets  in 
Europe,  joined  to  tiie  little  achievements  of  their  mighty  force  in  the 
West  Indies,  gratified  the  national  pride  and  cherished  the  hopes  that 
the  house  of  Bourbon  would  severely  pay  for  the  temerity  of  the  attempt 
to  wrest  from  Britain  the  dominion  of  the  sea.  Many  who  formerly  re- 
probated the  war,  and  condemned  the  measures  and  principles  in  which 
it  originated,  forgot  their  disapprobation  when  they  saw  or  thought  that 

•  Sec  charpe,  Annii;il  Register,  1780,  p.  281. 
i  >(■(•  AntiiKil  I,V:.'i-irr,  17B0,  p.  28.-)--.2R7 


1780— CiiAi'.  XXVI.  KEIGN  OF  GKOIU.K   IIL  f,53 

[Aflairs  olllic  continent.     Views  of  llic  emperor] 

it  was  likely  to  have  a  prosperous  issue  ;  and  tiie  influence  and  authority 
of  the  crown  were  more  spread,  and  better  fixed  than  they  had  been  for 
several  years.  In  this  slate  of  thin^s^  and  disposition  of  the  people,  mi- 
nisters conceived  the  season  peculiarly  favourable  to  a  new  election. 
The  parliament  had  already  sitlen  six  years,  and  if  it  continued  to  the 
seventh,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  circumstances  might  be  by  no 
means  so  auspicious.  Having  resolved  on  the  measure,  they  gave  no 
intimation  of  their  intention,  until  they  thought  it  ripe  for  execution;  hut 
their  plan  being  matured,  on  the  1st  of  September  a  proclamation  was  is- 
sued for  dissolving  the  p.irliament.  Besides  the  prevalence  of  a  spirit 
so  favorable  to  the  ministerial  party,  there  was  another  circumstance 
which  tended  to  promote  their  success  in  the  new  election :  various 
members  of  opposition,  tired  with  long  disappointment,  began  to  consi- 
der their  efforts  useless,  and  determined  to  decline  being  candidates  for 
aijain  sitting  in  the  Ie"islaturc.  From  these  different  causes,  the  elec- 
tion  of  1780  afforded  much  fewer  disputes  than  any  which  had  taken 
place  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign.  Among  the  most  warmly  con- 
tested was  the  city  of  Westminster,  fur  v/hich  two  candidates  contended, 
lord  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Fox,  and  the  great  champion  of  opposition  was 
elected  by  a  numerous  majority  on  the  10th  of  October,  a  day  ever  since 
deemed  worthy  of  anniversary  celebration  by  those  politicians  who  identify 
the  conduct  of  the  orator  with  the  principles  of  the  British  constitutioii, 
and  consecrated  to  remembrance  as  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  modern 
whiggism  triumphant.  The  new  parliament  was  summoned  to  meet  on 
the  31st  of  October ;  but  before  our  narrative  follows  its  deliberations, 
it  must  exhibit  a  short  view  of  foreign  interests  and  affairs,  which  relating 
to  Britain,  very  early  occupied  its  attention  and  deliberation. 

Thou'di  Britain,  durin"-  the  American  war,  had  less  connexion  with 
continental  powers  than  at  any  other  period  of  this  last  century,  yet  her 
contest  with  her  colonies  was  a  subject  of  the  most  interesting  concern 
to  the  neighbouring  nations.  During  a  great  part  of  the  war,  tranquillity 
prevailing  in  the  nortliern  and  eastern  states  of  Europe,  allowed  them 
an  almost  undivided  attention  to  the  contest  between  Britain  and  Ameri- 
ca. The  only  interruption  of  the  peace  of  Germany  and  Russia  arose 
from  a  dispute  about  the  electorate  of  Bavaria.  The  king  of  Prussia  had 
in  a  tew  years  improved  his  share  of  the  Polish  spoils  to  the  highest  ad- 
vantage, and  greatly  meliorated  the  condition  of  recent  as  well  as  here- 
ditary subjects  :  indeed,  though  his  warmest  admirers  must  admit  that 
his  ambition  often  violated  justice  in  acquiring  dominions,  his  severest 
enemies  must  allow,  that  he  rendered  his  acquisitions  more  beneficial, 
and  their  inhabitants  happier,  than  he  found  them  when  they  became  sub- 
jects to  his  government.  The  emperor  Josepli  was  equally  ambitious, 
but  much  inferior  in  wisdom  of  plan,  or  in  steadiness  of  execution.  On 
the  death  of  the  elector  of  Bavaria,  this  prince  attempted  to  revive  obso- 
lete claims  to  the  reversion  of  his  dominions;  and  in  the  beginningof  1778, 
actually  marched  troops  towards  Munich,  and  dispossessed  the  elect- 
or i)alatine,  the  real  heir,  of  the  whole  of  that  territory.  Frederick  justly 
considered  this  step  as  a  violation  of  the  Germanic  constitution,  and  de- 
termined without  delay  to  resist  such  an  encroachment.  lie  knew  that 
notwithstanding  his  alliance  with  Austria,  cemented  by  the  recent  affiance 
of  the  royal  families,  France  would  regard  with  jealousy  such  an  acces- 
sion to  the  emperor's  power ;  but  engaged  in  schemes  of  maritime  ag- 


554  UlSTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVI —1780. 

[Peace  of  Tesclien.     Continental  powers  jealous  of  Great  Britain.] 

gtaiidizement,  would  not  employ  any  effectual  efforts.  He  himself  there- 
fore saw  that  the  protection  of  Bavaria  must  rest  chiefly  on  his  policy  and 
power  ;  and  before  he  would  interrupt  the  improvement  of  his  kingdom 
by  drawing  the  sword,  he  tried  negotiation,  opened  a  correspondence 
with  the  emperor,  and  professed  a  disposition  to  listen  to  his  claims,  to 
learn  their  extent  and  validity,  and  to  admit  them  if  they  should  prove 
well  toundcd.  The  Austrian  pretensions  were  so  very  weak,  that  even 
the  ability  of  Kaunitz  could  not  render  them  plausible,  or  prevent  easy 
refutation.  The  empress  (pioen,  cvidi-ntly  convinced  that  her  son's  de- 
mands were  ill  founded,  and  that  assertion  would  he  impolitic,  was  paci- 
fically disposed,  but  her  son  was  resolved  to  maintain  them  by  force,  and 
encouraged  in  his  obstinacy  by  his  ministers,  who  chose  to  worship  the 
rising  sun.  Frederick  engaged  the  empress  Catharine  to  second  his  op- 
position to  the  aspiring  views  of  Joseph,  and  convinced  her  that  it  M'as 
the  interest  of  tlie  Russians  to  hinder  the  emperor,  who  was  only  enti- 
tled to  be  the  first  prince  in  Germany,  from  governing  that  great  empire 
with  despotic  authority.  Finding  that  the  Austrian  prince  had  collected 
large  l)odie3  of  troops  from  Italy,  Flanders,  and  Hungary,  in  Bohemia, 
he  drew  a  no  less  formidable  force  to  his  own  frontiers.  Joseph,  in  a 
letter,  endeavoured  to  justify  his  claims  by  arguments  ;  but  soon  finding, 
in  the  answer  of  I'rederick,  that  he  had  to  contend  with  a  logician  very 
superior  to  himself,  he  was  mortified,  and  sent  an  angry  reply,  expressing 
his  disposition  to  take  a  lesson  from  Frederick  in  the  art  of  war.*  To  this 
effusion  of  galled  pride, the  hero  sent  a  wise,  temperate,  and  firm  answer;! 
and  finding  hostilities  unavoidable,  with  his  usual  ability  he  formed  a 
comprehensive  scheme  to  annoy  his  antagonist  in  various  quarters  ;  with 
his  usual  rapidity  he  commenced  his  operations,  and  established  a  deci- 
sive superiority  over  the  arms  of  Joseph.  Catharine  meanwhile,  with  a 
view  to  obtain  infiuence  in  the  empire  by  espousing  its  cause,  sent  a  con- 
siderable body  of  troops  to  join  Frederick.  Maria  Theresa  strongly 
urged  her  son  to  peace  ;  but  Iiaving  conceived  the  hopes  of  rekindling 
tlie  war  between  Turkey  and  Russia,  and  thus  having  himself  only  to 
contend  with  Prussia,  he  would  listen  to  no  proposals.  At  last,  however, 
in  spring  1779,  learning  that  Russia  had  entirely  composed  her  differen- 
ces with  Turkey,  and  was  preparing  a  great  army  to  co-operate  with  Fre- 
derick, he  became  accessible  to  pacific  propositions.  A  congress  was 
held  at  Teschcn  :  Frederick,  equally  triumphant  in  the  cabinet  as  in  the 
field,  wltliout  ostentatiously  dictating,  actually  framed  the  terms.  Joseph 
acknowledged  the  right  of  the  elector  palatine  as  heir  to  the  sovereignty 
of  Bavaria,  renounced  his  claims,  and  virtually  confessed  that,  he  had 
been  disturbing  the  peace  of  Germany  without  tenable  grounds.  Commer- 
cial advantages  in  the  last  century  transcended  not  only  the  experience, 
but  even  the  imagination  of  former  times,  and  rendered  the  formation 
and  extension  of  mercantile  establishments,  and  a  marine  force,  one  of 
the  primary  objects  of  policy  with  European  nations  :  a  natural,  though 
not  a  wise  concomitant  of  the  desire  of  such  a  source  of  benefit,  is  jea- 
lousy of  a  state  that  possesses  it  in  a  superior  degree.  I'^nvying  the  pre- 
eminence of  Britain,  maritime  potentates  anxiously  beheld  the  progress 
of  a  quarrel  by  which  they  conceived  her  naval  superiority  must  be  cou- 

•  (iillies's  Frederick,  p.  476. 

t  Frederick's  manifeslu,  slate  pajicrs,  July  7,  1775 


1780 —Cuii'.  XXVI.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  lU.  555 

[Conduct  of  Russia.     Armed  neutrality.] 

siderably  impaired.  The  most  powerful  of  these  states  formed  the  vain 
hope  of  dispossessing  Britain  of  her  supremacy,  and  with  that  view,  by 
unjjrovoked  aggression,  involved  us  in  war.  The  other  naval  states  did 
not  openly  combine  with  the  house  of  Bourbon,  but  secretly  favoured 
both  those  nations,  and  the  colonies  revolted  from  Britain.  Deeply  in- 
debted to  this  country  for  maritime  support  and  accommodation  during 
her  war  with  Turkey,  Russia  had  been  among  the  first  to  act  hostilely 
herself,  and  encouraged  others  to  enmity. 

By  the  received  law  of  nations  in  modern  Europe,  when  a  war  broke  out 
between  any  of  the  powers,  on  the  one  hand  neutral  states  were  not  to  be  in- 
terrupted in  their  general  trade  with  the  belligerent  parties,  but  on  the  other 
hand  were  to  convey  to  neither,  naval  or  military  stores.  Russia,  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  and  Holland,  entered  into  an  association  for  promoting  a 
scheme  which  altered  the  public  law  concerning  the  right  of  neutral  states 
to  convey  warlike  stores.  This  was  the  treaty  concluded  at  Copenhagen  on 
the  19th  of  July,  17S0,  under  the  name  of  the  armed  neutrality.*  The 
professed  object  of  this  combination  was  to  protect,  by  an  armed  force, 
every  species  of  neutral  trade.  The  treaty  set  out  with  declaring,  that 
the  contracting  parties  entertained  the  most  cordial  amity  for  the  several 
belligerent  powers,  and  professed  the  strictest  impartiality.  It  declared, 
they  would  carry  on  no  contraband  trade :  but  narrowed  this  definition 
into  literal  interpretation,  and  designedly  omitted  the  spirit  and  object. 
They  founded  the  asserted  privilege  of  carrying  what  commodities  they 
chose  to  the  warring  powers,  not  upon  the  existing  law  op  nations, 
but  upon  natural  right:  neutral  ships  were  not  to  be  searched  without  a 
material  and  well  grounded  cause,  of  which  the  contracting  parties  were 
to  be  the  sole  judges.  The  associated  powers  engaged  to  protect  neu- 
tral trade,  and  reciprocally,  severally,  and  jointly,  to  maintain  a  force  for 
that  purpose.  They  declared,  that  an  injury  done  to  any  one  of  them  as 
a  neutral  trader,  should  be  accounted  an  injury  done  to  all;  and  that,  both 
jointly  and  severally,  unless  it  was  redressed,  they  should  issue  orders 
for  reprisals.  The  association  was  to  continue  during  the  war,  and 
should  notify  to  the  belligerent  powers  the  existence  of  the  treaty,  its 
objects,  and  their  resolutions  to  employ  force  for  its  support.  Every 
person  acquainted  with  the  maritime  force  and  situation  of  the  several 
nations,  clearly  perceived  that  this  plan,  ostensibly  impartial,  was  really 
meant  to  injure  Britain.  As  the  principal  articles  of  warlike,  especially 
naval  stores,  came  from  Norway  and  the  Baltic,  England,  from  her  local 
situation,  had  the  means  of  intercepting  such  commodities  much  more 
than  her  southern  enemies ;  she  had  also  a  superior  maritime  force ;  a 
much  greater  proportion  of  naval  stores  could  be  carried  into  Britain 
in  her  ships,  than  to  Spain,  or  even  to  France,  in  their  ships  :  the  con- 
veyance of  stores,  therefore,  in  neutral  bottoms,  was  a  greater  advantage 
to  her  enemies  than  to  Britain;  they  would  reap  the  beneficial  fruits  from 
the  neutral  association,  while  Britain  would  lose  in  the  same  proportion 
that  her  enemies  gained.  The  contracting  parties  could  not  but  see  that 
this  compact  was  injurious  to  Britain,  therefore  their  intentions  must 
have  been  inimical. 

Britain  considered  this  convention  as  a  proof  of  unfriendly  dispositions 
and  designs  in  all  the  parlies;  but  a  variety  of  other  causes  combined  to 

*  See  state  papers,  July  1780. 


56G  IllSTOUY  OF  THC  Cuap.  XXVI.— 1780. 

[State  and  interest  of  Holland.] 

aggravate  her  displeasure  towards  the  United  Provinces.  That  the  reader 
mav  have  a  complete  view  of  the  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and 
Holland,  it  is  necessary  to  consider,  not  only  recent,  but  distant  portions 
of  history,  as  the  pro.ximute  causes  of  quarrel  originated  in  very  remote 
circumstances.  From  the  first  establishment  of  the  Dutch  common- 
wealth, two  parties  existed  which  alternately  predominated.  The  one 
consisted  of  the  adherents  of  the  princes  of  Orange,  the  first  champions 
and  successful  vindicators  of  their  rights  and  liberties;  the  other,  of 
those  who  either  by  birth  inherited,  or  by  fortune  or  merit  acquired,  rank 
and  influence.  Gratitude  for  recent  delivery  was  about  to  confer  on 
William  I.  prince  of  Orange,  a  limited  hereditary  sovereignty,  when  as- 
sassination prevented  the  design  from  being  accomplished.!  Maurice, 
his  son  and  sviccessor  in  the  stadtholdership,  being  then  a  boy,  could  not 
profit  by  the  occasion  while  it  lasted,  and  notwithstanding  the  splendour 
of  his  subsequent  exploits,  the  services  which  he  performed,  and  the 
prosperity  and  glory  to  which  he  raised  the  republic,  was  never  able 
to  recover  the  opportunity.  He  and  his  successors  naturally  looked 
back  with  regret  to  that  sovereignty  which  they  had  almost  obtained, 
and  endeavoured  to  enlarge  to  the  utmost  extent  their  official  powers  as 
stadtholders.  The  principal  citizens,  on  the  other  hand,  who  had  grown 
up  along  with  the  fortune  of  the  state,  not  only  opposed  their  designs, 
but  endeavoured  to  limit  their  power,  which  they  considered  as  becoming 
dangerous  to  public  lil)erty,  and  inimical  to  the  principles  of  the  consti- 
tution. The  bitterness  of  suc!i  a  contest  soon  effaced  from  the  minds 
of  the  nobles  all  llie  signal  benefits  which  had  been  conferred  on  the 
state  by  the  successive  heroes  of  the  Orange  family.  Great  generals 
seemed  no  longer  necessary  in  a  season  of  peace  and  prosperity:  nor 
did  it  follow,  because  it  had  hitherto  so  proved,  that  every  prince  of 
Orange  was  to  be  an  illustrious  captain;  therefore  the  aristocratic  party 
proposed  the  total  abolition  of  the  office  of  stadtholder,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  its  various  powers  among  their  own  leaders.  Such  was  the  ori- 
gin and  foundation  of  that  republican  faction  which  is  distinguished  in 
the  history  of  Holland,  and  which,  under  various  denominations,  subsist- 
ed from  the  days  of  prince  Maurice  and  Barneveldt  to  modern  times.  It 
was  the  constant  and  obvious  policy  of  France  to  maintain  her  influence 
in  the  councils  of  Holland,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  restrain  and  weaken, 
as  much  as  possible,  the  power  and  political  activity  of  the  republic. 
The  princes  of  the  house  of  Orange  were  generally  inimical  to  the  views 
of  France,  and  linked  by  blood  and  alliance  with  Britain.  This  state  of 
affairs  occasioned  a  permanent  enmity  between  France  and  the  house  of 
Orange,  and  , naturally  produced  an  intimate  connexion  between  that 
monarch  and  the  aristocratic  party.  France  diligently  c\dfivated  her  in- 
fluence with  the  anti-stadtholderian  faction  of  Holland.  William  HI.  suc- 
ceeded to  the  stultliolderate  when  he  was  only  a  child;  and  during  his 
minority,  the  noiiles,  under  the  name  of  the  Louvestein  party,  became 
cxtremcdy  powerful,  and  being  headed  by  the  celebrated  de  Wit,  were 
at)le  totally  to  abolish  the  office:  the  violent  irruption  of  Louis  XIV. 
into  Holland,  however,  prompted  the  states  to  raise  to  power  the  party 
and  individual  most  inimical  to  France,  and  most  able  to  repress  the  un- 
ju.'jtifiable  ambition  of  that  a.'^piring  neighbour.     The  delivery  of  his 

'  Sec  Wutson'b  History  of  I'liillp  H. 


1780.— CoAr.  XXVI  ItEIGN  OF  GEORGE  IIT.  557 

[She  f\\vours  the  revolted  colonies.] 

eoimlry  by  Willifim  IIT. ;  thft  very  liigli  cliaiaclcr  and  great  influence  of 
that  prince,  which  was  increased  by  his  power  from  the  time  he  became 
king  of  England  ;  the  resentment  of  the  Dutch  against  the  French;  and 
ihi'ir  alarm  from  the  ambitious  politics  of  Louis;  repressed  the  party 
which  derived  its  chief  support  from  Gallic  pohcy.  On  the  death  of 
William  III.  the  stadtiioldcrate  became  extinct,  the  states  not  choosing 
to  renew  it  in  favour  of  that  part  of  his  family  which  had  succeeded  to 
the  title  of  Orange  as  well  as  to  the  principal  part  of  his  inheritance. 
Union,  however,  of  views  and  interests  with  England,  in  repelling  the 
ambition  of  the  French,  and  opposing  the  succession  of  a  Bourbon  prince 
to  the  throne  of  Spain,  rendered  the  states-general  no  less  inimical  to 
Louis,  and  friendly  to  England  and  the  emperor,  than  they  had  been 
when  William  governed  both  countries:  and  the  ability  and  address  of 
Marlborough  procured  such  personal  influence  with  the  states-general, 
that  the  French  party  was  not  able  to  defeat  the  measures  of  the  grand 

'alliance.  Towards  the  end  of  queen  Ann's  reign,  the  Dutch  were 
closely  connected  with  the  anti-gallican  party  in  England;  but  during 
the  peace,  which  lasted  for  so  many  years  after  the  treaty  of  Utrecht, 
the  French  party  in  Holland  appears  to  have  gained  ground.  The  co- 
operation of  the  Dutch  with  Britain  and  the  house  of  Austria  in  the  war 
which  commenced  in  1740,  was  very  inefficient ;  and  to  the  influence  of 
the  partisans  of  France  may,  in  a  great  degree,  be  ascribed  that  failure 
of  Dutch  exertion,  which  prevented  the  extraordinary  efforts  of  the  Bri- 
tish troops  from  being  victorious  at  Fontenoy.  The  same  want  of  cor- 
diality in  tlie  cause  was  obvious  in  other  actions,  particularly  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Laffelt.  In  consequence  of  their  victories,  the  French  penetrated 
into  Dutch  Flanders,  and  prepared  to  descend  on  the  island  of  Zealand. 
Perceiving  the  danger  which  impended  from  the  progress  of  the  French, 
the  Dutch  determined  to  have  recourse  to  a  measure  that  had  formerly 
saved  them  from  ruin,  and  to  declare  the  prince  of  Orange  stadtholder. 
In  the  year  174S,  the  office  was  .renewed  in  full  plenitude  of  power  in 
favour  of  the  late  prince  of  Orange,  with  the  additional  security  of  being 
rendered  hereditary  not  only  in  the  male,  but  the  female  lines  of  his 

'family.  This  settlement  appeared  to  cut  off  entirely  the  views  of  the 
adverse  faction;  but  though  depressed,  or  at  least  withheld  from  any 
means  of  political  exertion,  they  were  still  potent  and  numerous,  and 
only  waited  for  a  favourable  opportunity  which  should  operate  as  a  sig- 
nal for  union  and  exertion.  The  prince  of  Orange  dying  in  1751,  and 
leaving  his  son,  the  present  prince,  a  child  of  three  years  old,  the  long 
minority  much  weakened  the  influence  of  the  stadtholderian  party,  and 
the  Gallican  faction  became  powerful.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
seven  years  war,  Britain  claimed  six  thousand  men,  who  had  been  pro- 
mised as  auxiliaries  by  a  defensive  treaty;  but  the  Dutch  refused  to  com- 
ply, and  became  the  carriers  of  contraband  goods  with  impunity,  until 
Mr.  Pitt  was  raised  to  the  head  of  aflJairs.  They  even  privately  co-ope- 
rated with  our  French  enemies,  while  a  French  party  openly  avowed  its 
enmity  to  thit?  country.  The  French  interest  having  rapidly  advanced 
during  the  non-age,  continued  to  bo  very  powerful  even  during  the  ad- 
ministration, of  the  present  prince,  and  used  every  artifice  to  inflame  the 
jealousy  of  the  Dutch  against  the  great  naval  power,  and  particularly  the 
increase  of  commerce,  which  Britain  had  attained. 

SiK^h  was  the  state  of  parties  and  sentiments  in  Holland,  wiien  war 


568  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chai-.  XXVI.-irSO. 

[Discovery  of  a  treaty  between  the  Dutch  and  Americans] 

broke  out  between  this  country  and  her  colonies.  From  the  beginning 
of  tlie  contest  the  Dutch  had  secretly  favoured  America,  but  became 
more  open  in  assistance  as  the  fortune  of  England  began  to  decline,  and 
as  her  enemies  multiplied.  Holland  protected  American  ships  when 
laden  with  plunder  taken  from  British  merchants,  and  even  suffered  a 
provincial  pirate  to  take  refuge  in  the  Texel;  in  the  East  and  West  In- 
dies she  assisted  our  enemies,  and  in  America  our  revolted  subjects.  In 
Europe,  contrary  both  to  the  general  law  of  nations  and  to  specific  trea- 
ties, she  conveyed  warlike  stores  to  our  enemies.  Holland  had  sent  an 
armed  force  to  prevent  our  ships  from  acting,  according  to  the  law  of  na- 
tions, and  the  spirit  and  letter  of  particular  treaties,  in  searching  ships 
which  should  be  suspected  of  carrying  warlike  stores.  Her  admiral, 
count  Bylund,  fired  upon  British  ships  that  were  sent  to  examine  her 
vessels  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  treaty  of  1674;  and  various 
amicable  representations  and  remonstrances  were  made  by  Great  Bri- 
tain* to  the  states-general,  but  without  effect.  Great  Britain,  when 
pressed  by  so  many  enemies,  demanded  the  succours  which  were  stipu- 
lated by  different  treaties,  and  especially  that  of  1716, "{"  but  obtained  no 
satisfactory  answer.  All  these  circumstances,  combined  with  her  acces- 
sion to  the  armed  neutrality,  not  only  indicated,  but  manifested,  in  the 
republic,  a  disposition  hostile  to  her  natural  ally  and  most  liberal  bene- 
factor. 

An  incident  now  happened,  which  discovered  to  what  extent  the  en- 
mity of  this  pretended  friend  was  carried:  Mr.  Henry  Laurens,  late  pre- 
sident of  the  American  congress,  had  been  appointed  ambassador  to 
Holland,  and  was  captured  in  a  Philadelphia  ship  in  the  beginning  of 
September  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  by  a  British  frigate.  The 
package  which  contained  his  papers  had  been  thrown  overboard,  but  its 
bulk  preventing  it  from  suddenly  sinking,  it  was  saved  by  the  boldness 
and  dexterity  of  a  British  seaman,  and  most  of  the  papers  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  the  water.  Mr.  Laurens  being  brought  to  England, 
was  committed  on  a  charge  of  high  treason.  When  interrogated,  he 
made  no  answer  to  any  question  of  importance,  but  his  papers  were  suf- 
ficiently explicit.  A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  between  America 
and  Holland  appeared  to  have  been  in  agitation  for  more  than  two  years, 
and  Mr.  Laurens  was  to  bring  the  same  to  a  conclusion.  The  negotia- 
tors on  the  side  of  Holland,  were  M.  Van  Burkel,  pensionary  and  coun- 
sellor to  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  (an  officer  of  great  weight  and  power,) 
with  other  members  of  the  registry,  assisted  by  some  great  commercial 
houses  of  that  city.  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  the  British  ambassador  at  the 
Hague,  was  immediately  instructed  how  to  proceed:  he  accordingly  ex- 
postulated in  strong  memorials  to  the  states-general,  and  represented  to 
them  the  clandestine  correspondence  which  Amsterdam  had  long  been 
carrying  on  with  rebels  against  a  sovereign  to  whom  the  republic  was 
joined  in  the  strictest  ties  of  friendship.  He  therefore  demanded,  in  the 
name  of  the  king  his  masler,  not  only  a  formal  disavowal  of  so  irregular 
a  conduct,  but  insi.-ted  on  speedy  satisfaction  adequate  to  the  offence, 
and  the  punishment  of  the  pensionary  Van  Burkel  and  his  accomplices, 

•  See  tlic  correspondence  between  British  ministers,  the  ambassador  sir  Joseph 
Yorke,  and  the  Dutch  ;  state  papers,  1780. 
t  See  Chalmers'  Collection  of  Treaties. 


irSO.— Chap.  XXVI.  UEIGN  OF  UEOHGE  HI.  569 

[Rupture  with  Holland.     Parliament.     Speech  of  the  king.] 

88  disturbers  of  the  public,  and  violators  of  the  rights  of  nations.  To 
this  remonstrance  an  immediate  answer  not  having  been  given,  its  sub- 
stance was  repeated  in  still  stronger  terms,  accompanied  by  the  following 
intimation:  "  His  majesty,  by  the  complaint.s  made  through  his  ambassa- 
dor, has  placed  the  punishment  and  the  reparation  in  the  hands  of  your 
high  mightinesses;  and  it  will  not  be  until  the  last  extremity,  that  is  to  say, 
in  case  of  a  denial  of  justice,  or  of  silence,  which  must  be  interpreted  as 
a  refusal,  that  tl.e  king  will  take  them  upon  hin)self."*  Here  one  na- 
tion complained  to  another  of  an  injury  received  from  subjects  of  that 
other,  and  demanded  public  disavowal  and  punishment  of  the  aggressors. 
It  rested  with  the  other  nation,  either  to  disavow  the  act  and  punish  the 
actors,  or  by  refusing  satisfaction  justify  what  had  been  done.  The 
latter  alternative  the  states-general  chose;  they  did  not  answer  the  me- 
morial, and  thus  compelled  the  British  sovereign  to  seek  by  force  that 
redress  which  peaceable  application  could  not  obtain.  Sir  Joseph  Yorke 
received  orders  to  withdraw  from  the  Hague;  and  that  step  was  followed 
before  the  close  of  the  year,  by  a  declaration  of  hostilities  against  Hol- 
land. Manifestoes  followed  from  both  parties;  but,  on  considering  tho 
whole  circumstances  of  the  case,  an  impartial  reader  can  entertain  no 
doubt  that  the  Dutch  were  the  aggressors. 

On  the  31st  of  October  parliament  met,  and  before  they  proceeded  to 
business,  ministers  proposed  a  new  speaker.  Sir  Fletcher  Norton  had 
frequently  thwarted  and  censured  administration  and  given  umbrage  to 
the  court  party;  but  he  excited  the  greatest  di.spleasure  in  1777,  when, 
on  presenting  bills  for  paying  the  civil  list  debts,  he  made  a  speech  en- 
larging on  the  munificence  of  the  commons,  and  recommending  econo- 
my in  the  management  of  their  gift.  Ministers  considering  such  an 
adviser  as  by  no  means  proper  for  being  speaker  of  the  house,  embrar.  d 
the  earliest  possible  opportunity  of  dismissing  him  from  that  office.  With 
this  view  they  praised  the  firmness,  prudence,  and  diligence,  with  which 
he  had  discharged  his  laborious  duties,  but  lamented  that  his  ardent  zeal 
and  indefatigable  efforts  had  very  much  impaired  his  constitution:  actu- 
ated by  a  grateful  regard  to  the  ease  and  health  of  so  valuable  a  member, 
the  house,  according  to  ministers,  ought  to  relieve  him  from  so  trouble- 
some an  employment,  and  substitute  a  more  able-bodied  man  to  preside 
over  the  commons.  They  therefore  recommended  Mr.  Cornwall,  as  a 
gentleman  in  every  other  respect  qualified  for  the  speaker's  chair,  and 
also  possessing  sufficient  corporeal  vigour.  Opposition  expressed  the 
greatest  contempt  for  the  ridiculous  farce  that  ministers  were  acting,  and 
imputed  the  proposed  dismissal  to  ministerial  resentment  on  account  of 
sir  Fletcher's  upright  conduct.  On  a  division,  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Cornwall  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  203  to  134. 

His  majesty's  speech,  after  expressing  confidence  in  the  loyal  and 
patriotic  dispositions  and  wishes  of  his. people,  described  the  mighty  ef- 
forts of  France  and  Spain  to  support  the  American  rebellion,  and  destroy 
the  commerce  and  reduce  the  power  of  Britain  ;  the  glorious  efforts  and 
brilliant  successes  of  the  British  arms  by  sea  and  land,  which  had  frus- 
trated the  designs,  and  disappointed  the  expectations  of  our  enemies ; 
and  his  confidence,  that  continuance  in  these  exertions  would  bring  the 

•  See  state  papers  from  Nov.  18,  to  Dec.  29,  irSO,  relative  to  a  rupture  with 
Holland. 

Vol.  VII.—  72 


570  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVI.— 1780. 

[Charges  brought  by  Mr.  Fox  agahist  lord  Sandwich.] 

war  to  a  happy  conclusion.  After  the  repetition  of  reiterated  arguments 
against  the  origin  and  conduct  of  tlie  American  war,  opposition  descend- 
ed to  the  events  of  the  last  campaign,  and  insisted  that,  though  the  vic- 
tories were  most  splendidly  honourable  to  the  British  forces,  they  did 
not,  in  the  result,  advance  the  ministerial  object  of  conquering  America. 
They  had  often  predicted,  that  certain  successful  operations  would  ter- 
minate the  war ;  but  as  often  as  the  predictions  were  made,  they  were 
falsified.  British  soldiers  and  sailors  fought  valiantly  in  the  year  1780,  as 
they  had  always  fought ;  they  had  gained  battles  and  taken  towns,  but  to 
what  purpose  ?  Could  any  man  say,  that  the  conquest  of  America  was 
less  distant,  than  when  we  bad  driven  our  colonics  to  revolt  ? 

Mr.  Fox  resuming  his  usual  function  of  accusing  ministers,  gave  no- 
tice that  he  should  after  the  holidays  move,  first,  for  the  dismissal  of  the 
earl  of  Sandwich;  and  then  for  bringing  him  to  condign  punishment: 
that  he  should  found  the  motions  on  two  different  causes ;  for  advising 
his  majesty  to  promote  sir  Hugh  Pailiser  to  the  government  of  Green- 
wich  Hospital;  and  tor  the  sbamcfid  neglect  of  the  navy.     Sir  Hugh 
Pailiser  had  not  taken  his  seat  as  member  for  Huntingdon,  when  Mr. 
Fox  intimated  his  intention  of  censuring  his  recent  appointment ;  but  be- 
ing informed  of  this  intimation,  he  speedily  repaired  to  the  house,  in  or- 
der personally  to  support  his  own  cause.     The  4th  of  December  being 
the  day  appointed  to  take  the  navy  estimates  into  consideration,  it  was 
presumed  that  Mr.  Fox  would  embrace  the  opportunity  of  attacking  the 
conduct  and  late  appointment  of  Pailiser  ;  that  gentleman  therefore  re- 
solved to  appear  in  vindication  of  his  character.     Mr.  Fox  commenced 
his  attack  :   sir  Hugh  Pailiser  (he  said)  had  been  convicted  of  a  false 
and  malicious  accusation  against  his  superior  officer,  and  on  charges  ex- 
hibited against  himself  barely  acquitted  by  a  court  martial ;  nevertheless, 
he  was  promoted  to  a  post  of  distinction  and   profit,  which  had  hereto- 
fore been  held  by  men  of  the  first  naval  merit,  and  was  intended  as  a  re- 
treat and  a  reward  to  those  who  had  essentially  served  their  country. 
This  appointment,  he  considered   as  the  highest  insult  that  could  be  of- 
fered to  the  navy,  and  the  greatest  stigma  that  could  be  affixed  to  the  ser- 
vice.    He  did  not  blame  the  person  who  accepted  that  place,  but  the 
first  lord  of  the  admiralty,  whose  conduct  in  it  ought  to  be  the  subject  of 
their  inquiry.      Lord  North  answered  Mr.  Fox,  and  displayed  one  of  his 
chief  parliamentary  excellences,  ability  and  readiness  of  reply.     The  ap- 
pointment of  sir  Hugh  Pailiser  (he  said)  was  not  the  act  of  the  first  lord 
of  the  admiralty  alone,  but  of  the  other  ministers  also.     Mr.  Fox's  prin- 
cipal objection  to  the  nomination  was,  that  the  court-martial  upon  admi- 
ral Kcppel  had  imputed  unworthy  motives  to  his  accuser.     Therein  that 
tribunal  had  exceeded  its  jurisdiction  ;  the  court  did  not  sit  on  admiral 
Pailiser,  but  on  admiral   Keppel.     They  had  not  heard  Pailiser  in  his 
own  defence,  but  prt.nounced  an  injurious  opinion,  without  establishing 
its  grounds.     The  second  objection  of  Mr.  Fox  was,  that  sir  Hugh  Pai- 
liser had  been  barely  acquitted  ;  but  his  interpretation  was  confuted  by 
the  sentence  itself,  and  especially  the  following  words,   ""^i'lie  court  hav- 
ing taken  the  whole  of  the  evidence  into  consideration,  both  on  the  part 
of  the  prosecution  as  well  as  in  fiivour  of  the  prisoner,  were  of  opinion, 
that  the  conduct  of  sir  Hugh  Pailiser  was  so  far  from  being  reprehensi- 
ble on  the  27th  anrl  28th  of  July,  that  in  many  parts  it  appeared  exempla- 
ry and  highly  meritorious."     Exemplary  conduct  meant  such  as  was  a 


1781.— Chap.  XXVI.  KEIGN  OF  GEOllGE  HI.  571 

[Mr.  Burke  resiimes  his  plan  of  economical  refoi  m.    Mr.  Pitt.] 

proper  example  for  other  officers  to  follow,  and  a  fit  object  for  imitation. 
According  to  tlii.s  natural  and  true  construction  of  the  .sentence,  the  mi- 
nister contended  that  sir  Hugh  Palliser  was  undoubtedly  an  object  of  re- 
quital ;  and  after  his  conduct  had  been  declared  highly  meritorious  and 
exemplary,  administration  Mould  have  been  criminally  culpable  if  they 
had  neglected  to  cive  a  suitable  reward.  On  the  6th  of  Deceniber  the 
rece.ss  took  place,  and  parliament  did  not  again  meet  until  the  25th  of 
January.  Papers  respecting  the  rupture  with  Holland  were  laid  before 
the  houses.  Ministers  entered  into  a  detailed  vindication  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, to  prove  that  the  Dutch  had  violated  both  general  neutrality 
and  particular  treaties ;  they  contended,  that  as  we  had  applied  in  vain 
for  redress,  hostilities  were  therefore  unavoidable.  Opposition  members, 
with  their  usual  ingenuity,  endeavoured  to  demonstrate  our  enemy  to  be 
in  the  right,  and  the  Pjriti.sh  government  to  be  in  the  wrong  ;  and  for  that 
purpose  they  contrasted  the  present  system  respecting  continental  con- 
nexions, with  the  policy  of  former  ])eriods  since  the  revolution.  Minis- 
ters replied,  that  their  object  was  the  same  as  the  purposes  of  William 
and  Anne,  to  humble  the  house  of  Bourbon  ;  but  that  the  Dutch  had, 
contrary  to  wisdom  and  their  own  interest,  changed  their  measures,  and, 
misled  by  a  factious  party,  assisted  their  natural  enemies  against  their 
natural  friends.  In  answer  to  fanciful  analogies,  taken  from  remote  and 
dissimilar  periods  of  history,  and  theories  built  upon  these,  they  referred 
to  the  existing  case,  as  proved  by  authentic  documents,  to  evince  that 
Holland  was  the  aggressor,  and  by  refusing  satisfaction,  had  forced  Bri- 
tain to  go  to  war. 

On  the  1st  of  February,  Mr.  Fox,  in  pursuance  of  his  notice,  moved, 
that  the  appointment  of  sir  Hugh  Palliser  to  be  governor  of  Greenwich- 
hospital,  after  he  had  been  (Icclared  by  a  court-niartial  guilty  of  having 
preferred  a  malicious  and  ill-founded  accusation  against  his  command- 
ing officer,  -was  a  measure  totally  subversive  of  the  discipline,  and  de- 
rogatory to  the  honour  of  the  navy.  He  exhibited  the  whole  detail  of 
the  proceedings  by  or  concerning  admirals  Keppel  and  Palliser,  with  all 
their  consequences,  real  and  supposed,  in  one  view,  in  order  to  support 
by  his  former  arguments  the  present  motion.  Ministers  having  replied 
by  repeating  their  former  reasonings,  offered  an  amendment  destructive 
of  the  original  proposition,  and  carried  it  in  the  affirmative  by  a  majo- 
rity of  two  hundred  and  fourteen  to  one  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

While  Mr.  Fox  was  thus  eagerly  employed  in  attacking  ministry, 
Mr. Burke  again  attempted  to  introduce  his  plan  for  financial  reform; 
and  from  the  new  parliament  professed  to  expect  a  support  which  he 
had  not  experienced  from  the  former.  The  bill  itself  not  being  chang- 
ed since  the  former  year,  and  the  genius  of  Mr.  Burke  ha^ing  then 
brouglit  forward  every  important  argument  that  could  be  adduced,  the 
substance  of  his  reasoning  on  the  present  occasion  was  necessarily  simi- 
lar to  his  arguments  in  the  preceding  session:  the  bill  was  thrown  out 
at  the  second  reading,  by  a  majority  much  smaller  than  for  a  long  time 
had  usually  voted  in  favour  of  ministry. 

The  debate  previous  to  this  division,  is  remarkable  for  a  circumstance 
distinct  from  the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  <|uestion:  it  called  forward, 
for  the  first  time  in  parliament,  the  genius  of  Mr.  William  Pitt,  second 
son  of  the  illustrious  earl  of  Chatham.  At  the  general  election,  this 
youth,  in  the  twenty  second  year  of  his  age,  entered  parliament  while 
the  expectations  of  all  ranks  and  parties  were  aroused  in  his  favour. 


572  HISTORY  OF  THR  Cba».  XXVI.— 1781. 

[Mr.  Slieridan  turns  hii  attention  to  politics.     India  afTairs.] 

It  was  publiclv  known  that  his  illustrious  father  had  conceived  the  high- 
est opinion  of  his  talents  and  acquirements.     Lord  Chatham  had  himself 
inspected  the  education  of  his  children:  and  though  immersed  in  public 
business,  under  the  pressure  of  ace  and  bodily  infirmity,  with  anxious 
delight  had  tutored,  formed,  and  directed  the  opening  understanding 
of  such  a  promising  son;     In  every  stage  of  his  education,  young  Pitt 
impressed  all  tliose  who  knew  him  witli  admiration  of  his  talents  and  ac- 
quirements.    As  he  ad^an(•od  in  years,  lie  had  progressively  risen  in 
estimation  and  was  chieily  eminent  for  masculine  strength  and  com- 
pass  of  intellectual  powers,    rapidly   mastering   the   various    depart- 
ments  of  knowledije   and  science,    studying  as   a  scholar,   compre- 
hending''and  sicneraiizing  as  a  philosopher^  bold  and  original  in  con- 
ception, profound  in  research,  indefatigable  in  application,  he  had  a 
firmness  of  temper,  which  steadily  pursued  what  he  perceived  to  be 
right,  and  adhered  to  his  own  plans  of  conduct,  undisturbed  by  the 
ridicule  of  frivolity,  and  unreduced  by  theallurements  of  vice.     At  the 
university,  he  was  deemed  far  superior  to  ordinary  men.  and  as  one 
destined   to  transcend  his  coutemporaries  as  much  in  the  highest  deli- 
berative and  executive  de|)artments  of  public  life,  as  he  then  surpassed 
them  in  the  erudition  and  science  of  academic  retirement.     Some  of  his 
friends  at  Cambi  idge  proposed  that  he  should  stand  candidate  for  re- 
pre.senting  the  university  in  parliament,  but  declining  this  honour  unless 
unanimously  oftered,  he  was  returned  for  Poole.     In  the  speech  which 
he  now  delivered,  Mr.  Pitt  fully  justified  the  anticipations  of  the  public 
and  was  considered  from  that  time  as  an  important  accession  to  parlia- 
mentary ability.     Although  the  young  orator  voted  and  spoke  on  the 
side  of  oppDsition,  he  did  not  connect  himself  with  any  of  its  members 
as  a  partv,  but,  like  his  renowned  father,  he  trusted  entirely  to  himself, 
without  seeking  eminence  through  the  collective  influence  of  a  coinbi- 
nation.     The  same  session  brought  another  splendid  addition  to  parlia- 
mentary genius:  Mr.  Sheridan,  after  far  surpassing  all   contemporary 
writers,  and  indeed  all  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  comic  poetry,  first 
exhibited  in  the  senate  that  strong,  brilliant,  and  versatile  genius,  which 
had  acquired  the  dramatic  palm  merely  because  its  possessor  had  chosen 
that  species  of  intellectual  exercise. 

Sir  Philip  Jennings  Gierke,  notwithstanding  his  repeated  defeats, 
resumed  his  design  of  excludins:  contractors  from  a  seat  in  the  house. 
A  bill  which  he  brought  in  f<  r  that  purpose,  was  thrown  out  by  a  majori- 
ty of  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred;  and  a  bill  proposed  by 
iClr.  Crewe,  to  restrain  revenue  officers  from  voting  at  elections  for 
members  of  parliament,  met  with  a  similar  fate. 

India  affairs  now  came  before  the  house:  petitions  were  presented 
from  the  natives  of  Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Orissa,  complaining  that  the  su- 
preme court  of  judicature  established  by  the  act  of  1773,  had  greatlv  ex- 
ceeded its  powers;  that  it  extended  its  jurisdiction  to  persons  whom  it 
was  not  the  intention  of  the  king  and  parliament  to  subject  to  its  de- 
crees; that  it  had  taken  cognizance  of  matters  both  originally  and  pen- 
ding the  suit,  the  exclusive  determination  of  which  the  petitioners  hum- 
bly conceived  it  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  king  and  parliament 
to  leave  to  other  courts;  that  the  judges  considered  the  criminal  law  of 
England  as  in  force  and  binding  upon  the  natives  of  Bengal,  though 
utterly  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  customs  by  which  they  had  formerly 
been  governed.     Petitions  were  presented  to  parliament  by  three  class- 


1781.— Chap.  XXVr.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  573 

[Petitions  from  the  counties  for  the  redress  of  grievances.] 

63,  who  were  affected  by  wlmt  they  conceived  to  be  an  unwarranted 
assumption  of  jurisdiction;  first,  by  the  governor-general  and  council; 
secondly,  by  the  agents  of  the  British  subjects;  and  thirdly,  by  the  East 
India  company.  A  select  committee  was,  at  the  instance  of  gen.  Smith, 
appointed  to  consider  India  aftars,  and  the  proposer  was  nominated 
chairman.  To  this  committee  the  petitions  were  referred :  the  investi- 
gation of  their  grounds  produced  a  variety  of  information,  which  after- 
wards extended  the  objects  of  the  intjuiry  to  deliberative  and  executive 
acts,  as  well  as  judicative,  and  eventually  laid  the  foundation  of  a  very 
celebrated  prosecution.  All  parties  appeared  to  agree,  that  in  the  im- 
perfect state  of  their  knowledge  of  facts,  it  was  proper  to  proceed  with 
great  caution  and  delicacy,  yet  on  a  summary  review,  the  cliief  mem- 
bers of  both  sides  appeared  to  think,  that  there  were  among  the  compa- 
ny's servants  counteracting  interests  that  very  materially  injured  the 
value  of  India  possessions.  The  select  committee  having  been  appoint- 
ed in  February,  had  already  presented  a  long  report,  when  intelligence 
arrived  of  such  a  state  of  atVairs  in  the  Carnatic,  as  induced  tlie  minis- 
ter to  propose  a  secret  committee,  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the 
general  management  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  India,  including  the  farther 
investigation  of  the  subjects  suggested  by  the  petitions.  After  some 
objections  from  opposition  to  the  secrecy,  the  motion  was  can-ied,  a 
committee  was  chosen  from  both  sides  of  the  house,  and  Mr.  Henry 
Dundas  appointed  chairman.  In  consequence  of  the  report  of  the  secret 
committee,  a  bill  was  proposed  by  general  Smith,  for  a  new  regulation 
of  the  supreme  judicature  in  India,  which,  after  some  partial  changes 
was  passed  into  a  law. 

The  minister  submitted  various  propositions  to  the  house  respecting 
Indian  atiairs,  but  rather  as  subjects  of  discussion  than  as  measures  for 
adoption.  Of  these  the  most  important  were.  Whether  it  would  be 
proper  to  throw  the  trade  to  India  opei^  to  grant  a  monopoly  to  an- 
other company;  or  to  bestow  a  new  charter  on  the  present  company, 
and  reserve  to  the  public  a  great  share  of  their  profits.^  Whether  k 
would  be  proper  for  the  crown  to  take  the  territorial  possessions  and 
revenues  entirely  into  its  own  hands,  or  to  leave  them  to  the  man- 
agement of  a  mercantile  company.!^  These  topics  underwent  a  variety 
of  discussion,  but  without  producing  any  efficient  resolution  during  the 
present  session.  As  themes,  however,  of  reflection  and  argument,  they 
turned  the  attention  of  members  to  the  contemplation  of  Indian  attairs, 
and  prepared  them  for  understanding  the  nature  and  tendency  of  such 
plans  as  should  be  afterwards  proposed.  Lord  North  introduced  a 
temporary  and  short  bill,  continuing  the  company's  monopoly  for  a 
limited  time,  until  a  more  permanent  and  comprehensive  plan  should 
be  formed.  By  this  bill  the  company  was  to  pay  four  hundred  and  two 
thousand  pounds  to  government,  as  a  share  of  its  past  profits,  and  also 
an  annual  sun\  in  future. 

In  the  house  of  lords  the  duke  of  Bolton  proposed  an  inquiry  relative 
to  the  capture  of  the  East  and  West  India  convoy,  in  the  course  of 
which  much  censure  was  passed  on  the  general  conduct  of  the  navy; 
but  his  grace  at  length  withdrew  his  motion.  Although  the  riots  had 
damped  the  spirit  of  association,  yet  some  of  the  counties  continued  to 
associate  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  redress  of  grievances,  and  ap- 
pointed delegates  to  give  support  and  efficacy  to  their  acts.  These,  as 
acting  for  their  constituents,  having  assembled,  prepared  a  petition  to 
the  house  of  commons,  stating  the  alleged  grievances,  and  the  desired 


574  HISTORY  OF  THK  Chap.  XXVI.—irSl. 

[Different  opinions  of  Messrs.  Fox  and  Burke  on  the  marriage  law.] 

redress.  There  were  many  who,  admitting  the  existence  of  them,  and 
the  necessity  of  a  remedy,  yet  totally  disapproved  of  such  a  convention. 
The  petition  was  therefore  subscribed  by  three  several  delegates,  in 
their  individual  and  not  their  collective  capacities.  When  presented 
however  to  parliamonl,  the  ])owers  that  had  been  assumed  by  delegates 
were  the  chief  subjects  of  animadversion  by  the  opposcrs  of  the  petition 
which  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and  twelve,  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five.  The  house  of  commons  on  this  occasion  show- 
ed a  jealous  vigilance  of  an  encroachment  on  the  established  constitution, 
by  discountenancing  a  representative  system  which  was  formed  by  de- 
tadu'd  individuals,  and  unknown  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 

Near  tlie  close  of  the  session  an  inconvenience  that  had  arisen  from 
the  marriage  act  ITol,  produced  the  correction  of  a  clause  in  that  law. 
It  had  been  enacted,  that  no  marriage  could  be  valid  unless  it  was  so- 
lemnised in     church  or  other  place  wherein  t!ie  celebration  of  nuptials 
was  lawful  before  the  act.     Apau])er,  who  had  been  married  in  a  cha- 
pel erected  after  that  period,  being  sent  with  a  lar^je  family  to  the  parish 
wherein  he  conceived  himself  entitled  to  a  settlement  as  a  married  man, 
was  refused,  on  the  ground  that,  not  having  complied  with  the  terms  of 
the  statute,  he  was  not  a  married  man.     An  application  was  made  to  the 
court  of  king's  bench :  and  the  judges,  though  they  lamented  the  hardness 
of  the  case,  yet,  in  confoi-mity  to  the  statute,  were  under  the  necessity  of 
justifying  the  recusants,     'i'hrough  the  ignorance  or  inadvertency  of  the 
parties  anil  the  clergymen,  many  marriages  were  in  the  same  predica- 
ment, and  great  numbers  of  innocent  children,  without  any  immoral 
conduct  or  intention  on  the  part  of  their  parents,  were  bastardi/.ed. 
liord  Beauchamp  proposed  an  act  of  retrospec^e  operation,  legalizing 
such  marriages,  and  legitimating  their  issue.     So  humane  and  equitable 
a  bill  was  unanimously  and  speedily  passed.     The  consideration  of  this 
particular  clause  led  many  tatake  a  view  of  the  marriage  act  in  general; 
and  among  others  Mr.  (Miarlps  fox,  who,  employing  the  arguments  that 
had  been  used  in  opposition  to  the  bill  in  1751,  and  especially  with  dis- 
tinguished ability  by  his  father,  proposed  a  total  repeal  of  the  law,  and 
brought  in  a  bill  for  that  purpose:  but  it  was  rejected  without  a  divi- 
sion.    Mr.  Fox  on  the  occasion  viewed  the  subject  in  a  light  rather 
democratical,  considering  the  inclination  of  the  contracting  parties  as 
the  sole,  criterion   of  proper   marriages.      His  friend   Mr.   IJurke  ex- 
pressed a  ditVerent  opinion,  and  contended,  that  during  the  non-age  of 
parties,  the  sanction  of  parents  or  other  nearest  relations  was  requisite 
m  that  act,  the  most  important  of  their  lives,  as  well  as  in  others  of  less 
comparative  moment.     The  marriage  act  (he  said)  justly  hit  the  medium 
between  close  and  misciiievous  restraint,  and  the  foiiner  laxity  which 
had  been  the  cause  of  such  disorders,  and  so  many  just  complaints. 
Concerning:  the  control  to  which  natural  liberty  should  be  subjected  for 
the  sake  ol  general  cx|jediency,  these  two  illustrious  friends  manifested, 
on  tliis  incidental  occasion,  a  diversity  of  opinion,  which  was  not  much 
regarded  at  the  time,  but  from  subsef[uent  proceedings  and  events  has 
Vjeen  carefully  noted  by  examiners  of  the  series  and  system  of  their  re- 
spective principles  and  conduct. 

The  pecuniary  transactions  of  this  year  were  subjects  of  the  sever- 
estanimadversiun.  The  supplies  were  gi-anted  without  oppositirni, though 
not  without  re|)roach  of  ministers,  for  the  uselessness,  through  their  mis- 
conduct, of  the  most  lavish  grants.  Ninety -one  thousand  seamen  were 
voted,  and,  including  foreign  troops,  about  eighty  thousand  landmen. 


1781.— Chap,  XXVI.  UKIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  575 

[Extravagant  terms  for  the  noted  loan  of  twelve  millions.] 

The  whole  amount  required  for  the  public  service  was  2!2,458,337/. 
To  provide  so  large  a  sum,  besides  the  ordinary  means,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  contributions  from  the  bank  and  East  India  company,  twelve 
millions  were  raised  by  a  loan.  Tlie  subscribers  to  this  loan,  for  every 
hundred  pounds  contributed,  obtained  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  annu- 
ities, after  the  rate  of  three  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  an  additioiud 
twenty-five  pounds  in  an  annuity  at  four  per  cent,  per  annum;  which 
rate  of  interest  was  to  be  continued  until  the  annuity  should  be  redeem- 
ed. 480,000/.  were  raised  by  a  lottery,  the  tickets  in  which  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  subscribers  in  the  proportion  of  four  tickets  for  every 
thousand  pounds  subscribed.  By  comparing  the  terms  of  this  loan 
with  the  price  of  the  several  funds  on  which  it  was  negotiated,  it  was 
immediately  seen  that  subscribers  had  a  gain  of  more  than  ten  per  cent, 
besides  the  current  interest,  and  in  fact  the  omnium  bore  an  imme- 
diate premium  of  ten  per  cent.  The  bestowal  of  such  very  advanta- 
geous terms  on  the  subscribers,  to  the  loan  underwent  a  severe  scru- 
tiny. Mr.  Fox  inveighed  .against  it,  as,  in  the  first  place,  a  much 
less  favourable  bargain  than  might  have  been  obtained.  The  minister 
had  been  ottered  money  to  the  amount  of  thirty-eight  millions,  at 
five  per  cent,  without  any  premium,  and  had  chosen  to  borrow  it  at 
sixteen  per  cent,  for  the  first  year,  making  near  six  per  cent,  for  ever,* 
and  imposing  an  unnecessary  annuity  on  this  country,  of  near  one  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds.  Mr.  Fox  contended,  in  very  forcible  reason- 
ing, that  such  was  not  the  conduct  of  a  competent  and  faithful  steward; 
that  the  minister  must  either  have  been  grossly  ignorant,  criminally  neg- 
ligent, or  wilfully  treacherous  to  his  country.  He  could  not  be  so  igno- 
rant as  to  suppose  it  was  better  to  pay  six  per  cent,  than  five;  neither 
could  it  be  imputed  to  negligence,  because  the  subscribers  were  the 
minister's  own  particular  friends.  His  favourite  contractor,  Mr.  At- 
kinson, for  one,  had  the  disposal  of  three  millions  three  hundred  thou- 
sand, the  immediate  profit  of  which  was  three  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand pounds.  The  other  shares  were  also  distributed  among  the  mi- 
nister's adherents.  Mr.  Fox  proposed  that  the  lists  of  both  subscribers 
and  proposers  should  be  laid  before  the  house.     Lord  North  by  no  means 

•  Average  price  of  three  per  cents. 

was  58  1-2,  therefore  150  was 
Four  per  cents,  at  72  1-2,  25  is 
Lottery  tickets  at  121 10s.  four 

for  lOOOi.  is  50/.  for  1001. 


The  current  interest  was  for  each  hundred  pounds,  41.  10s.  in  the  three  per  cents, 
10/.  in  the  four,  and  15/.  on  the  lottery  tickets  ;  so  that  tlie  minister  paid  a  pre- 
mium of  near  eleven  per  cent,  for  borrowing  at  more  than  legal  interest. 
Interest  of  loan              .--..3  50 

Interest  of  premium 0         10        9 


/. 

s. 

d. 

87 

15 

0 

18 

2 

6 

5 

00 

0 

110 

17 

6 

15 


15s.  9(1.  beyond  legal  interest  on  each  100/. 

100/.  15s.  9d.  12,000,000/.  94,500/. 
Thus  an  annuity  of  94,5001.  is  forever  paid  by  this  country  more  than  was  neces- 
sary for  the  same  sum  of  money,  if  lord  North  had  made  the  best  terms  he  could 
for  the  good  of  hia  country. 


576  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Clip.  XXVI.— 1781. 

[Wasteful  expenditure  of  the  public  money.     Session  rises.] 

consented  to  the  application  of  this  test;  cautiously  avoiding  a  detail- 
ed answer  to  Mr.  Fox  he  in  general  declared  that  he  had  made  the  best 
bargain  he  could,  but  opposed  all  inquiry  into  its  circumstances.  Hurt- 
ful, Mr.  Fox  observed,  as  the  financial  waste  was  to  the  pecuniary  inte- 
rest of  tlie  country,  it  was  still  more  injurious  to  political,  by  feeding 
corruption  already  so  enormous.  Mr.  Fox  so  completely  discussed  this 
subject,  that  tlu)uu;h  afterwards  frequently  debated  both  by  the  com- 
mons and  the  peers,  no  new  facts  or  arguments  were  adduced. 

The  impartial  iiistorian  cannot  justify  the  public  steward  for  so  pro- 
digal a  waste  of  the  public  money;  but  must  exhibit  the  twelve  millions 
loan  of  1781  as  very  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  an  able  and  up- 
right minister.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  he  will  not  hastily  impute- 
such  donatives  to  personal  corruption.  The  individual  integrity  of  lord 
North  has  never  been  impeached;  his  bitterest  political  enemies  never 
alleged  that  there  was  any  defalcation  of  national  treasure  for  his  own 
use;*  but  what  his  own  rectitude  prevented  in  himself,  his  inattention 
suffered  in  others.  With  great  talents,  and  manifold  acquirements,  of 
an  acute  understanding,  and  benevolent  disposition,  the  minister  pos- 
sessed a  constitutional  indolence,  which  when  mingled  with  good  na- 
ture, often  allows  to  friends  and  connexions  much  more  indulgence  than 
the  stern  austerity  of  rigid  morality  would  permit;  and  in  gratifying 
the  wishes,  or  promoting  the  interest  of  tlie  objects  of  its  attach- 
ment, frequently  transcends  the  bounds  of  duty.  From  this  source 
probably  arose  the  largesses  of  a  minister,  than  whom  no  one  did  more 
to  serve  his  friends.  At  the  same  time,  a  considerable  portion  of  his 
donatives  must  be  imputed  to  political  considerations,  to  the  desire  of 
extending  his  influence,  and  fortifying  himself  against  the  formidable 
host  by  which  he  was  assailed. 

On  the  18th  of  July,  the  session  was  closed  with  a  speech  from  the 
throne,  in  which  the  king  thanked  his  parliament  for  their  exertions  du- 
ring so  long  and  important  a  session.  He  expressed  his  satisfaction 
that,  in  the  midst  of  tlic  difficulties  of  so  complicated  and  extensive  a 
war,  the  ancient  spirit  of  the  British  nation  was  not  diminished.  He  ap- 
proved highly  of  the  consideration  that  had  been  bestowed  on  the  affairs 
of  India,  and  trusted  the  business  would  be  resumed  and  completed  at 
their  next  meeting.  "Peace  (he  concluded)  is  the  earnest  wish^of  my 
heart,  but  I  have  too  firm  a  reliance  on  the  spirit  and  resources  of  the  na- 
tion, and  the  powerful  assistance  of  my  parliament,  and  the  protection 
of  a  just  and  all  ruling  Providence,  to  accept  any  terms  and  conditions, 
than  such  as  may  consist  with  the  honour  and  dignity  of  my  crown,  and 
the  permanent  interest  and  security  of  my  people." 

•  Personal  enmity,  the  amiable  character  of  this  minister  has,  I  believe,  never 
provoked. 


178L—Ciiir.  XXVII.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  IIT.  577 


CHAP.  XXVII. 


East  Indies — Hytler  Ally  invades  the  Carnatic — oolonel  Baillie  defeats  him,  but  Is 
drawn  into  an  ambuscade,  overpowered  by  numbers,  and  destroyed. — Kapid 
prop^ress  of  Hyder. — Consternation  at  Madras — alarm  reaches  Cidcntta. — Sir 
Evre  Coote  sent  to  coinmand  in  the  Carnatic — comparativelv  sm:dl  army. — 
plan  of  operations  for  1781. — Successive  victories  over  Hyder. — Coote  restores 
the  Mritish  affairs  in  the  Carnatic. — Admiral  Hughes  destroys  Hyder's  sh-pping 
on  the  Malabar  coast — reduces  Dutch  settlements. — Europe  — Plans  of  the 
house  of  Bourbon  when  re-enforced  by  the  Dutch. — French  invade  the  island 
of  Jersey — are  at  first  successful,  but  finally  repelled — Block.ade  of  Gibr  dtar — 
British  fleet  supplies  the  garrison  with  provisions — Spaniards  resolve  to  attempt 
its  red'icti(m  by  storm — immense  preparations  for  this  purpose. — General  El- 
liot.— Grand  scheme  for  totally  discomfiting'  the  enemy — bold,  masterly,  and 
complete  disposition — Sally  of  November  2rth — entirely  destroys  the  enemy's 
preparations. — Darby  endeavrxirs  to  bring  the  enemy's  fleet  to  battle,  but  in 
vain — The  combined  fleet  of  forty-nine  ships  of  tlie  line  sails  to  the  channel — 
British  fleet  of  thirty  ships  keeps  the  sea. — The  hostile  armada,  notwithstand- 
ing its  superiority,  will  not  venture  an  attack — retires  to  harbour. — British 
trade  protected. — Admiral  Kempenfeldt  intercepts  a  French  convoy. — War 
with  Holland — Action  oflT  the  Dogger-bank. — Commodore  Johnstone's  expe- 
dition to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope — though  not  entirely  successful,  captures 
several  valuable  prizes. — West  Indies. — Tremendous  luirricane  in  the  Leeward 
Islands — in  Jamaica — humane  endeavours  to  alleviate  the  distresses  — Campaign 
opens. — Reduction  of  St.  Eu«tatius — Holland  experiences  the  folly  of  going 
to  war  with  Britain — De  Grasse  arrives  in  the  West  [ndies  with  a  greater  fleet 
than  the  British. — Admiral  Hood,  detached  by  Rodney,  offers  battle  lo  the 
French — they  will  not  venture  a  close  engagement,  but  keep  a  running  fight. — • 
A  French  armament  invades  Tobago — small  garrison  there — character  and  gal- 
lant defence  of  governor  Fergusson — his  judicious  and  kind  treatment  of  his 
negroes — their  gratitude,  fidelity,  and  valour— overpowered  by  numbers,  yields 
by  an  honourable  capitulation. — Rodney  endeavours  to  meet  de  Grasse,  who 
avoids  an  encounter. — Spaniards  reduce  West  Florida — Last  efforts  of  Britain 
for  the  recovery  of  North  America — general  misinformation  and  false  conclu- 
sions of  ministers — magnify  every  transient  success — sanguine  hopes  from  the 
reduction  of  Carolina  delusive. — Object  and  plan  of  the  campaign  1781  — Lord 
Cornwallis  begins  his  march. — Expedition  of  light  troops — defeat  of  the  enter- 
prising and  brave  Tarleton — disadvantage  to  the  British  from  this  disaster. — 
Battle  of  Guilford — Cornwallis  successful,  but  with  considerable  loss. — Opera- 
tions of  lord  Rawdon  in  Carolina — enterprise,  skill,  and  genius  of  that  com- 
mander, but  by  great  superiority  of  numbers  is  cut  oflT  from  communication 
with  Cornwallis — returns  to  Britain — is  succeeded  by  colonel  Stewart,  who  is 
obliged  to  act  on  the  defensive. — Cornwallis  enters  Virginia — reaches  Williams- 
burgh — opposed  by  an  American  and  French  force — establishes  himself  at  Glou- 
cester, in  expectation  of  co-operation  from  general  Clinton. — French  and  Ame- 
rican army  near  New- York. — Washington  projects  to  march  against  Cornwallis, 
without  being  followed  by  Clinton — dexterous  stratagem  by  which  he  over- 
reaches the  British  commander — with  his  army  joins  the  forces  in  Virginia. — 
Cornwallis  surrounded — expecting  succours  from  Clinton  resolves  to  defend 
himself  to  tl  e  last — skilful  and  gallant  defence — a  French  fleet  blocks  up  the 
river — our  brave  general  still  holds  out — the  garrison  fast  diminishes — a  gene- 
ral assault  prepared — finding  himself  totally  unable  to  resist,  lord  Cornwallis 
at  length  surrenders. 

We  left  Hyder  Ally  preparing  to  enter  the  Carnatic  :  for  this  purpose 
he  had  collected  a  mighty  armv.     The  force  on  the  Madras  establish- 
VoT.  VII.— 73 


578  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chaf.  XXVIF.— 17S!. 

[Defeat  of  colonel  Baillie  by  Tippoo  Saib.] 

ment  amounted  to  about  thirty  thousand  men,  but  was  dispersed  at  great 
distances,  either  in  quarters,  garrison,  or  upon  various  detached  services  ; 
part  was  employed  on  the  Malabar  coast,  and  a  very  vahiable  detach- 
ment was  in  the  Guntoor  circar,  under  the  conduct  of  colonel  Baillie. 
The  presidency  of  Madras  was  not  suffciently  impressed  with  a  sense 
of  the  nature  and  extent  of  Hyder's  designs,  and  l)y  no  means  employed 
prudent  precautions  to  secure  passes,  and  fortify  posts,  to  prevent  his 
inroads.  Hyder  having  made  his  way  through  the  Ghauts,  on  the  22d 
of  July  1780,  advanced  without  opposition  into  the  level  country,  with 
desolation  and  terror,  while  his  son,  Tippoo  Saib,  was  sent  to  the  north- 
ern circars.  Ilyder  Ally  besieged  the  city  of  Arcot,  which  its  nal)ob  de- 
fended in  such  a  manner  as  to  excite  groat  suspicion  of  his  fidelity. 
Tippoo  Saib  advanced  with  a  great  body  of  cavalry  upon  the  northern 
circars,  whilst  at  the  opposite  extremity  difievcnt  parties  of  the  enemy 
were  approaching  to  Madras  and  the  borders  of  Tinivelly  country.  Sir 
Hector  Monro,  the  British  general,  formed  the  design  of  compelling 
Hyder  to  raise  the  siege,  and  himself  effecting  a  junction  with  Baillie'* 
detachment,  wiiich  was  marching  to  the  south.  Ilyder  on  the  approach 
of  Monro's  army  raised  the  siege,  but  occupied  such  a  position  as  inter- 
cepted the  communication  between  colonel  Baillie  and  the  main  army. 
Baillie,  meanwhile,  with  a  force  consisting  of  above  two  hundred  Euro- 
peans and  eighteen  hundred  Sepoys,  encountered  Tippoo  Saib  at  the 
head  of  thirty  thousand  horse  and  eight  thousand  foot,  at  a  place  called 
Perimbaucum,*  where  he  made  masterly  dispositions  to  withstand  the 
prodigious  superiority  of  number.  After  a  very  severe  action  the  British 
gained  a  complete  victory,  but  for  want  of  cavalry  were  unable  to  pre= 
serve  their  baggage.  Baillie  found  that  from  the  intervention  of  Hyder's 
army  he  could  not  make  good  a  junction  with  general  Monro,  and  at  the 
same  time,  that  it  would  be  impossible  long  to  retain  his  present  post  for 
want  of  provisions.  He  sent  intelligence  of  his  situation  to  sir  Hector  ; 
and  colonel  Fletcher  was  despatched  to  his  assistance,  who,  after  nar- 
rowly escaping  being  betrayed  by  his  guides,  effected  a  junction  with 
Baillie.  Their  detachments  now  prepared  to  force  their  way  to  the  Bri- 
tish army.  Hyder  pretended  a  resolution  not  to  oppose  them,  and  to 
change  his  position,  but  really  formed  an  ambuscade  round  the  road  by 
which  they  were  to  pass  ;  while  a  body  of  his  cavalry  by  various  move- 
ments, diverted  the  attention  of  the  English  camp.  On  the  10th  of  Sep- 
tember, Baillie's  corps  advanced  into  the  toils,  and  were  soon  surrounded 
by  forty  thousand  men,  besides  a  corps  of  European  artillery.  Notwith- 
standing this  surprise,  the  English  leader  made  a  masterly  disposition 
and  gallant  resistance.  The  Mysore  troops  were  giving  way  in  the 
greatest  consternation,  and  victory  appeared  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
British,  when  a  fatal  accident  reversed  the  fortune  of  the  day;  the  tum- 
brils which  contained  the  ammunition  suddenly  blew  up  with  two  dread- 
ful explosions  in  the  centre  of  the  British  lines ;  one  whole  face  of  their 
column  was  entirely  laid  open,  and  their  artillery  overturned  and  de- 
stroyed. The  destruction  of  men  was  great,  but  the  total  loss  of  am- 
munition was  still  more  dreadful  to  the  survivors.    Tippoo  Saib  instantly 

•  See  Memoirs  of  the  War  in  Asia,  from  1780  to  1784,  by  Dr.  William  Thorn- 
son.* 

•  See  life  of  Dr.  VT.  T.  in  Philips'  Public  Characten  for  1103. 


1781— Chap.  XX VII.  KKK.N  OF  GEOHGK  Ilf.  579 

[Sir  Eyre  Coote  sent  to  command  in  the  Carnatic] 

seized  the  moment  of  advantaore,  and  attacked  the  broken  column  with 
his  cavahy ;  he  was  soon  followed  hy  the  French  corps,  the  first  line  of 
unfantry,  and  entirely  overpowered  the  sepoy.s  in  the  British  service,  who, 
after  displaying  the  most  intrepid  vuiuur,  were  cut  to  pieces.  Baillie 
himself  being  dangerously  wounded,  rallied  his  handful  of  f'ritons,  formed 
a  square,  and  his  soldiers,  without  ammunition  fighting  with  their  bayo- 
nets, repulsed  the  Asiatic  host,  until  exhausted  rather  than  conquered 
they  fell,  and  were  trampled  by  horses  and  elephants.  Among  the  killed 
was  the  brave  colonel  Fletcher;  colonel  Bailhe,  and  about  two  hundred 
Europeans,  were  taken  prisoners,  and  exposed  to  every  insult  and  cruelty 
that  the  ingenuity  of  barburians  could  inflict,  while  nothing  could  exceed 
their  sufferings  but  the  mtigRanitnous  and  indignant  fortitude  with  which 
they  were  borne.*  This  disaster  threw  the  presidency  into  great  con- 
sternation and  terror ;  they  considered  the  Carnatic  on  the  eve  of  being 
lost,  and  Madras  itsell'  in  the  greatest  danger.  Hyder  soon  resumed 
the  siege  of  Arcot,  took  it  by  assault  on  the  third  of  November,  and, 
three  days  after,  the  citadel,  though  capable  of  a  much  longer  defence  if 
the  nabob  had  been  resolutely  faithful.  The  successes  of  Hyder  caused 
alarm  even  at  Calcutta  :  the  supreme  council  placed  little  reliance  on  the 
efforts  of  the  Madras  presidency,  but  having  resolved  to  assist  that  set- 
tlement, and  wishing  to  be  a'-.sured  of  the  proper  application  of  their  aid, 
they  passed  a  resolution,  entreating  sir  Erye  Coote,  a  member  of  their 
own  body  and  commander  in  chief  of  the  forces  in  India,  to  take  the 
command  of  the  army  in  the  Carnatic.  The  governor-general  exerted 
himself  to  re-enforce  the  army  destined  to  act  against  Hyder,  and  to 
provide  money  for  paying  and  supplying  the  troops.  It  was  concerted 
that  general  Coote  should  sail  immediately  for  Madras,  while  admiral 
Hughes  should  direct  his  operations  against  the  ports  and  shipping  of 
Hyder  on  the  Malabar  coast.  Sir  Eyre  Coote  arrived  at  Madras  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1780,  where  he  found  affairs  in  a  more  dismal  situation 
than  he  had  conceived :  Hyder  Ally  had  taken  every  measure  which 
could  occur  to  the  most  experienced  general,!  to  distress  the  British, 
and  to  render  himself  formidable.  His  military  conduct  was  supported  by 
a  degree  of  political  address  unequalled  by  any  prince  or  leader  that  had 
yet  appeared  in  Hindostan :  his  army  was  now  augmented  to  more  than 
a  hundred  thousand  men,  while  the  force  of  general  Coote  did  not  ex- 
ceed seven  thousand.  On  the  conduct  of  the  general,  invigorating  and 
directing  this  small  band,  depended  the  fate  of  the  Carnatic,  and  proba- 
bly of  all  British  India. 

Encouraged  by  his  victories,  Hyder  had  besieged  the  fortresses  of  Vel- 
lore,  Wandewash,  Permacoil,  and  Chingleput.  Having  called  a  council 
of  war,  composed  of  sir  Hector  Monro,  lord  Macleod,  and  general  Stu. 
art,  the  conunander  in  chief  consulted  them  whether  it  would  be  better 
to  relieve  these  garrisons,  or  proceed  immediately  against  the  enemy's 
army.  The  former  alternative  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  the  British  general  obliged  Hyder  to  raise  all  the  sieges,  re-en- 
forced and  supplied  the  garrisons.     The  French  inhabitants  of  Pondi- 


•  See  narrative  of  the  sufferings  of  the  officers  and  men,  Thomson's  War  in 
Asia,  passim. 

t  This  is  the  substance  of  Coote's  first  letter  from  Madras  t9  the  India  direc> 
tory. 


580  IIISTOllY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVII.— 1781 

[Operations  of  the  British  army.] 

cherry,  notwithstanding  the  generous  treatment  which  they  had  received 
from  the  EngUsh,  behaved  with  the  mo.st  ungrateful  pertidy ;  they  ad- 
mitted a  garrison  in  the  interests  of  Hyder,  and  collected  a  large  store 
of  provisions,  evidently  intended  to  support  a  fleet  and  army  which  were 
expected  from  the  Mauritius ;  but  Coote  effectually  crushed  this  nefa- 
rious project,  by  taking  away  their  arms,  destroying  the  boats,  and  re- 
moving the  provisions. 

These  operations,  though  attended  with  success,  so  exhausted  the 
army  of  Coote,  originally  small,  as  to  render  an  immediate  attack  upon 
the  army  of  Mysore  extremely  imprudent,  unless  it  should  prove  abso- 
lutely necessary.  Hyder,  on  the  other  hand,  finding  his  soldiers  dis- 
couraged by  the  late  victories  of  their  adversaries,  did  not  deem  it  expe- 
dient to  compel  the  British  to  an  engagement ;  and  during  several  months 
no  conflicts  of  any  importance  took  place  between  the  armies.  Hyder 
at  length  being  strongly  re-enforced,  made  preparations  for  the  siege  ot 
Tritchinopoly.  Sir  Eyre  Coote  proposed  to  march  with  the  army  to 
Porto  Novo,  as  well  that  he  might  frustrate  the  design  of  the  enemy,  as 
to  repress  his  depredation  on  the  side  of  Tanjore  and  the  southern  pro- 
vinces. The  British  army  was  small,  and  very  indifferently  provided  for 
the  field,  but  the  situation  of  affairs  admitted  but  of  one  alternative,  either 
southern  India  must  be  abandoned,  or  an  effort  must  be  made  for  its  pre- 
servation ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  cases  which  have  often  occurred  in 
British  history,  in  which  the  most  adventurous  boldness  was  the  wisest 
policy. 

Impelled  by  these  considerations,  the  British  general,  with  a  small  but 
valiant  band,  on  the  16th  of  June  set  out  in  quest  of  the  Mysorean 
myriads,  and  arrived  at  Porto  Novo  ;  thence  he  made  an  attempt  on  the 
fortress  of  Chillumbrum,  but  was  obliged  to  retire  ;  nevertheless,  he  re- 
solved to  persist  in  endeavouring  to  bring  the  enemy  to  battle,  to  which 
their  commander  was  now  much  less  indisposed  than  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  campaign.  Hyder  was  so  powerfully  re-enforced,  that  confident 
in  his  strength,  and  elated  with  the  repulse  of  the  English,  he  resolved 
to  hazard  an  engagement,  rather  than  relinquish  his  design  on  Tritchino- 
poly and  the  adjacent  provinces.  Determined  to  fight,  he  advanced  to 
meet  the  English  army,  and  chose  a  very  advantageous  position  within  a 
short  distance  of  Coote.  One  of  the  great  difficulties  of  the  English 
army  was  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  intelligence  respecting  the  force 
and  situation  of  the  enemy.  Clouds  of  Hyder's  cavalry  hovered  round 
our  camp,  and  overspread  the  country  on  all  sides,  farther  than  the  eye 
could  reach  ;  therefore  it  was  not  only  impracticable  to  send  out  a  re- 
connoitring party,  but  even  a  single  scout  could  not  escape  detection. 
Several  men  were  despatched  for  intelligence,  but  none  returned  ;  and 
the  British  commander  could  procure  no  farther  knowledge  of  the  num- 
ber and  disposition  of  the  enemy,  than  the  short  view  from  his  own  ad- 
vanced posts  admitted.  Thus  compelled  to  proceed  in  the  dark,  Coote 
.'.ould  form  no  previous  plan  of  action,  but  was  obliged  to  trust  entirely 
w>  hi.s  invention,  which  must  instantaneously  devise  plans  and  expedients, 
accordinji  to  the  discoveries  which  he  should  make  concerning  the  My- 
Horeans.  Such  are  perhaps  the  most  trymg  circumstances  in  which  a 
general  can  he  placed  ;  they  demand  not  merely  courage,  nor  even  the 
habitual  ski!)  of  professional  experience  framing  customary  plans  for  com- 
mon situations  ;  extrication  and  .success  were  to  depend  on  genius,  which 


1781.— Chap  XXVII.  EEIGN  OF  GEOTfGE  III,  581 

[Battle  of  Porto  Novo.     Successive  victories  of  the  British.] 

must  form  and  adapt  its  combinations  to  a  new  case,  with  a  correspon- 
dent self-posses.sion  of  faculties,  and  promptitude  of  execution.  These 
qualities  the  fate  of  the  C.irnatic  required  in  the  commander  to  whom 
it  was  intrusted,  and  they  were  found  in  sir  Eyre  Coote. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  at  five  in  the  morning,  the  Britisli  drums  beat  to 
arms;  at  seven,  the  troops,  consisting  of  seventeen  hundred  Europeans, 
and  three  thousand  five  hundred  sepoys,  marched  out  of  the  oamp  in  two 
lines  ;  the  first  being  commanded  by  sir  Hector  Monro,  and  the  second 
by  general  Stuart.  This  body  of  five  thousand  two  hundred,  with  a  pro- 
portionable quantity  of  artillery,  advanced  to  meet  an  enemy  of  seventy 
thousand,  with  a  powerful  train,  directed  by  European  ofllicers.  On  the 
right  was  the  sea;  and  on  the  left,  numerous  bodies  of  the  enemy's  ca- 
valry as  before  precluded  intelligence  and  observation.  After  an  hour's 
march,  our  troops  entered  a  plain,  skirted  by  an  eminence,  on  which  the 
army  of  Ilyder  was  posted,  being  flanked  on  both  sides  by  strong  bat- 
teries of  artillery,  and  vigorously  and  skilfully  fortified  in  front.  The 
Engli.sh  general,  from  this  position,  saw  that  the  success  of  his  handful 
depended  on  the  first  impression  ;  the  design  which  he  thence  formed 
was  to  direct  his  efforts  against  a  part,  and  cause  a  confusion  which  might 
extend  to  the  rest  of  the  army.  With  this  view  he  narrowed  his  front, 
so  arranged  his  men  as  to  be  nearly  covered  from  the  cannon  of  the  ene- 
my, and  assailed  their  left  wing  diagonally  ;  this  prompt  and  happy  move- 
ment decided  the  fortune  of  the  day ;  attacked  in  such  an  unexpected 
manner,  the  Mysoreans  were  thrown  into  disorder.  Ilyder  dexterously 
and  speedily  changed  his  front,  in  order  to  encounter  the  Engli.-h  with 
his  whole  force,  and  attempted  at  once  to  separate  the  British  lines,  and 
to  surround  them  both.  His  dispositions  for  these  purposes  were  mas- 
terly ;  but  the  repective  efforts  of  Monro  and  Stuart,  with  the  superin- 
tending conduct  of  Coote,  proved  invincible.  The  Mysoreans  fought 
vaHantly,  but  the  British  continuing  to  pursue  the  advantage  which  their 
first  attack  had  produced,  after  an  obstinate  contest  of  seven  hours,  put 
the  enemy  completely  to  the  route,  and  obtained  a  decisive  victory.  The 
battle  of  Porto  Novo  will  ever  be  accounted  an  important  epoch  in  the 
history  of  British  India :  it  broke  the  spell  which  the  defeat  of  colonel 
Baillie  had  formed,  destroyed  the  awe  that  was  attached  to  the  name  of 
Hyder  Ally,  and  by  its  effects,  both  on  the  relative  power  and  authority 
of  the  belligerent  parties,  may  be  considered  as  the  salvation  of  India.* 
"  So  little,"  says  the  historian  of  the  war  in  Asia,  "  can  human  sagacity 
penetrate  into  the  maze  of  future  events,  that  the  repulse  at  Chillum- 
brum,  which  seemed  pregnant  with  danger,  by  encouraging  Hyder  to 
venture  an  engagement,  changed  the  whole  face  of  our  affairs  in  the 
Carnatic." 

Coote  being  soon  re-enforced  by  a  body  of  troops  from  Bengal,  re- 
duced Passore,  a  place  of  considerable  importance,  and  well  stored  with 
provisions.  Meanwhile  Hyder,  being  joined  by  his  son  Tippoo  with  a 
fresh  supply  of  troops,  hazarded  a  second  battle ;  but  on  the  27th  of 
August,  after  displaying  his  usual  skill  and  uitrepidity,  he  was  again  de- 
feated. Undismayed  by  these  losses,  he  ventured  a  third  engagement 
on  the  27th  of  September,  in  which  IJritish  prowess  continued  trium- 
phant.   He  even  afterwards  manifested  a  wish  for  a  fresh  trial,  but  found 

•  See  Thomson's  War  in  Asia,  p.  255 — 266. 


582  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVU.— 1781. 

[Reduction  of  Negapatam.     Europe.     French  invade  Jersey.] 

bis  troops  so  disheartened  as  not  to  second  his  desire.  He  was  now 
compelled  to  retreat  into  the  interior  conntry,  to  abandon  the  advantages 
of  the  former  year,  and  to  leave  the  English  possessions  in  undoubted 
5ecurity.  Such  was  the  change  eftected  by  the  ability  and  conduct  of 
sir  Eyre  Coote  in  17S1.* 

Meanwhile  sir  Edward  Hughes  by  his  naval  efforts  powerfully  co-ope- 
rated in  annoying  the  enemies  of  England  ;  he  destroyed  Hyder's  ship- 
ping in  his  own  ports,  and  thereby  blasted  in  the  bud  his  hopes  of  be- 
coming a  maritiiDC  power.  Informed  of  the  war  with  Holland,  he 
immediately  attacked  the  Dutch  settlement  of  Negapatam,  which  was 
defended  by  five  hundred  Europeans,  seven  hundred  Malays,  four  thou- 
."sand  five  hundred  sepoys,  and  two  thousand  three  hundred  of  Hyder's 
troops.  Admiral  Hughes  was  in  this  expedition  assisted  by  a  land  force 
under  sir  Hector  Monro  :  their  joint  efforts  reduced  this  place  in  three 
weeks,  acquired  a  very  considerable  booty,  and  compelled  Hyder  to  eva- 
cuate Tanjore.  About  the  same  time,  the  British  factory  in  the  island 
of  Sumatra,  with  the  assistance  of  captain  Clements  and  a  small  squa- 
dron of  ships,  subdued  all  the  Dutch  settlements  on  the  west  coasts  of  the 
island. 

In  Europe,  the  Bourbon  princes,  re-enforced  by  the  Dutch,  formed  a 
comprehensive  plan  of  operations  ;  they  proposed  to  subdue  Jersey,  to 
attack  our  naval  armaments  on  our  own  coast,  to  invade  Minorca,  and 
accomplish  the  reduction  of  Gibraltar.  In  January,  the  baron  de  RuUe- 
court  invaded  the  island  of  Jersey,  and  leaving  a  small  garrison  a 
Grouvillc.  marched  to  St.  Helier.  Having  besieged  the  avenues  of  the 
town,  he  surprised  the  guard  in  the  dark,  and  possessed  the  market 
place  without  noise  ;  and  at  the  break  of  day,  the  inhabitants  were  asto- 
nished to  find  themselves  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Major  Corbet, 
deputy-governor,  with  the  magistrates  and  principal  inhabitants,  being 
brought  prisoners  to  the  court-house,  the  French  commander  wrote  terms 
of  capitulation,  by  which  the  island  was  to  be  surrendered  to  France,  the 
troops  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  to  be  conveyed  to  England.  The 
lieutenant-governor  represented,  that  no  act  could  have  the  smallest  vali- 
dity in  his  present  situation,  and  that  the  officers  and  troops  were  too  well 
informed  of  their  duty  to  pay  any  regard  to  his  acts  while  a  prisoner  ;  but 
his  remonstrance  was  unavailing,  Rullecourt  was  peremptory  in  his  de- 
mand, and  Corbet,  under  the  impression  of  the  moment,  too  precipi- 
tately signed  the  capitulation. |  The  French  commander  summoned 
Klizaheth  castle  to  surrender  on  the  prescribed  terms  ;  but  this  fortress 
was  preserved  by  the  conduct  and  fortitude  of  captains  Aylward  and  Mul- 
'laster,  who  having  retired  thither  at  the  first  alarm,  prepared  against  a 
sudden  attack,  rejected  the  summons  with  great  spirit,  and  peremptorily 
refu.sed  to  pay  the  smallest  regard  to  the  capitulation,  or  to  any  orders 
which  should  bo  issued  by  the  lieutenant-governor  in  his  present  circum- 
stances. Meanwhile  the  alarm  extended,  and  the  nearest  troops  rushed 
with  the  utmost  expedition  towards  the  point  of  danger,  and  immediately 
formed  on  an  eminence  near  the  town,  under  the  conduct  of  major  Pier- 
Fon  of  the  ninetv-fifth  regiment.  Rullecourt  required  the  British  com- 
mander i-nmediately  to  yield;  the  gallant  officer  replied,  that  if  the 
French  leader  and  troops  did  not  within  twenty  minutes  lay  down  their 

•  Annual  Register,  1781.  -f  Ibid. 


irSl.— Chap.  XXVir.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  583 

[Blockade  of  Gibraltar.] 

arms  and  surrender  themselves  prisoners  of  war,  he  should  attack  tiiem 
tlie  instant  that  period  was  expired.  Pierson  made  a  very  masterly  dis- 
position of  his  forces,  and  when  the  specified  time  was  elapsed,  began 
the  conflict  with  such  a  imion  of  impetuosity  and  skill  as  soon  gained  a 
decisive  victory.  The  French  general  being  mortally  wounded,  the  next 
in  command  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  their  sit>iation,  requested  the 
lieutenant-governor  to  resume  his  authority,  and  to  accept  of  their  sur- 
render as  prisoners  of  war.  The  satisfaction  arising  from  this  victory 
was  greatly  diminished  by  the  fall  of  the  hero  to  whom  it  was  owing ; 
fighting  at  the  head  of  conquering  troops,  the  gallant  Pierson  was  killed 
in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  The  redoubt  at  Grouville  was  im- 
mediately attacked  and  retaken,  and  the  whole  of  the  French  invading 
party  was  either  killed  or  taken  prisoners  :  thus  ended  the  second  attempt 
of  France  on  the  island  of  Jersey. 

The  blockade  of  Gibraltar  continued,  and  notwithstanding  the  supply 
of  provisions  which  had  been  brought  by  admiral  Rodney  in  the  preced- 
ing year,  the  garrison  began  to  feel  the  distresses  of  restricted  food  :  so 
early  as  October  1780,  the  governor  had  been  obliged  to  deduct  a  quar- 
ter of  a  pound  from  each  man's  daily  allowance  of  bread,  and  to  confine 
the  consumption  of  meat  to  a  pound  and  a  half  a  week,  which,  from  be- 
ing so  long  kept,  was  now  scarcely  eatable.  The  inhabitants  were  re- 
duced to  still  greater  difficulties ;  after  the  supply  which  the  English 
fleet  had  brought,  and  even  earlier,  not  a  single  vessel  ari-ived  with 
provisions  or  necessaries,  either  from  the  neighbouring  shores  of  Bar- 
bary,  or  any  of  the  more  distant  coasts  of  Africa  ;  so  that,  with  every 
other  misfortune,  they  were  at  once  cut  off  from  that  great  and  long  esta- 
blished source  of  a  cheap  and  plentiful  market,  and  reduced  to  depend  en- 
tirely for  relief  on  the  casual  arrival  of  a  few  small  Minorcan  vessels,  whose 
cargoes  were  insufficient,  and  prices  immoderate.*  To  this  distressing 
situation  both  the  soldiers  and  inhabitants  sui)mitted,  not  only  without 
murmur,  but  with  universal  cheerfulness.  In  such  circumstances,  the 
interest  and  honour  of  Britain  required,  that  one  of  the  first  measures 
of  the  campaign  should  be  the  relief  of  Gibraltar  ;  and  early  in  spring, 
a  great  fleet  under  the  conduct  of  the  admirals  Darby,  Digby,  and  sir 
.T.  Lockhart  Ross,  was  fitted  out  for  this  service.  The  French  and 
Spaniards  boasted  that  they  would  defeat  the  execution  of  this  de- 

•  The  following  account,  copied*from  the  Annual  Register  of  1782,  and  with 
the  usual  accuracy  of  that  valuable  performance,  clearly  illustrates  the  distressed 
state  of  the  garrison  : — "  Of  the  most  common  and  indispensable  necessaries  of 
life;  bad  ship  biscuit,  full  of  worms,  was  sold  at  a  shilling  a  pound  ;  flour  and 
beef,  in  not  much  better  condition,  at  the  same  price  ;  old  dried  pease  at  a  third 
more  ;  the  worst  salt,  half  dh-t,  the  sweepings  of  ship's  bottoms  and  store-houses, 
at  eight-pence  ;  old  Irish  salt  butter  at  half  a  crown  ;  the  worst  sort  of  brown  su- 
gar brought  the  same  price  ;  and  English  farthing  candles  were  sold  at  six-pence 
a  piece. 

"But  fresh  provisions  bore  still  more  exorbitant  prices,  even  when  the  arrival 
of  vessels  from  the  Mediterranean  opened  a  market :  turkeys  sold  at  three  pounds 
twelve  shillings  a  piece  ;  sucking  pigs  at  two  guineas;  ducks  at  half  a  guinea; 
and  small  hens  sold  at  nine  shillings  a  piece.  A  guinea  was  refused  for  a  calf's 
pluck ;  and  one  pound  seven  shillings  asked  for  an  ox's  head.  To  heighten  every 
distress,  the  firing  was  so  nearly  exhausted  as  scarcely  to  afford  a  sufficiency  for 
the  most  indispensalile  culinary  purposes  ;  so  that  all  the  linen  of  the  town  and 
garrison  was  washed  in  cold  water  and  worn  without  ironing.  This  want  was  se- 
verely felt  in  the  wee  season,  which,  notwithstanding  the  general  warmth  of  the 
climate,  is  exceedingly  cold  at  Gibraltar," 


584  HISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVII.— 1781. 

[Bombardment  of  Gibraltar.] 

sign  ;  thereby  conceiving  a  vain  hope  of  deterring  Britain  from  the 
attempt  Tlie  English  fleet  consisted  of  twenty-eight  sail  of  the  line- 
A  French  arnianicnl  of  twenty  six  ships  was  ready  at  Brest,  while 
thirty  Spanish  ships  were  parading  in  llie  bay  of  Cadiz.  France  was 
much  more  intent  on  her  own  designs  of  overpowering  the  British  in 
America  and  the  West  Indies,  and  co-operating  with  the  native  pow- 
ers of  the  East,  than  en  .iecmding  the  project  of  Spain  against  Gib- 
raltar ;  instead  of  seeking  a  junction  with  the  fleet  of  her  allies,  she 
sent  her  principal  naval  force,  inulcr  count  de  Grasse,  to  the  western 
■world,  and  a  strong  squadron  under  Suffrein  to  the  eastern.  The  Bri- 
tish fleet  left  St.  Helen's  on  the  13lh  of  March,  and  were  obliged  to 
delay  some  days  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  waiting  for  victuallers  from 
Cork.  It  had  also  uiuler  its  convoy  the  East  and  West  Itulia  fleets  : 
having  condui  led  these  nverchantnieii  beyond  the  reach  of  the  enemy's 
fleets,  admiral  Darby  steered  for  Gibraltar  with  his  naval  force,  and 
ninety-seven  victuallers.  On  the  12lh  of  April  he  arrived  off  Cadiz, 
where  he  saw  the  Spanish  fleet  lying  at  anchor,  and  evidently  disposed 
to  afi'ord  him  no  opposition.  The  British  admiral  having  sent  forward 
the  convoy  under  cover  of  a  few  men  of  war  and  frigates,  cruised 
with  his  fleet  off  the  straits,  in  hopes  of  enticing  the  enemy  to  hazard 
an  engagement ;  but  the  Spanish  armament  remained  in  its  former 
station.  A  vexatious,  though  not  formidable  enemy  greatly  annoyed 
the  British  fleet  :  during  the  siege,  several  gun-boats,  constructed  at 
Algeziras  on  tiie  western  side  of  Gibraltar  bay,  by  night  crossed  and 
fired  on  the  town  and  garrison.  When  the  convoy  was  in  the  bay, 
about  twenty  of  these  boats  sailed,  imder  the  benefit  of  a  calm,  every 
morning  from  AiLjeziias,  and  with  a  fixed  and  steady  aim  regularly 
cannonaded  and  bombarded  our  ships  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  wind  at  its 
stated  hour  began  to  spring  up,  they  immediately  fled,  and  were  pur- 
sued in  vain.  These  efTorts  were  merely  troublesome,  without  eflect- 
ing  any  material  damage  to  the  shipping,  and  the  garrison  was  com- 
pletely supplied.  Enraged  at  this  disappointment  of  her  expectations 
to  redtace  Gibraltar  by  blockade,  Spain  redoubled  her  exertions  for 
compassing  her  object  by  force.  She  raised  the  most  stupendous 
works,  and  placed  on  them  the  mosi  formidable  artillery  that  had  ever 
been  employed  in  a  siege  :  a  hutulred  and  seventy  pieces  of  cannon, 
and  eighty  mortars,  poured  their  fire  upon  Elliot's  brave  garrison. 
This  dreadful  cannonade  and  bombardment  was  continued  night  and 
day  for  many  months  withotit  intermission.  Nothing,  it  was  said,  and 
may  well  be  conceived,  could  be  more  terribly  sublime  than  the  view 
and  report  of  this  scene  to  those  who  observed  them  from  the  neigh- 
bouring hills  of  Barbary  and  Spain,  during  the  night,  especially  in  the 
begiiming,  when  the  cannonade  of  the  enemy  being  returned  with  still 
superior  power  by  general  Elliot,  the  whole  rock  seemed  to  vomit 
out  fire,  and  all  distinction  of  parts  were  lost  in  flame  and  smoke. 
While  the  fleet  continued  in  the  bay,  general  Elliot  retorted  the  ene- 
my's attack  with  a  prodigious  shower  of  fire  ;  but  as  it  was  a  standing 
maxim  with  that  experienced  and  wise  commander,  never  to  waste 
his  ammunition,  and  as  the  great  and  evidently  increasing  difficulty  of 
supply  rendered  this  caution  still  more  essentially  necessary,  he  soon 
retrenched  in  that  respect,  and  seemed  to  behold  unconcerned  the 
fury  and  violence  of  the  enemy.  It  was  calculated,  that  during  three 
v.ecki  the  Spaniards  expended  fifty  tons  of  powder  each  day  :  after 


1781.— Crap.  XXVU.  IIEIGN  OF  GEOHGE  III.  585 

[Sortie  of  the  British  and  destruction  of  tlie  Spanish  batteries  ] 

that  lime,  however,  they  relaxed  their  efforts,  and  were  more  sparing 
in  the  consumption  of  ammunition.  The  impression  made  on  the  gar- 
rison by  these  exertions  was  very  disproportionate  to  the  labour  and 
expense  of  the  enemy.  The  whole  loss,  from  the  12th  of  Apiil  to  the 
end  of  June,  amounted  to  only  one  commissioned  officer  and  fifty-two 
private  men  killed,  and  to  seven  officers  and  two  hundred  and  fifiy- 
three  privates  wounded.  The  damat^e  of  the  works  was  too  triflings 
to  give  any  concern  to  the  defenders,  but  the  duty  and  fatigue  were 
extremely  great.  The  town  suffered  dieiulfol  damage:  the  inliabitants 
consisted  of  various  nations  and  religions  ;  the  English  amounted 
only  to  five  hundred,  the  Roman  catholics  to  near  two  thousand,  and 
the  Jews  were  little  short  of  nine  hundred.  Those  who  escaped  de- 
struction from  tiie  cannonade  and  bombardment,  embraced  every  op- 
l)oriunity  of  leaving  so  dangerous  a  situation,  and  removed  either  to 
England  or  to  the  neighbouring  countries.  However  the  Spaniards 
found  they  might  destroy  the  lives  and  effects  of  individuals,  they 
could  not  advance  their  object  by  all  their  operosc  labour,  and  there- 
fore towards  the  close  of  the  summer  suspended  their  efforts. 

General  Elliot,  meanwhile,  appeared  to  employ  himself  in  strength- 
ening his  defences,  while  he  was  really  meditating  a  terrible  blow  on 
the  camp  of  the  enemy.  Having  seen  that  the  preparations  of  the 
Spaniards  were  arrived  at  the  highest  possilile  perfection,  he  con- 
ceived a  project  of  frustrating  all  their  mighty  efforts,  by  attacking, 
storming,  and  destroying  their  works.  He  employed  the  greatest  part 
of  autumn  in  making  the  most  complete  arrangements  for  executing 
the  whole  and  every  part  of  this  grand  design.  His  object  was  to  at- 
tack the  fortifications  on  every  side  at  the  same  instant :  to  effect  this 
purpose,  he  distributed  his  various  forces  where  the  several  parts 
could  respectively  be  most  efficient,  and  in  such  relative  positions  as 
rendered  co-operation  most  easy,  expeditious,  and  impressive.  To 
fertility  of  invention,  the  genius  of  Elliot  united  a  comprehensiveness 
of  mind,  which  grasped  objects  in  all  their  bearings  and  relations, 
cool  and  vigorous  judgment,  and  nice  discrimination  ;  with  the  great- 
est exactness  he  adjusted  his  plan  in  all  departments,  and  made  pro- 
visions for  every  probable  contingency.  The  time  he  fixed  for  his  en- 
terprise was  a  night  during  the  darkness  of  winter.  On  the  27th  of 
November,  at  three  in  the  morning,  the  British  force  marched  in  the 
following  order  :  the  troops  were  divided  into  three  columns ;  the 
centre  was  commanded  by  the  Hanoverian  lieutenant- colonel  Dachen- 
hausen,  the  column  on  the  light  by  lieutenant  colonel  Hugo  of  the 
same  corps,  and  the  body  on  the  left  by  lieutenant-colonel  Trig  of  the 
12th  regiment;  the  reserve  was  led  by  major  Maxwell  of  the  73d  ; 
a  party  of  seamen,  in  two  divisions,  was  conducted  by  the  lieutenants 
Campbell  and  Muckle  of  the  Brilliant  and  Porcupine  royal  frigates; 
and  the  whole  body  was  headed  by  brigadier-general  Ross.  In  each 
column  there  wa.^  an  advanced  corps,  a  body  of  pioneers,  a  party  of 
artillery-men  carrying  combustibles,  a  sustaining  corps,  and  a  reserve 
in  the  rear.  With  such  silence  did  they  march,  that  the  enemy  had 
not  the  smallest  suspicion  of  their  approach,  until  an  universal  attack 
conveyed  the  tremendous  intimation.  The  ardour  of  our  troops  was 
every  where  irresistible  :  the  Spaniards,  astonished,  confounded,  and 
dismayed,  fled  with  the  utmost  precipitation,  and  abandoned  those  im- 
mense works  of  so  much  labour,  time,  and  expense.  The  whole  efforts 
Vol.  Vn— 74 


586  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVII.— 1781. 

[Tlie  combinefl  fleet  sails  to  the  channel.] 

of  Spanish  power  and  skill  for  two  years,  the  chief  object  of  their 
pride  and  exultation,  were  in  two  hours  destroyed  by  British  genius 
directing  British  intrepidity,  ardour,  and  skill.  The  most  wonderful 
exertions  were  made  by  the  pionccis  unci  ariillery-men,  who  spread 
their  fire  with  such  astonishing  rapidity,  that  in  half  an  hour  two  mor- 
tar batteries  often  thirteen  inch  nioitars,  the  batteries  of  heavy  can- 
non, wiih  all  the  lines  of  approach,  communication,  and  traverse,  were 
in  flames,  ifnd  everything  subject  to  the  action  of  fire  was  finally  re- 
duced lo  ashes.  The  mortars  and  cannon  were  spiked,  and  their  beds, 
carriages,  and  platforms  destroyed.  The  magazines  blew  up  one  al- 
ter another  in  the  course  of  the  confiagraiion.  Before  day-break  the 
British  force,  having  completely  executed  their  grand  project,  re- 
turned to  the  garriison. 

Admiral  Darby  having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  draw  the  Spanish 
fleet  to  an  engagement,  after  relieving  Gibraltar,  returned  to  protect 
the  channel.  Meanwhile  monsieur  de  G'-Uchen,  understanding  that 
the  British  fleet  no  longer  intervened  between  l»rest  and  Cadiz,  sailed 
with  eighteen  ships  of  the  line  to  join  the  Spanish  fleet,  and  to  sup- 
port it  in  the  invasion  of  Minorca  ;  which,  next  to  Gibraltar,  was  the 
principal  European  <)bj(  ct  of  Spanish  ambition.  They  set  sail  for  Ca- 
diz in  the  end  of  July,  having  ten  thousand  land  forces  on  board  ;  pro- 
ceeding with  these  to  the  Mediterranean,  they  left  them  at  Minorca, 
and,  returning  to  the  Atlantic,  directed  their  course  to  the  English 
channel,  with  forty-nine  ships  of  the  line.  Their  reasons  for  taking 
this  direction  were  various:  they  proposed  to  prevent  succours  from 
being  sent  to  Minorca,  and  to  intercept  our  homeward-bound  fleets, 
which  were  expected  at  this  time  to  return,  and  a  large  outward- 
bound  convoy  on  the  eve  of  sailing  from  Cork.  So  little  had  we  fore- 
seen or  suspected  their  design,  that  the  combined  fleets  had  formed 
a  line  from  Ushant  to  the  Scilly  islands,  to  bar  the  entrance  into  the 
channel,  before  it  was  known  in  England  that  they  were  arrived  in  the 
ocean.  Admiral  Darby,  then  in  the  channel,  had  almost  fallen  in  with 
the  enemy,  with  only  twenty  ships  of  the  line,  when  the  accidental 
meeting  of  a  neutral  vessel  informed  him  of  their  situation  and  force. 
The  Biitish  admiral  returned  lo  Torbay  to  wait  for  re-enforcements, 
and  instructions  from  the  admiralty.  His  fleet  was  soon  joined  by  so 
many  ships  as  to  amount  to  thirty  sail  of  the  line:  he  now  received 
orders  to  put  to  sea  for  the  protection  of  the  homeward-bound  mer- 
chantmen;  but,  as  the  enemy  was  so  much  superior,  to  avoid  a  close 
and  decisive  engagement,  unless  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  convoy.  Meanwhile  the  French  admiral  proposed  to  at- 
tack the  British  fleet  in  its  station  at  Torbay,  but  was  overruled  by 
his  Spanish  colleague.  That  commander  represented  the  state  both 
of  the  ships  and  men,  of  whom,  ^specially  the  Spaniards,  great  num- 
bers were  sick,  as  depriving  them  really  of  that  superiority  which 
they  possessed  in  appearance.  They  therefore  directed  their  atten- 
tion entirely  to  the  interception  of  British  merchandise.  But  very 
stormy  weather  obliged  them  to  return,  in  the  beginning  of  Septem- 
ber, to  Brest,  where  the  French  going  into  port,  tlie  Spaniards  pro- 
ceeded to  their  own  coasts.  Darby,  after  conducting  the  expected 
merchantmen  into  harbour,  returned  himself  to  Plymouth  in  No- 
vember. 

The  French  refitted  their  fleet  with  the  utmost  expedition.    Not- 

V 


1781.— Chap.  XXVII.  UEIGN  OF  (iKOUGE  III.  5g7 

[Admiral  Kempenfeldt  intercepts  a  French  convoy.    War  with  Holland  ] 

withstanding^  the  lateness  of  the  season,  they  proposed  to  re-enforce 
count  de  Grassc  with  both  troops  and  sliips  of  war  in  tiie  west,  and  to 
support  him  with  stores;  to  rc-eiiforce  and  supply  SulTrein  in  the 
east:  and  to  rejoin  the  Spanish  fleet,  that  they  might  prevent  Eng- 
land from  relieving  Minorca.  The  several  squadrons  and  convoys 
■were  ordered  to  sail  together  as  far  as  their  course  lay  in  the  same 
direction.  The  British  admiralty  heard  of  this  preparation  and  its 
objects,  but  without  being  accurately  informed  of  its  force,  which 
amounted  to  nineteen  ships  of  the  line.  They  dcspatclied  admiral 
Kempenfeldt  with  twelve  ships  of  the  line,  one  fifty  gun  ship,  and 
four  frigates,  to  intercept  the  French  squadron  and  convoy.  The 
British  admiral  descried  the  enemy  on  the  12th  of  December,  when 
the  fleet  and  convoy  were  dispersed  by  a  hard  gale  of  wind,  and  the 
latter  considerably  behind.  He  endeavoured  to  avail  himself  of  this 
situation,  by  first  cutting  off  the  convoy,  and  afterwards  fighting  the 
fleet.  For  the  intended  service,  admiral  Kempenfeldt's  number  of 
frigates  was  much  too  small ;  notwithstanding  this  deficiency,  how- 
ever, twenty  transports  and  storeships  were  captured,  containing  ele- 
ven hundred  land  forces,  seven  hundred  seamen,  a  great  quantity  of 
ordnance,  arms,  warlike  stores,  camp  equipage,  clothing,  and  provi- 
sions ;  many  sliips  were  also  dispersed.  The  French  admiral,  mean- 
while, endeavoured  to  collect  his  fleet,  and  form  a  line,  but  night 
came  on  before  he  could  accomplish  his  purpose.  Kempenfeldt,  still 
ignorant  of  the  force  of  the  enemy,  made  preparations  for  fighting  the 
next  morning.  At  day-light,  perceiving  them  to  leeward,  he  formed 
his  line  ;  but,  on  a  nearer  approach,  discovering  their  strength,  he 
thought  it  prudent  to  decline  an  engagement.  The  enemy  did  not 
appear  so  confident  in  their  superior  numbers  as  to  urge  the  British 
to  battle:  both  fleets  therefore  parted,  as  if  by  mutual  consent.  Va- 
luable as  was  the  capture  acliieved  by  Kempenfeldt,  yet  great  dissa- 
tisfaction was  excited  in  England  against  the  admiralty,  for  not  fur- 
nishing that  gallant  commander  wiili  a  force  which  might  have  seized 
the  convoy,  and  vanquished  the  French  fleet  :  there  were  ships,  they 
said,  lying  idle  in  harbour,  which  ought  to  have  been  employed  in 
this  service. 

The  war  with  Holland  required  in  Europe  a  considerable  diversion 
of  our  naval  foice.  Tlic  Dutch  were  lurtunateiy  very  little  prepared 
for  hostilities,  and  extremely  deficient  in  seamen  and  naval  stores,  in 
which  they  had  heretofore  so  greatly  abounded.  The  objects  arising 
from  war  with  them  were,  by  cutting  off  their  sources  of  naval  sup- 
ply from  the  north,  to  prevent  the  restoration  of  their  marine,  to  de- 
stroy their  immense  commerce  from  those  quarters,  to  protect  our 
own,  and  to  prevent  their  intercourse  with  our  enemies  in  southern 
Europe.  For  these  purposes  a  fleet  was  stationed  in  the  North  Seas, 
under  admiral  Hyde  Parker.  In  tlie  beginning  of  June,  the  Dutch 
endeavoured  to  prepare  such  a  fleet  as  should  protect  their  own  Bal- 
tic trade,  and  intercept  ours.  On  the  19th  of  July,  admiral  Zouiman 
sailed  from  the  Texel,  with  eight  ships  of  the  line,  ten  very  large  fri- 
gates, and  five  sloops.  Admiral  Parker  was  now  on  his  return  from 
Elsineur,  with  a  convoy  under  his  protection  ;  his  squadron  consisted 
of  six  ships  of  the  line,  of  which  two  were  in  very  bad  condition,  and 
several  frigates. 

Early  on  the  fifth  of  August,  the  fleets  came  in  sight  of  each  other 


58S  IMS  roRY  or  the  chap.  xxvii.— irsi. 

[Action  off  tlie  Dogger  Uank.    Expedilion  to  the  cape  of  Good  Hope.] 

off  the  Dogger  Bank  ;  Parker  perceiving  the  strength  of  the  enemy, 
ordered  his  convoy  to  nuke  the  best  of  their  way,  and  sent  his  fri- 
gates for  their  protection  :  the  Dutch  admiral  having  used  the  same 
precaution,  prepared  for  battle,  and  both  parlies  appeared  eager  for  a 
close  engagement.  They  advanced  to  meet  each  other  in  gloomy 
silence,  without  firing  a  gun  until  they  were  within  pistol  shot.  The 
Dutch  were  superior  both  in  number  of  ships  and  weight  of  metal; 
but  the  British  admiral,  notwithstanding  this  inferiority,  made  the  bat- 
tle a  trial  of  force,  rather  than  of  skill.  Indeed,  both  parties  were  so 
extremely  eager  to  display  national  valour,  as  to  supersede  all  dex- 
terity of  manoeuvre.  For  three  hours  and  forty  minutes  did  they  fight 
without  intermission,  ranged  abreast  of  each  other  ;  the  conflict  was 
extremely  bloody  ;  of  the  English  five  hundred  were  killed  or  wound- 
ed, but  the  Dutch  lost  upwards  of  eleven  hundred  men.  Though  the 
enemy  long  kept  the  sea  with  astonishing  firmness  and  intrepidity, 
yet  the  English  were  evidently  superior;  one  of  ihe  best  ships  of  the 
Dutch  was  sunk,  and  two  more  so  much  damaged  as  to  be  for  ever 
unfit  for  service.  Though  the  British  ships  were  greaily  shattered,  yet 
none  of  them  were  hurt  beyond  the  possibility  of  reparation  The 
Dutch  convoy  was  scattered,  and  compelled  to  return  home  instead  of 
pursuing  its  course.  The  voyage  to  the  Baltic  was  of  necessity  aban- 
doned, all  means  of  procuring  naval  stores  were  cut  off,  and  the  im- 
mense carrying  trade  between  the  northern  and  southern  nations  of 
Europe,  which,  along  with  their  fisheries,  had  been  the  great  source 
of  the  Dutch  power  and  wealth,  was  for  this  year  annihilated.  Though 
the  result  of  the  engagement,  on  the  whole,  proved  favourable  to 
England,  and  the  valour  displayed  in  the  action  was  highly  and  gene- 
rally approved,  yet  the  admiralty  was  severely  blamed  for  not  fur- 
nishing admiral  Parker  with  a  sufficient  force.  There  were  as  many 
ships  idle,  either  at  Chatham  or  in  the  Downs,  as,  if  they  had  joined 
Parker,  would  have  enabled  him  to  bring  ilie  Dutch  fleet  and  convoy 
into  England.  The  admiral  himself,  appears  to  have  been  by  no 
means  satisfied  with  the  support  which  he  had  received;  he  resigned 
his  command,  and  on  that  occasion  did  not  conceal  his  sentiments.* 

Commodore  Johnstone  was  appointed  to  command  a  squadron  des- 
tined to  annoy  the  Dutch  in  another  quarter,  by  attacking  the  cape  of 
Good  Hope,  a  settlement  extremely  valuable  to  the  United  Provin- 
ces ;  thence  he  was  to  proceed  to  the  Spanish  settlement  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  in  the  Rio  do  la  Plata  of  South  America,  where  a  dangerous 
insurrection  had  given  great  alarm  to  the  court  of  Madrid.  The 
Dutch,  conscious  of  their  inability  to  defend  the  cape,  applied  for  as- 
sistance to  Trance.  The  court  of  Versailles  being  also  deeply  inter- 
ested in  preventing  Britain  from  obtaining  so  important  a  possess- 
ion, ordered  monsieur  de  Sufi'rein,  in  his  way  to  India,  to  watch  the 
motions  of  the  British  sc[uadron.  Commodore  Johnstone's  naval  force 
consisted  of  a  seventy-lour,  a  sixty-four,  and  three  fifty  gun  ships,  be- 
sides several  frigates,  a  bomb-vessel,  a  fire-ship,  and  some  sloops  of 
war.  The  land  force  was  composed  of  three  new  regiments,  of  a 
thousand  men  each  :  several  outward  bound  East  Indiamen  and  store 
ordnance  vessels  went  out  with  this  convoy;  and  the  whole  fleet,  in- 
cluding transports  and  armed  ships,  amounted  to  more  than  forty  sail. 

•  Sec  Annual  Register,  1781. 


irSl— Chap.  XXVII.  KEIGN  OF  TEOHGE  lH.  589 

[West  Indies.   Tremendous  hurricane  in  the  Leeward  Islands.] 

With  these  commodore  Johnstone  stopped  at  Cape  de  Verd  Islands, 
for  water  and  fresh  provisions  :  for  collecting  these  supplies,  a  great 
part  of  the  crews,  apprehending  no  enemy  to  be  near,  were  dispersed 
on  shore.  The  French  squadron,  which  consisted  of  five  ships  of  the 
line,  with  a  body  of  land  farces,  being  informed  of  the  situation  of  the 
British,  expected  to  take  them  by  surpiise.  On  the  16th  of  April, 
Suffrein  leaving  his  convoy  at  a  distance,  attacked  the  British  squa- 
dron in  Port  Praya,  in  the  island  of  St.  Jago.  He  advanced  as  if  to  cer- 
tain victory,  but  was  soon  taught  his  mistake:  the  Biilish  force, 
though  surprised,  was  so  far  from  being  intimidated,  that  they  not 
only  rallied,  but  entirely  beat  off  the  enemy,  with  great  loss  of  men, 
and  damage  to  the  shipping.  Suffrein,  disappointed  in  this  attempt, 
made  the  best  of  his  way  to  the  cape,  where,  by  his  junction  with  the 
Dutch  garrison,  he  knew  he  should  be  able  to  defend  it  against  John- 
stone's armament.  The  British  commodore,  finding  on  his  arrival, 
that  success  would  be  impracticable,  forbore  the  attempt.  Soon  after, 
meeting  with  five  richly  laden  homeward-bound  Dutch  East  India- 
men,  he  took  four,  and  burnt  the  other:  when,  perceiving  that  he 
could  not  compass  the  original  purpose  of  his  expedition,  he  returned 
to  England  with  his  prizes. 

The  West  Indies,  after  being  the  theatre  of  the  hostilities  which 
have  been  recently  narrated,  experienced  a  most  terrible  enemy  in 
the  warring  elements.  This  was  a  hurricane,  far  exceeding  in  tre- 
mendous horror  and  dreadful  destruction,  the  usual  convulsions  of 
the  torrid  rone. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1780,  this  engine  of  devastation  com- 
menced its  fell  movements  in  the  island  of  Barbadoes.  Thunder  and 
lightning,  whirlwinds,  earthquakes,  torrents  of  rain,  fire,  air,  earth, 
and  water,  appeared  to  vie  with  each  other  in  rapidity  of  desolation. 
The  first  night,  Bridgetown,  the  capital  of  the  island,  was  levelled 
with  the  ground.  Other  towns,  as  well  as  villages  and  single  houses, 
shared  the  same  fate:  plantations  were  destroyed,  the  produce  of  the 
earth  was  torn  up,  animals  perished,  and  numbers  of  human  beings 
fell  either  victims  to  the  fury  of  the  elements,  or  to  the  downfall  of 
buildings.*  The  fear  of  a  pestilence,  from  the  multitude  of  dead  bo- 
dies in  so  putrifying  a  climate,  compelled  the  survivors  instanta- 
neously to  bury  the  dead,  without  allowing  to  relations  and  friends  the 
melancholy  pleasure  of  a  distinguishing  attention  to  the  objects  of 
their  affection.  The  negroes  by  rapine  and  violence  added  to  the  ge- 
neral calamity,  and  as  they  were  much  more  numerous  than  the 
whites,  might  have  utterly  ruined  the  island,  had  not  general  Vaugh- 
an,  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  been  stationed  upon  it,  and 
awed  those  barbarians  to  quietness  and  obedience.  The  prisons  being 
involved  in  the  common  destruction,  the  late  tenants  of  those  man- 
sions, who  had  been  confined  for  violating  the  laws,  joined  in  the  out- 
rages ;  but  the  prisoners  of  war,  especially  a  party  of  Spaniards,  acted 
with  the  greatest  humanity  and  honour,  in  assisting  the  distressed  in- 
habitants, and  preserving  public  order.  The  islands  of  St.  Lucia,  Gre-  • 
nada,  St.  Vincent's  and  Dominica,  were  also  desolated.  The  French 
islands  in  the  same  quarter  of  the  West  Indies,  especially  Martinique 

*  Annual  Register,  1781. 


590  niSTOKY  OF  THE  chif.  XXVII.— irsi. 

[Capture  of  St-  Eustatius.] 

and  Guadaloupe,  suffered  no  less  than  the  English  •  But  a  still  more 
direful  hurricane,  on  the  3d  of  October,  wreaked  its  vengeance  on 
Jamaica,  and  especially  on  the  districts  of  Westmoreland  and  Hano- 
ver, two  of  the  most  fertile  spots  in  the  island.  The  inhabitants  of  Sa- 
vannah la  Mar,  a  considerable  trading  town  in  that  quarter,  were  be- 
holding with  astonishment  such  a  swell  of  the  sea  as  had  never  before 
been  seen,  when,  on  a  sudden,  the  waters  of  the  deep  bursting  through 
all  bounds,  overwhelmed  the  town,  and  swept  man,  beast,  and  habita- 
tion in  one  torrent  of  destruction.  What  the  waters  did  not  reach  in 
the  higher  vicinity,  combined  tempest  and  earthquake  finished.  Be- 
sides present  desolation,  this  dreadful  scourge,  by  covering  the  most 
fertile  tracts  with  sand  and  other  barren  substances,  sterilized  the 
ground,  and  rendered  it  unsusceptible  of  future  culture.  The  loss  of 
property  was  estimated  at  upwards  of  a  million  sterling  in  two  pa- 
rishes in  Jamaica.  Their  neighbours  endeavoured  to  alleviale  tlie 
miseries  of  the  sufferers  ;  but  their  principal  and  most  effectual  re- 
lief they  derived  from  the  mother  country,  in  the  generous  benefac- 
tions of  individuals,  and  the  liberal  munificence  of  the  legislature. 

Admiral  Rodney  was  fortunately  at  New- York  at  this  terrible  sea- 
son, and  returned  at  the  close  of  the  year  to  the  West  Indies.  Having 
concerted  his  plan  of  operation  with  general  Vaughan,  he,  together 
with  that  commander,  undertook  an  expedition  for  the  recovery  of 
St.  Vincent's,  in  the  expectation  of  finding  its  fortifications  disman- 
tled, and  its  garrison  impaired  by  the  recent  hurricane.  Having  how- 
ever reconnoitred,  and  finding  both  the  works  and  garrison  in  such 
force  as  to  require  more  time  for  reduction  than  its  comparative  va- 
lue justified,  he  therefore  desisted  from  the  attempt.  No  sooner  had 
Britain  been  compelled  to  go  to  war  with  Holland,  than  ministers, 
with  a  meritorious  policy,  projected  to  strike  a  blow,  which  should 
prove  fatal  to  the  commercial  resources  of  her  ungrateful  enemy.  The 
Dutch  island  of  St.  Eustatius,  though  itself  a  barren  rock,  had  long 
been  the  seat  of  an  immense  and  lucrative  commerce  :  it  was  a  gene- 
ral market  and  magazine  to  all  nations  ;  its  largest  gains  were,  du- 
ring the  seasons  of  war,  among  its  neigiibours,  as  it  then  derived  fi'om 
its  neutrality  unbounded  freedom  of  trade.  The  properly  on  a  settle- 
ment so  circumstanced  was  known  to  be  extremely  great  ;  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  such  valuable  spoils,  therefore,  government  directed  iis 
views,  and  sent  instructions  to  the  commanders  to  make  an  attempt  on 
the  opulent  repository.  As  the  place  was  naturally  strong,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  French,  it  might  have  been  rendered  able  to  with- 
stand an  attack.  Our  commanders,  to  anticipate  re-enforcements,  and 
at  the  same  lime  deceive  the  enemy,  first  pretended  a  design  of  as- 
sailing Mariinico;  but  suddenly  appearing  before  the  island  of  St. 
Eustatius,  they  surrounded  it  with  a  g"eat  force.  The  admiral  and  ge- 
neral summoned  the  governor  to  surrender,  with  which  demand  that 

•  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  same  month  some  parts  of  the  country  in  the 
vicini'v  of  London  experienced  a  toinailo  very  unusual  in  this  northern  chniale. 
The  storm  burst  on  Hammersmith,  Itoehampton,  Uichmond,  Kingston,  and  tlie 
environs.  At  Hammersmith  it  blew  down  a  considerable  part  of  tiie  churcii, 
tliough  very  strongly  built,  and  both  there  and  at  other  places  damaged  a  num- 
ber of  houses.  The  same  day  a  mucli  more  violent  tempest  raged  on  the  coast 
of  Normandy.  See  Chronicle  m  the  Annual  llegister,  1780,  and  Gentleman's  Ma- 
gamnt  for  October  in  the  same  year. 


1781.- Chap.  XXVII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  591 

[De  Grasse  arrives  in  the  AVest  Indies.   Naval  engagements.] 

officer  very  prudently  complied,  and  recommended  the  town  and  in- 
habitants to*  the  known  clemency  of  the  British  conquerors.  The 
wealth  found  in  this  place  was  estimated,  on  a  moderate  calculation, 
at  three  millions  sterling.  Soon  after,  a  convoy  of  Dutch  merchant- 
iju  n,  richly  laden,  were  captured  by  three  of  Rodney's  ships,  and  the 
]>:  /.es  estimated  at  about  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
About  this  time,  some  enterprising  adventurers  from  Bristol,  with  a 
squadron  of  privateers,  sailed  to  Surinam,  and  under  the  guns  of  the 
Dutch  forts,  brought  away  every  valuable  ship  from  the  settlements 
of  Demarara  and  Issequibo.  Thus  Holland,  in  the  destruction  of  her 
commerce,  was  taught  the  folly  of  provoking  to  hostilities  the  most 
powerful  tnaritime  state  of  the  universe.* 

The  court  of  Versailles  formed  the  same  project  this  campaign, 
wliich  had  been  defeated  in  the  preceding,  to  overpower  the  English 
force  in  the  West  Indies,  and  afterwards  to  compel  Britain  to  relin- 
quish North  America.  There  wore  already  eight  ships  of  the  line  at 
St.  Domingo  and  Mariinico,  with  a  considerable  body  of  land  forces. 
On  the  2 2d  of  March,  count  de  Grasse,  with  twenty  sail  of  the  line, 
one  of  fifty-four  guns,  and  six  thousand  land  forces,  sailed  for  the 
West  Indies,  with  an  immense  convoy,  amounting  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  ships,  and  arrived  off  Martinico.  In  the  end  of  April,  sir 
George  Rodney  having  detached  three  of  his  ships  to  escort  the  St. 
Eustalius  booty  to  Britain  under  commodore  Holham,  had  only  twen- 
ty one  ships  of  the  line,  while  De  Grasse,  being  re-enforced  from 
Martinico,  had  twenty-four.  Rodney  himself  remaining  with  general 
Vaughan  at  St.  Eustatius,  sent  sir  Samuel  Hood  towards  Martinico,  in 
order  to  intercept  de  Grasse's  fleet  and  convoy.  On  the  28th  of 
April,  admiral  Hood  was  informed  by  his  advanced  cruisers,  that  the 
enemy  was  approaching  in  the  channel  between  St.  Lucia  and  Mar- 
tinico. The  next  morning  he  descried  the  fleet  before  the  convoy; 
and  though  he  had  only  eighteen  ships  of  the  line  to  twenty  four,  and 
the  enemy  had  the  wind  in  their  favour,  the  British  commander  de- 
termined to  hazard  an  engagement.  With  great  skill  and  dexterity 
he  endeavoured  to  gain  the  wind,  and  come  to  close  buttle.  De  Grasse, 
however,  would  not  venture  a  decisive  action,  and  from  his  windward 
position  being  enabled  to  preserve  the  distance  which  he  chose,  be- 
gan to  cannonade  so  far  from  the  British  ships  as  to  admit  of  little  ex- 
ecution on  either  side.  During  the  first  conflict,  the  British  van, 
however,  and  the  foremost  ships  of  the  centre,  after  repeated  endea- 
vours, at  last  succeeded  in  approaching  nearer  to  the  enemy,  and 
having  received  a  very  heavy  fire,  were  considerably  damaged  in 
their  masts,  hulls,  and  rigging,  before  the  rest  of  our  ships  came  up 
to  their  assistance.  Finding  his  wounded  ships  in  a  very  shattered 
condition,  admiral  Hood  thought  it  prudent  during  the  night  to  sail 
for  Antigua.  The  marquis  de  Bouille  attempted,  in  the  absence  of 
our  fleet,  to  reduce  St.  Lucia  on  the  10th  of  May  ;  but  by  the  vigor- 
ous  resistance  of  the  garrison,  he  was   compelled  to  relinquish   the 

•  British  merchants  being  proprietors  of  some  parts  of  the  property  captured 
in  the  Dutch  settlements,  considerable  disputes  arose  between  them  and  tlie  ad- 
miral on  this  subject.  It  is  remarkable,  tliat  in  one  of  the  letters  written  on  this 
occasion,  liodney  prophesied  that' Demarara  would  in  a  few  years  very  fi«r  sur- 
pass in  value  the  expectations  which  were  then  entertained.  This  prediction, 
though  then  thought  improbable,  has  been  since  amply  verified. 


592  HISTOHY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVII —1781. 

[Expedition  of  the  French  against  Tobago  ] 

design.  Admiral  Rodney  now  found  it  necessary,  instead  of  spending 
more  time  at  St.  Eustatius,  to  employ  his  whole  force  against  the 
French  armament ;  he  therefore  immediately  sailed  to  Antigua,  and, 
as  soon  as  the  ships  were  repaired,  proceeded  towards  Barbadoes. 

On  the  very  day  that  sir  George  Rodney,  with  the  fleets  from  An- 
tigua, arrived  at  Barbadoes,  a  small  French  squadron,  with  a  consider- 
able body  of  land  forces,  under  the  conduct  of  M.  de  Blanchelande, 
late  governor  of  St.  Vincent's,  appeared  off  the  island  of  Tobago. 
On  the  23d  of  May,  the  (l;iy  on  which  the  enemy  appeared,  Mr. 
George  Ferguhson,  the  goveinor,  sent  the  intelligence  to  Rodney, 
which  the  admiral  received  on  the  26th.  The  naval  commander  ima- 
gined the  force  of  the  eneniy  much  less  considerable  than  it  was,  and 
on  that  supposition  destined  six  sail  of  tiie  line  and  some  frigates,  un- 
der admiial  Drake,  with  aliout  six  hundred  land  forces,  for  its  relief. 
That  officer  having  anived  on  the  30th  off  Tobago,  descried  between 
him  and  llie  land  the  enemy's  fleet,  consisting  of  twenty-four  sail  of 
tiic  line.  Finding  it  impossible  to  attempt  a  landing,  he  retired,  and 
sent  the  commander  in  chief  intelligence  of  the  posture  of  affairs. 
Meanwhile,  about  three  thousand  French  troops  landed  on  the  island. 
The  defenders,  including  a  few  soldiers  and  the  colonial  militia, 
amounted  only  to  lour  hundred  and  twenty  seven  whites  ;  but  they 
found  most  faithful  and  intrepid  auxiliaries  in  their  blacks.  Governor 
Fergusson*  hin»ielf  was  distinguished  for  his  trea'ment  of  negroes, 
the  joint  result  of  judgment  and  humanity,  by  which  he  secured  the 
obedience,  while  he  conciliated  the  affection,  and  established  the  fide- 
lity of  his  labourers.  His  precept  and  example  influencin"'  other 
planters,  rendered  the  condition  of  the  blacks  much  more  comforta- 
ble than  in  most  of  the  other  settlements,  and  attached  to  their  mas- 
ters, hearts  very  susceptible  of  kind  impressions.  The  island,  how- 
ever, not  being  far  advanced  in  cultivation,  the  number  of  negroes  fit 
to  bear  arms  was  but  small.  The  gallant  Fergusson  made  a  skilful  and 
vigoious  defence  against  an  enemy  four  times  the  number  of  his 
brave  band.  Trusting  that  his  message  would  bring  effectual  suc- 
cour, he  occupied  a  strong  post,  and  for  seven  days  prevented  the 
enemy  from  making  progress.  The  marquis  de  Bouille,  commander 
of  the  invaders,  found  all  attempts  to  dislodge  his  opponents  vain  ; 
wherefore,  to  reduce  them  to  submission,  he  began  to  destroy  their 
plantations.  The  islanders,  seeing  the  approaching  devastation  of 
their  properly,  were  awed  lo' concessions,  which  the  fear  of  personal 
danger  could  not  extort,  and  at  last  agreed  to  capitulate.  The  firm- 
ness of  the  governor  restraining  them  from  precipitate  offers,  pro- 
cured honourable  and  advantageous  terms.  Admiral  Rodney  did  not 
escape  censure  for  not  having  adopted  more  effectual  measures  for 
the  relief  of  Tobago  ;  and  it  was  asserted  with  some  reason,  that  the 
French,  without  a  great  superiority  of  naval  force  had  in  this  cam- 
paign acquired  a  most  important  advantage  in  the  West  Indies. 
From  the  capture  of  Tobago  in  the  beginning  of  June,  to  the  begin- 
ning of  August,  dc  Grasse  continued  in  the  West  Indies,  without  be- 
ing encountered  by  Rodney  ;  and  in  July  sailed  to  St.  Domingo, 
where,  after  being  re-enforced  by  five  ships  of  the  line,  he  escorted 

•   Brother  to  tb?  colonel,  who  livrci  anil  died  so  honourably. — See  this  history, 
chap   XXV. 


1781.— CuAP.  XXVII.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  593 

[The  Spaniards  reduce  West  Floriila.    Last  cfTorts  for  the  lecovery  of  America.] 

the  rich  niercanlile  convoy,  with  a  fleet  amounting  to  twcnly-ciglit 
ships  of  the  line.  He  conducted  the  convoy  northwards  until  they 
were  out  of  danger,  and  proceeded  himself  to  the  second  object  of 
his  expedition.  Rodney,  conceiving  that  his  health  required  an  im- 
mediate return  to  his  native  country,  escorted  tiie  West  India  convoy 
home,  and  sent  the  greater  part  of  his  fleet,  under  sir  Samuel  Hood, 
to  watch  the  motions  of  de  Grasse. 

While  these  operations  were  carrying  on  between  the  French  and 
British  among  the  eastern  settlements  of  the  West  Indies,  the  Spa- 
niards were  not  inactive  in  the  western.  Elated  with  their  successful 
attack  against  the  British  settlements  on  the  Mississippi,  they  had  ex- 
tended their  views  to  West  Florida.  In  the  year  1780,  they  had  cap- 
lured  the  fort  of  Bobille,  on  the  confines  of  Florida;  and  in  1781, 
preparing  a  considerable  armament  from  the  Havannah,  they  resolved 
to  besiege  Pensacola.  The  enemy,  on  their  first  departure,  were  dis- 
persed by  a  hurricane,  but  soon  refitting,  again  set  sail  with  eight 
thousand  land  forces,  and  fifteen  ships  of  the  line.  On  the  9th  of 
March  they  arrived  at  Pensacola.  Mr.  Chester,  governor  of  the  pro- 
vince, and  general  Campbell,  governor  of  the  town,  with  a  garrison 
not  exceeding  three  thousand  men,  including  inhabitants,  made  the 
most  skilful  dispositions  for  the  defence  of  the  place.  The  enemy 
were  near  two  months  employed  against  Pensacola,  before  they  were 
prepared  for  a  general  assault;  and  though  they  must  ultimately,  from 
the  vast  superiority  of  their  numbers,  have  prevailed,  yet  the  courage 
and  activity  of  the  garrison  would  have  withstood  their  eftorts  much 
longer,  had  not  their  principal  redoubt  been  accidentally  blown  up 
by  the  falling  of  a  bomb  at  the  door  of  the  magazine,  which  set  fire  to 
the  powder.  The  garrison  now  finding  that  farther  defence  was  hope- 
less, next  morning  agreed  to  capitulate,  being  the  9th  of  May,  ex- 
actly two  months  after  the  siege  commenced  ;  and  thus  the  province 
of  West  Florida  became  a  possession  of  Spain. 

The  history  now  comes  to  the  last  exertions  of  Britain  for  the  re- 
covery of  North  America — eff'orts  glorious  to  the  valour  of  her  cham- 
pions, but  terminating  in  events  melancholy  to  the  national  interests. 
Ministry  had  uniformly  been  remarkable,  during  the  American  war, 
for  misapprehending  situations  and  events,  over-rating  partial  advan- 
tages, and  conceiving  them  to  be  general  and  decisive.  The  reduc- 
tion of  Charleston,  and  compulsory  submission  of  South  Carolina,  they 
considered  as  certain  indications  of  her  future  success,  and  of  the  de- 
sire of  the  colonists  to  return  to  their  connexion  with  the  parent 
country.  They  received  the  exaggerations  of  deserters  from  Ame- 
rica as  authentic  testimony,  and  gave  to  the  effusions  of  disap- 
pointed pride  and  resentment,  a  belief  due  only  to  the  impartial 
narratives  of  truth.  The  defection  of  Arnold  elevated  their  hopes 
of  recovering  the  colonies  ;  they  considered  his  manifesto  describ- 
ing both  the  weakness  and  discontent  of  the  American  army, 
as  unquestionable  evidence.*     Proceeding  on  such  superficial  views, 

•  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  hy  a  respectable  field  officer  ot 
the  guards,  dated  New-York,  August  the  24th,  17«1,  illustrates  the  opinion  whiclx 
was  entertained  by  impartial  ohserveis  on  the  spot,  concerning  tlie  information 
and  conduct  of  ministry,  and  with  prophetic  sagacity  predicts  the  event : — 

"  V\'e1l,  here  I  am  once  ir.orc,  wrapt  up  in  military  nonsense  ;  for  wh.it  but  non- 
sense must  be  the  science  of  dedroying  mankind^  when  tailors  and  shoemakers 
Vol.  VH.— 75 


594  HISTORY  OF  THE  Ciar.  XXVII.—irSl 

[Object  and  plan  of  tlie  campaign  of  1781.] 

and  feeble  reasoning,  tliey  formed  tlieir  expectations  and  plans.  It 
was  apprehended  that  general  Clinton,  from  the  supposed  weakness  and 

start  up  Ji^enerals,  and  dare  to  oppose  us  repularly  bred  practitioners  :  however, 
•'  ex  nihilo  nihil  fit,"  and  these  self  created  heroes  have  tbe  less  merit,  as  we  have 
learnt  to  bear  and  forbear,  and  even  turn  the  left  cheek  where  the  right  has  been 
smitten. 

"  Now,  my  good  friend,  I  lament  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  send  you  much 
consolation  from  here.  Tiie  strans^e  and  unaccountable  infatuation  tliat  attends 
O'lr  sagacious  ministers  at  home,  (who  seem  to  embrace  every  phantom,  merely 
that  they  may  be  deceived,)  will  indubitably  assist  others  on  this  side  of  the  At- 
lantic in  brinijing  this  rebellion  to  a  most  dishonourable  conclusion.  To  enter  in- 
to a  particular  detail  of  all  our  follies,  &c.  &c.  would  take  up  a  volume;  but  I 
should  wish  to  give  you  some  idea  of  our  present  situation  at  New-York. — When 
I  left  Kngland  it  was  confidently  asserted  by  those  who  ought  to  have  known  bet- 
ter, '  that  the  rebel  army  was  scarce  existing ;  tiiat  the  people  in  general  were  in 
a  state  of  the  utmost  misery  and  despondency,  their  finances  totally  exhausted, 
without  credit,  without  trade,  or  the  means  of  procuring  the  common  necessaries 
of  life  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  general  inclination  to  submit  to  the  mercy  of  Great 
Britain.'  This  was  the  language  of  the  1st  of  last  April :  I  own  that  was  a  day  on 
which  it  is  usual  for  the  unwary  passenger  to  be  held  up  to  ridicule  by  much 
greater  fools  than  himself. 

"  Witli  respect  to  the  rebels  :  at  no  period  of  time  since  the  commencement  of 
this  infamous  rebellion,  have  the  Americans  fitted  out  so  many  large  ships  as  with- 
in these  eight  months  :  their  success  (thanks  to  our  navy)  has  answered  their 
most  sanguine  expectations.  Their  trade  from  Philadelpliia  to  the  Havannah  and 
the  West  Indies  has  been  very  great,  although  it  is  in  the  pSwer  of  two  frigates  to 
secure  the  entrance  into  the  river  Delaware.  Tbe  success  of  the  Spaniards  at 
Pensacola  was  entirely  owing  to  the  constant  supplies  of  flour  they  received  from 
the  rebels,  without  which  they  could  not  have  subsisted  their  army.  With  respect 
to  the  misery  of  the  jjeople,  I  leave  you  to  judge  how  great  it  must  be,  when  beef 
and  mutton  sell  at  the  rate  of  two-pence  a  pound  in  the  .Terseys,  while  we  in  New- 
York  pay  two  shillings  :  other  things  in  proportion.  The  depreciation  of  their 
paper  money  is  now  so  far  from  being  a  loss  to  them,  that  it  is  a  very  great  advan- 
tage, as,  by  the  constant  circulation  of  many  hundred  thousand  hard  dollars,  which 
they  have  at  length  received,  their  paper  currency  will  be  annihilated,  so  that 
they  are  now  beginning  on  a  new  bank.  As  to  the  despondency  of  the  people, 
believe  it  not  ;  for  the  spirit  of  rebellion  never  breathed  with  more  rancour  than 
it  does  .it  this  moment  in  America.  Perhaps  the  great  successes  of  our  forces  to 
the  southward  have  convinced  you  by  this  time,  that  the  Carohnians  and  Virgini- 
ans are  still  unconcpiered. 

"The  French  and  rebel  army,  united  under  Washington,  consists  of  near 
twelve  thousand  men,  exclusive  of  militia,  who  are  now  called  upon  to  join  with 
the  greatest  force  they  can  collect,  in  the  most  sacred  promise  of  plunder  of  this 
city.  The  French  fleet  from  the  West  Indies  is  expected  in  a  very  short  time  with 
a  re-enforceraent,  and  then  we  are  to  expect  to  be  attacked  here.  As  to  the  Bri- 
tish army  in  these  lines,  small  as  it  is,  it  is  equal,  beyond  a  doubt,  to  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  monsicurs  and  rebels  under  the  great  general  Washington,  if  they 
would  risk  a  battle,  which  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  they  would  not  do,  as 
they  continue  to  insult  us  so  unpunished.  The  conduct  of  this  war  has  been,  and 
continues  to  be,  most  shameful  and  unpardonable  ;  and  neither  justice  nor  com- 
mon sense  is  permitted  to  have  the  smallest  weight  in  the  counsels  of  our  great 
men. — Public  faith,  once  deemed  inviolable,  is  daily  sacrificed,  and  not  the  small- 
est attention  is  paid  to  any  thing  but  plunder.  'I  he  expenditure  of  public  money 
18  notoiioMsly  committed  to  the  most  mean  and  dishonest  of  men.  There  is  not  a 
paltry  clerk  in  one  of  our  departments,  who  cannot  in  the  space  of  a  twelvemonth 
afford  to  kec[)  his  town  and  country  house,  carriage,  he.  &c. and  realize  thousands. 
Facts  must  speak  for  themselves,  and  I  hope  they  will  be  required.  It  is  impos- 
sible, in  short,  to  suppose  affairs  can  go  as  they  should  do,  when  merit  is  discou- 
raged, infamy  rewarded,  and  the  name  of  an  honest  man  a  sufficient  bar  to  his  ad- 
vancement. I  am  heartily  sick  of  it  all ;  1  wish  to  return  in  peace  and  quietness  to 
Old  England. 

"  I  say  nothing  of  myself,  but  that  I  am,  thank  God,  in  good  health,  determined 
to  do  my  duly  \n  all  situations,  to  the  best  of  my  abilities;  and  let  what  happen,  ne- 
vei  to  ttpi  a  convention  with  rebetn. 


17^1.— Vaxr.XUVn.  REIGN  OF  GEOIMJE  III.  595 

[Expedition  of  lord  Cornwallis.     Defeat  of  Tarlcton.] 

disafTection  of  Washington's  army,  would  not  only  be  able  to  afford  that 
body  full  employment  in  the  vicinity  of  New-York,  but  also  to  co-operate 
powerfully  with  the  southern  force,  overpower  the  Americans  who  were 
still  refractory,  and  enable  the  well  affected  (according  to  the  ministerial 
hypothesis  so  often  disproved  by  fact,  the  majority)  to  declare  their  sen- 
timents, and  assert  their  loyalty.  On  this  theory  the  plan  of  the  cam- 
paign was  constructed  :  its  principal  and  prominent  object  was,  that  lord 
CornwaHis  should  pervade  the  interjacent  provinces,  join  Arnold,  and  in 
Virginia  attack  the  marquis  de  la  Fayette,  an  active  partisan  of  the  re- 
publicans ;  while  sir  Henry  Clinton  should  in  the  north  oppose  general 
Washington,  and  count  Rochambeau,  commander  of  the  French  troops. 
Early  in  the  year  1781,  lord  Cornwallis  taking  the  field,  advanced  to  the 
frontiers  of  Carolina.  Tarleton  having  been  ordered  to  scour  the  coun- 
try to  the  left,  pursued  Morgan  the  American  partisan  ;  that  officer  re- 
tired to  the  Broad  River,  intending  to  cross  it  with  his  troops  ;  but  he 
found  that  from  a  sudden  thaw  the  waters  were  so  high  as  to  render  it 
impassable,  unless  with  great  danger :  being  so  situated  aud  closely 
pressed  by  Tarleton,  he  resolved  to  hazard  a  battle.  On  the  18th  of 
January,  at  eight  in  the  morning,  Tarleton  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy; 
they  were  drawn  up  on  the  edge  of  an  open  wood  without  defences,  and 
though  their  numbers  might  have  been  somewhat  superior  to  his  own, 
the  quality  of  his  troops  was  so  different  as  not  to  admit  a  doubt  of  suc- 
cess, which  was  still  farther  confirmed  by  his  great  strength  of  cavalry, 
so  that  every  thing  seemed  to  indicate  a  complete  victory.  His  first  line 
consisted  of  the  seventh  regiment,  the  foot  and  light  infantry  of  his  le- 
gion ;  the  second  of  the  first  battalion  of  the  seventy-first,  while  troops 
of  cavalry  flanked  each  line.  Morgan  placed  seven  hundred  militia  in 
one  line  on  the  edge  of  the  wood  ;  the  second  consisted  of  regular  troops, 
on  which  he  had  much  dependence  :  these  he  disposed  out  of  sight  in  the 
wood.  The  British  troops  soon  broke  the  enemy's  line,  and  concluding 
the  victory  to  be  gained,  were  pursuing  the  fugitives,  when,  on  a  sudden, 
the  second  line  of  the  enemy,  which  opened  to  the  right  and  left  to  en- 
tice the  pursuers,  poured  in  a  close  and  deadly  fire  on  both  sides.  The 
ground  was  in  an  instant  covered  v/ith  the  killed  and  wounded  ;  and  those 
brave  troops,  who  had  been  so  long  inured  to  conquest,  by  this  severe 
and  unexpected  check,  were  throvv'n  into  irremediable  disorder,  and  a 
total  defeat  was  the  immediate  consequence  ;  the  loss  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners,  exceeded  four  hundred  men.  Tarleton  used  every  effort 
that  ingenuity  could  devise  to  rally  his  men,  and  repulse  the  American 
horse,  but  his  abilities  and  courage  could  not  recover  the  fallen  fortune 
of  the  day.  The  loss  of  Tarleton's  corps,  so  soon  after  the  disaster  at 
King's  Mountain,  was  severely  felt  by  lord  Cornwallis,  to  whom,  on  such 
a  service,  and  in  such  a  country,  light  troops  were  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance. The  American  general,  Greene,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
watch  the  motions  of  lord  CornwaUis,  was  stationed  with  a  considerable 
force  in  North  Carolina.  The  British  general  proposed  to  cut  off  the 
enemy's  communication  with  Virginia,  and  at  the  same  time  to  strengthen 
South  Carolina,  so  that  it  might  not  be  endangered  in  his  absence  :  for 
this  purpose  he  left  a  considerable  body  of  forces  at  Charleston,  under 
lord  Rawdon.  Lord  Cornwallis  first  made  an  attempt  to  intercept  Mor- 
gan, which  the  dexterity  of  that  partisan  eluded.  The  British  army  with 
much  difficulty  passed  the  Catawba,  and  being  informed  that  general 


59G  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVH.— 1781 

[Battles  of  Guildford  and  Camden.] 

Greene  was  posted  at  Guildford,  lord  Cornwallis  marched  towards  that 
place.  Greene's  force  consisted  of  about  six  tliousand  men,  while  the 
British  did  not  exceed  two  thousand  ;  therefore  the  American  general 
determined  to  hazard  a  battle.  The  enemy  were  drawn  up  in  the  field, 
with  a  wood  on  the  right,  and  other  woods  both  in  front  and  rear ;  con- 
sequently the  safest  point  of  attack  was  on  the  loft  wing.  At  the  same 
time  the  general  was  obliged  to  act  with  great  caution,  lest  he  should 
fall  into  an  ambuscade  from  the  woods,  as  Tarleton  had  done  in  a  simi- 
lar situation.  Major-general  Leslie  commanded  the  rigiit  wing,  colonel 
Webster  the  left,  Tarleton  the  cavalry,  and  his  lordsliip  bimself  the  cen- 
tre. A  party  of  light  infantry  was  stationed  in  the  woods  to  act  as  occa- 
sion might  require.  The  enemy's  first  line  was  soon  broken  ;  the  se- 
cond made  a  very  vigorotis  and  gallant  resistance,  but  were  at  length 
beaten  back  to  the  tliird  line  which  was  stationed  in  the  woods  :  there 
the  battle  became  necessarily  irregular;  the  Americans  being  more  ac- 
customed to  such  a  scene  of  combat,  appeared  for  a  short  time  likely  to 
prevail ;  but  the  grenadiers  of  the  seventy-first  regiment,  having  by  a 
rapid  movement  passed  over  a  deep  ravine,  charged  with  such  impetuo- 
sity as  to  break  the  enemy's  line  :  the  confusion  termmated  in  a  total 
route.  The  loss  on  the  side  of  the  British  amounted  to  five  hundred 
men  killed  and  wounded  ;  among  tho«e  who  died  of  wounds  was  colonel 
Webster,  an  officer  very  highly  esteemed  by  the  general*  and  the  whole 
army  for  courage,  military  skill,  and  ability.  The  loss  of  the  Americans 
was  considerably  greater,  but  when  compared  with  their  immediate  re- 
sources, perhaps  less  in  proportion  than  the  loss  of  the  conquerors. 
From  Guildford  the  British  army  marched  through  a  wild,  inliospitable, 
and  hostile  country,  and  after  encountering  the  severest  hardships,  ar- 
rived on  the  7th  of  April  at  Wilmington  in  Virginia.  Arnold,  meanwhile, 
made  an  incursion  into  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  and  plundered  the 
coast.  Being  soon  re-enforced  by  general  Phillips,  they  made  great 
havoc  among  the  encsny,  and  were  not  without  hopes  of  effecting  a  junc- 
tion with  lord  C!ornwallis. 

General  Greiine  after  his  defeat  at  Guildford,  spent  some  time  in  col- 
lecting re-cnfofcements,  which  having  arrived,  he  marclied  to  South 
Carolina,  to  cut  off  the  communication  between  lords  Cornwallis  and 
Rawdon.  The  British  force  in  South  Carolina  was  so  small,  that  their 
situation  was  extremely  precarious  :  and  their  provisions  were  so  much 
reduced,  that  their  noble  general  was  compelled  to  decline  the  proftcred 
assistance  of  a  body  of  loyalists,  from  absolute  inability  to  aliurd  them 
maintenance.  Lord  Rawdon  was  posted  at  Camden  when  Greene 
arrived  :  his  lordship  learned  that  considerable  re-enforcements  were  ex- 
pected by  the  American  army  ;  small  as  his  own  force  was,  our  general 
formed  a  resolution  at  once  bold  and  wise,  to  attack  the  enemy,  nume- 
rous as  they  were,  before  they  should  be  still  more  powerfully  recruited. 
The  Americans  were  encamped  at  two  miles  distance  on  the  brow  of  a 
rocky  steep,!  known  l;y  the  name  of  Ilobkirk  IJill,  flanked  on  the  left 
by  a  deep  swamp,  and  less  fortified  on  that  side,  because  there  they  ap- 

•  Lord  Cornwallis  announced  the  dc.atli  of  tliis  valiant  oPicer  to  liis  father,  the 
late  Dr.  Webster  of  lidiiil>inf;h,  in  a  IcUcr,  wliicli  was  publislicd  in  the  news- 
papers, and  univei-sallj  admired. 

j  Sec  Andrews,  vol.  iv. ;  .SteJman,  vol.  ii. ;  and  llanisay. 


1781— Chap.  XXYII.  REIGN  OF  GKOIIGE  III.  597 

[Siege  of  Ninety-six — raised  by  lord  llawdon.] 

prehended  no  danger.  Superior  genius  here  acted  on  the  same  princi- 
ple which  in  this  history  we  have  repeatedly  seen  successful,  but  espe- 
cially in  seeking  and  seizing  the  heights  of  Al)raham.*  The  commander 
attempted  the  most  difficult  approach,  from  the  well  founded  presumption 
that  there  defence  would  be  the  least  vigilant.  At  ten  in  the  morning  of 
the  25th  of  April,  the  British  troops  marched  to  the  enemy  round  this 
swamp  undiscovered,  and  entered  a  wood  bordering  upon  the  enemy's 
left  wing.  Hence  they  rushed  with  such  rapid  impetuosity  as  to  throw 
that  division  of  the  enemy  into  an  instant  confusion,  which  communicated 
to  the  main  body.  The  Americans,  however,  far  superior  in  number, 
were  enabled  to  rally,  and  make  a  resolute  stand :  their  artillery  arriving 
.at  this  moment,  afforded  them  powerful  support,  and  greatly  annoyed 
the  British  force.  The  provincials  extended  their  front  to  such  a  length, 
that  lord  Rawdon  apprehended  the  intention  of  surrounding  his  troops. 
At  this  instant  he  conceived  one  of  those  happy  designs  which  the  emer- 
gencies of  war  call  forth  from  combined  heroism  and  ability ;  he  ordered 
his  columns  to  form  one  line.  Thin  as  this  rank  was,  they  charged  the 
enemy  with  such  fury,  as  proved  totally  irresistible,  routed  them,  and 
obtained  a  complete  victory.  Whether  we  'consider  the  design  or  ex- 
ecution, no  action  occurred  during  the  war  which  displayed  in  a  greater 
degree  the  united  talents,  valour,  and  ready  invention,  which  constitute 
the  soldier  and  the  general :  but  little  availed  military  excellence,  when 
seconded  by  political  weakness  ;  the  re-enforcements  intended  by  minis- 
ters to  join  lord  Rawdon,  were  not  sent  in  proper  time.  By  the  late 
conflict  his  small  band  was  reduced  to  eight  hundred  men,  while  the 
Americans,  though  defeated,  were  fast  recruiting;  our  valiant  comman- 
der was  thus  arrested  in  the  career  of  victory,  and  obliged  to  act  on  the 
defensive  until  fresh  troops  should  arrive.  At  length,  part  of  the  ex- 
pected re-enforcement  arrived  at  Charleston,  and  the  British  general 
marched  downwards  to  effect  a  junction.  In  his  absence,  Greene  in- 
vested the  strong  post  of  Ninety-six,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  a  de- 
tachment to  besiege  Augusta  in  Georgia.  Apprehensive  that  lord  Raw- 
don would  speedily  return,  Greene  attempted  to  take  the  fort  by  assault, 
but  the  garrison  made  so  vigorous  a  defence  that  the  Americans  were 
compelled  to  retire.  The  day  after  their  retreat  the  British  general  ar- 
rived :  he  soon  learned  that  Augusta  was  taken,  and  that  the  besiege-rs 
had  rejoined  the  army  of  Greene.  The  force  of  the  Americans  was  now 
so  powerful,  that  great  numbers  of  the  provincials,  who  had  professed 
obedience  to  Britain,  threw  oil' the  mask,  and  avowed  hostility.  Finding 
every  thing  around  him  full  of  danger  and  enmity,  the  general  perceived 
the  necessity  of  abandoning  Ninety-six,  that  he  might  converge  his  force 
for  the  defence  of  the  lower  province,  and  especially  the  capital.  On 
his  march,  he  heard  that  a  detachment  of  Americans  was  posted  at  Con- 
garee  creek,  and  immediately  hastened  to  that  spot.'  The  enemy,  by 
breaking  down  a  bridge,  endeavoured  to  impede  the  progress  of  the 
British ;  but  Rawdon  advanced  with  surprising  quickness,  a  party  of  his 
troops  waded  through  the  river,  drove  the  enemy  from  the  bank,  and 
cleared  a  passage  for  the  rest  of  the  army.  liOrd  Rawdon  made  repeated 
attempts  to  bring  Greene  to  battle  ;  but,  taught  by  experience,  the  wary 
American  skilfully  and  successfully  avoided  an  encounter. 

*  See  this  volume,  cbap.  i.  •t^<'.jt 


Si^S  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVU.— 1781. 

[Cornwallis  enters  Virginia.   Proceedings  of  Washington.] 

Notwithstanding  the  enterprise,  skill,  and  genius,  so  conspicuously 
displayed  by  the  brave  young  Rawdon,  Greene  on  the  whole  succeeded  so 
far  as  to  recover  the  greater  part  of  Georgia,  and  the  two  Carolinas;  and 
had  also  entirely  cut  off  communication  between  the  British  commanders 
in  South  Carolina  and  Virginia.  Lord  Rawdon  having  soon  after  return- 
ed to  England,  the  command  in  South  Carclina  devolved  on  colonel 
Stewart.  Greene  having  both  re-enforoed  his  army  in  numbers,  and 
improved  them  in  discipline,  resolved  to  attack  the  British  forces.  On 
the  8th  of  September,  he  put  his  design  in  execution,  and  attacked  colo- 
nel Stewart  at  the  J^utaws.  Great  numbers  were  killed  on  both  sides, 
without  any  decisive  event ;  the  result,  however,  was  on  the  whole  fa- 
vourable to  the  enemy,  and  the  British  tliencefoi'ward  confined  their 
operations  to  the  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Cornwallis  meanwhile  entered  Virginia,  and  made  considerable  pro- 
gress near  its  southern  coast.  On  the  25th  of  May,  he  joined  the  body 
that  had  been  commanded  by  general  Phillips ;  and  in  the  latter  end  of 
June,  reached  Williamsburgh.  His  lordship  considered  it  of  the  highest 
consequence  to  command  a  post  on  a  navigable  river,  as  thus  maritime 
a.:i5istance  might  co-operate  with  his  land  forces.  He  accordingly  es- 
tablished himself  at  Gloucester  and  at  Yorktown,  on  the  opposite  banks 
of  York  river.  Tne  marquis  de  la  Fayette,  together  with  the  American 
general  Wayne,  were  stationed  with  a  powerful  body  of  troops  to  watch 
the  motions  of  lord  Cornwallis,  and  without  hazarding  an  engagement,  to 
restrain  their  operations.  •  Having  fortified  this  position,  and  taken  a 
general  view  of  the  situation  of  affairs,  he  formed  an  opinion  that  a  much 
greater  force  than  that  which  he  possessed  would  be  necessary  for  redu- 
cing Virginia,  and  effecting  the  object  of  the  campaign.  He  conceived 
that  there  could  be  no  hopes  of  ultimate  and  decisive  success,  without 
very  active  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  commander  in  chief. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  appears  not  to  have  coincided  in  the  judgment  of 
the  other  general :  instead  of  re-enforcing  the  army  in  Virginia,  he  turn- 
ed his  attention  solely  to  the  defence  of  New- York,  against  which  he  ap- 
prehended an  attack  from  the  combined  armies.  To  confirm  him  in  this 
apprehension,  the  genius  of  Wasliington  devised  a  stratagem  which  easi- 
ly imposed  on  the  very  moderate  sagacity  with  which  the  British  com- 
mander in  chief  was  gifted.  (General  Clinton  had  intercepted  many  of 
the  American  letters  in  the  course  of  his  command,  and  published  them 
in  the  New-York  papers.  Washington  now  wrote  letters  to  various  offi- 
cers, declaring  that  the  only  effectual  mode  of  saving  Virginia  was  by  at- 
tacking New- Vork  m  conjunction  with  the  French  troops  ;  which,  he  as" 
serted,  would  be  s(jon  attempted ;  for  he  was, much  alarmed  at  the  suc- 
cess of  a  general,  whom  from  experience  he  knew  to  be  so  fertile  in 
resources,  so  vigorous  in  decision,  and  so  prompt  and  expeditious  in  im- 
proving every  advantage.  These  were  (according  to  the  writer's  inten- 
tion) also  intercepted,  and  completely  imposed  on  the  British  commander 
in  chief  To  conlinuo  fhe  d(;ception,  the  two  commanders,  accompa- 
nied by  the  principal  officers  of  both  armies,  and  attended  by  the  engi- 
neers, reconnoitred  the  island  of  New- York  closely  on  both  sides  from 
the  opposite  shore ;  and  to  render  appearances  the  more  serious,  took 
plaas  of  all  the  works  under  the  fire  of  their  batteries.  The  arrival  of 
de  Grasse  was  daily  expected  by  the  combined  generals,  and  they  resolv- 
ed to  proceed  by  forced  marches  to  Virginia,  not  doubting  that  the  mass 


1781.— Cakv.  XXVII.  KEIGN  OF  GEOHGE  III.  599 

[Siege  of  yorktown.     Surrender  of  the  British  army.] 

of  land  ainl  sea  forces  which  would  then  he  united,  would  overwhelm 
lord  Cornwallis,  when  unassisted  hy  the  commander  in  chief.  On  the 
19th  of  August  they  set  out,  and  Clinton  considered  their  departure  as 
only  a  feint  to  cover  '.heir  designs  on  New-York  :  they  proceeded  to  Vir- 
ffinia,  and  joined  the  army  of  la  Fayette.  De  Grasse  having  arrived  at 
ihu  same  time,  blocked  up  York  river  with  liis  ships,  while  his  land  for- 
ces effected  a  junction  with  the  Americans.  Intelligence  had  been  de- 
spatched by  sii"  George  Rodney  to  admiral  Graves,  that  the  French  fleet 
was  destined  for  the  Chesapeake,  and  that  sir  Samuel  Hood  was  on  his 
way  to  the  same  place,  in  expectation  of  meeting  with  admiral  Graves 
and  the  New-York  squadron.  The  despatches  havingbeen  unfortunate- 
ly captured,  did  not  reach  the  admiral.  Sir  Samuel  Hood  having  arriv- 
ed off  the  Chesapeake  on  the  25th  of  August,  three  days  before,  and  be- 
ing disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  finding  Graves  there,  proceeded  to  New 
York,  which  he  reached  on  the  28lh,  and  three  days  after  the  united 
squadrons  sailed  for  the  Chesapeake,  and  arrived  the  fifth  of  September, 
with  nineteen  ships  of  the  line,  when  they  discovered  the  French  fleet  at 
anchor  there,  amounting  to  twenty-four  ships  of  the  line.  A  partial  en- 
gagement took  place,  in  which  several  British  sliips  were  considerably 
damao'cd,  but  without  any  decisive  event  on  either  side.  The  hostile  ar- 
maments kept  five  successive  days  in  sight  of  each  other,  but  stormy 
weather  having  much  increased  the  damage  of  the  British  f^eet,  they  re- 
turned to  New-York  to  refit.  Meanwhile  Barras,  who  had  succeeded 
Terney  in  commanding  the  French  naval  force  on  the  North  American 
station,  joined  de  Grasse  ;  and  thus  the  gallant  army  under  the  brave 
Cornwallis  was  enclosed  and  surrounded  by  an  immense  naval  force,  and 
an  army  of  twenty-one  thousand  men,  whilst  his  own  corps  did  not  ex- 
ceed six  thousand.  Not  conceiving  it  possible  that  sir  Henry  Clinton 
would  be  so  completely  outwitted,  lord  Cornwallis  expected  speedy  suc- 
cours, and  made  dispositions  for  a  vigorous  defence  until  they  should  ar- 
rive" ;  meanwhile  he  found  it  necessary  to  contract  his  posts,  and  concen- 
trate his  defences;  and  the  enemy  immediately  occupied  those  positions 
which  the  British  general  had  abandoned.  The  trenches  were  opened  by 
both  armies  in  the  night  between  the  6th  and  7th  of  October  ;  the  batteries 
were  covered  with  little  less  than  one  hundred  pieces  of  heavy  ordnance, 
and  their  attacks  were  carried  on  with  formidable  energy.  In  a  few  days 
most  of  the  British  guns  were  silenced,  and  the  defence  rendered  hopeless. 
An  express,  however,  having  arrived  from  N.  York,  and  informed  the  com- 
mander that  he  might  rely  on  immediate  succours,  the  general  persever- 
ed in  resistance.  Two  redoubts  on  the  left  of  the  British  greatly  imped- 
ed the  progress  of  the  siege.  The  second  parallel  of  the  enemy  being 
now  finished,  they  resolved  to  open  their  batteries  on  these  works  on  the 
fourteenth  of  October.  The  British  forces  employed  every  effort  to  de- 
fend the  fortifications,  but  were  overborne  by  the  immense  superiority  of 
number.  The  noble  commander  saw  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  with- 
stand a  general  assault,  for  which  the  enemy  was  now  prepared.  Find- 
ing no  succours  likely  to  arrive,  and  himself  surrounded  on  every  side,  he 
conceived  a  design  of  forcing  his  way  through  a  part  of  the  enemy,  and 
making  his  escape,  but  found  it  would  be  impracticable.  Thus  hemmed 
in  by  a  very  superior  army,  through  no  rashness  of  his  own,  but  in  the 
skilful  and  vigorous  execution  of  his  part  of  a  concerted  plan,  this  brave 
leader  had  no  alternative  but  the  sacrifice  of  his  gallant  army  without  an- 


500  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVII.— 1781. 

[Movements  of  sir  Henry  Clinton.] 

swcring  any  purpose,  or  a  surrender.  On  the  latter  step  he  at  last  re- 
solved, and  on  the  19lh  of  October  yielded  by  an  honourable  capitula- 
tion. 

At  last  sir  Henry  Clinton  set  out  from  New- York  to  attempt  the  re- 
lief of  lord  Cornwallis,  two  months  after  the  departure  of  Washington 
and  Rochambeau  had  left  him  at  liberty  to  proceed  to  the  assistance  of 
the  distressed  army.  He  brought  with  him  seven  thousand  land  forces, 
■with  a  fleet,  which  was  now  re-enforced  by  admiral  Digby,  consisting  of 
twenty-five  ships  of  the  line.  Having  arrived  oft^thc  late  scene  of  hosti- 
lities, tliey  found  that  all  was  over,  and  that  succours  so  tardily  accorded 
were  equivalent  to  desertion.  The  French  fleet,  though  still  superior  to 
the  British,  having  accomplished  their  purpose,  cautiously  avoided  any 
conflict ;  and  the  British  commanders  having  no  longer  any  inducement 
to  remain  upon  that  station,  returned  to  New- York. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  the  gallant  southern  army  and  its  valiant  com- 
mander, from  whose  antecedent  and  recent  successes  sanguine  hopes 
were  entertained  that  the  most  valuable  of  the  colonies  would  be  recov- 
ered, and  that  the  cause  of  Britain  would  ultimately  prevail.  In  his  la- 
borious marches  through  the  wild  and  intricate  tracts,  his  lordship  receiv- 
ed the  fullest  and  most  experimental  assurances  that  the  people  who  were 
asserted  by  ministry  or  their  adherents  to  be  friendly,  were  generally  hos- 
tile ;  that  every  attempt  to  recover  America  through  the  Americans 
themselves,  was  chimerical,  as  much  as  every  idea  of  reducing  it  by  force. 
The  plan  he  saw  had  been  concerted  upon  false  principles,  and  he  him- 
self had  fatally  learned  tliat  though  he  and  his  heroic  band  had  done  their 
utmost,  there  was  almost  an  equal  deficiency  of  support  and  co-operation 
for  its  execution.  The  surrender  at  Yorktown  was  the  concluding  scene 
of  oflensive  war  with  America.  All  the  profuse  expenditure  of  British 
wealth,  all  the  mighty  efibrts  of  British  power,  all  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  British  valour,  directed  and  guided  by  British  talents  and  skill, 
proved  without  ctVect ;  the  momentous  exertions  of  a  war  so  wasteful  of 
blood  and  treasure  were  for  ever  lost. 


• 


irSJ.— Cu.u'.  XXVJII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  601 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 


Dissatisfaction  a^^ain  prevails  in  Britain — enhanced  by  the  news  from  Virginia. — 
Out  of  parliament,  a  majority  becomes  inimical  to  the  American  war  and  to 
ministers. — Meeting  of  parliament — the  king's  speech — opposition  inveigh 
with  increased  energy  against  ministers — dexterous  defence  by  lord  North — 
preliminary  motions  against  ministers  before  the  recess — manifest  difference 
among  opposition  on  American  independence. — General  plan  of  attack  against 
administration  now  formed  and  matured — the  various  parts  assigned,  while  Fox 
animates  the  whole. — P'ox's  proposed  inquiry  into  the  management  of  the 
navy — negatived  by  a  small  majority. — Conway's  motion  for  an  address  to  the 
king  to  conclude  the  American  war — carried  by  a  majority  of  nineteen. — Mi- 
nisters still  hold  their  places. — Lord  John  Cavendish's  niotion  for  the  removal 
(pf  ministers — the  minister  skilfidly  addresses  himself  to  difl'erent  sentiments 
•and  opinions — carries  a  motion  for  an  adjournment — a  coalition  attempted  in 
vain — the  motion  repeated  by  lord  Surry .^ — Administration  resigns. — Character 
of  the  North  administration. — The  duke  of  Uichmond's  strictures  on  the  execu- 
tion of  colonel  Malnes — acknowledges  he  had  been  misinformed,  and  makes  a 
satisfactory  explanation. — Strictures  on  tlje  promotiotj  of  lord  George  Ger- 
maine  to  the  peerage. — New  admlnisiration. — The  marquis  of  Rockingham  first 
lord  of  the  treasury — Mr.  Fox  and  lord  Shelburne  secretaries  of  state. — Avow- 
ed plan  of  ministers — Adjustment  with  Ireland. — Independence  of  the  Irish 
parliament  acknowledged. — Mr.  Grattan's  address. — Satisfaction  of  the  Irish 
nation. — Supplies. — Parts  of  Mr.  Burke's  scheme  adopted. — Conduct  of  Mr. 
William  Pitt — connects  himself  with  no  party — reckons  a  chief  advantage  in 
our  constitution  the  equipoise  of  the  orders — projects  a  reform  in  parliament — 
proposes  a  committee  to  inqtiire  into  the  state  of  representation — proposition 
not  considered  as  a  party  question. — The  younger  members  the  votaries  of  re- 
form— the  older  are  for  adhering  to  the  existing  constitution. — Arguments  for 
and  against—the  sup|)orters  of  reform  outvoted — Overtures  of  Mr.  Fox  for 
peace  with  the  Dutch.— -Premature  endeavours  to  pacify  America — Death  of 
the  marquis  of  Rockingham. — lord  Shelburne  made  prime  minister — em'aged 
at  this  appointment,  Mr.  Fox  resigns — Mr.  AViUiam  Pitt  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer.— Mr.  Fox  gives  a  general  accoimt  of  the  reasons  of  his  resignation  — 
India  affairs. — Reports  of  the  committees  represent  the  general  system  of  go- 
vernment to  be  erroneous  and  hurtful,  and  state  gri)ss  abuses  to  have  been  com- 
mitted by  the  company's  cliltf  servants. — Warren  Hastings  implicated  in  the 
censure. — Exertions  of  .Mr.  Dundas — Bill  of  pains  and  penalties  against  gover- 
nor RumboM  and  his  coadjutors. — Session  rises. 

During  the  recess  of  parliament  1781,  dissatisfaction  had  begun 
again  to  prevail,  from  incident.s  and  events  already  mentioned,  and  esp^e- 
cially  from  repeated  instances  of  alleged  misconduct  in  the  ministerial 
direction  of  the  navy.  That  source  of  dissatisliiction  being  opened, 
speedily  caused  others  to  issue  :  tlie  immense  expenditure,  the  profuse 
loans,  the  enortnous  increase  of  taxes,  the  little  avail  of  all  our  exertions, 
presented  themselves  to  the  view,  and  the  public  were  very  differently 
disposed  towards  ministers,  on  the  approach  of  the  second  session  of 
parliament,  from  vvhtit  they  had  been  at  thehegrnning  of  the  first.  Both 
dejected  and  di^;satisfied,  their  gloom  and  displeasure  were  dreadfully 
aggravated  by  the  melancholy  news  from  Virginia.  .Judging  of  ministry 
under  the  immediate  impression  of  this  calamitous  event,  they  hastily  im- 
puted our  misfortunes  to  a  series  of  folly,  obstinacy,  and  misconduct. 
Many  who  had  strenuously  recommended  perseverance  in  coercion,  now 

Vol.  Yll.— 76 


002  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chat.  XXVIII.— 1781. 

[Parliament.     Charges  against  ministers.] 

reprobated  that  system  which  they  had  most  loudly  applauded  :  a  ma- 
jority out  of  parliament  became  inimical  to  the  American  war  and  the 
present  ministers  :  such  was  the  disposition  becoming  prevalent,  when 
parliament  met  on  the  27lh  of  November. 

His  majesty's  speech,  somewhat  exceeding  the  usual  length  in  copi- 
ousness of  detail,  imputed  the  continuance  of  the  war  to  the  restless  am- 
bition of  his  enemies.  lie  should  not  discharge  the  trust  committed  to 
the  sovereign  of  a  free  people,  or  requite  the  constant  and  zealous  at- 
tachment of  his  subjects  to  his  person,  family,  and  government,  if  to 
his  own  desire  of  peace  or  to  their  temporary  ease  and  relief,  he  sacri- 
ficed their  essential  rights  and  permanent  interests.  Having  mentioned 
the  favourable  affairs  in  the  East  I  tidies,  he  recommended  farther  inqui- 
ries into  the  condition  of  the  dominions  and  revenues  of  that  country. 
His  majesty  stated  to  the  house  without  palliation  or  diminution,  the  un- 
fortunate event  of  the  campaign  in  Virginia,  but  adduced  it  as  a  ground 
for  a  firm  confidence  in  parliament,  and  more  vigorous,  animated,  and 
united  exertions.  The  consef|iicnt  adtlrcss  excited  a  very  interesting  de- 
bate, in  which  opposition  sketched  the  principal  topics  of  the  chargfes 
which  they  adduced  against  ministers  in  the  course  of  the  session,  and 
of  the  counsels  which  tlicy  proposed  to  be  substituted.  Their  arguments 
were  directed  to  prove  the  original  folly  of  the  American  war ;  the  mad- 
ness of  perseverance  in  so  hopeless  a  contest ;  the  incapacity,  negli- 
gence, and  mismanagement  of  the  first  lord  of  the  admiralty  ;  the  igno- 
rance, weakness,  and  incompetence  of  administration  in  their  various 
departments,  as  well  as  general  system  ;  and  the  necessity  of  changing 
both  men  and  measures.  Lord  North  defended  himself  and  his  col- 
leagues, both  as  to  particular  counsels  and  the  series  of  policy,  with  a 
dexterity  and  ingenuity  that,  if  it  did  not  convince  impartial  readers  or 
hearers,  at  least  impressed  them  with  a  high  opinion  of  the  speaker's 
ability. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  ]\Ir.  Binlce  proposed  an  inquiry  into  the  con- 
duct of  the  captors  of  St.  Eustatius  ;  a  confiscation  of  efl'ects,  he  al- 
leged, there  took  place  contrary  to  national  justice  and  to  national  policy. 
To  prove  his  first  head,  he  entered  into  a  very  learned  and  able  discus- 
sion of  the  extent  of  powers  acquired  by  conquerors  over  an  enemy  sur- 
rendering at  discretion  ;  and  for  this  purpose  quoted  the  authority  of  the 
most  celebrated  writers  on  the  law  of  nations,  traced  the  history  of  these 
laws,  and  their  actual  state,  as  elucidated  by  the  concurrent  practice  of 
all  civilized  societies.  The  f(>elings  of  mankind  had  even  exceeded  the 
theories  of  jurisprudence  in  n)itigating  the  calamities  o,f  war;  hence  he 
inferred  the  necessity,  in  the  pre.'>cnt  improved  state  of  that  code,  of 
interpreting  tlie  maxims  of  law,  even  in  the  most  mild  and  favourable 
sense.  He  therefore  contended,  that  from  the  moment  of  submission, 
the  vanquished  parties  were  entitled  to  th.e  security  of  subjects.  Having 
laid  down  this  proposition,  he  proce<!dcd  to  a  detail  of  the  alleged  enor- 
mities, which  he  contended  to  be  contrary  to  every  dictate  of  justice  and 
humanity,  and  offered  to  prove  his  allegations  by  testimony.  Such  cru- 
elty and  depredation,  by  exciting  llie  hatred  and  enmity  of  neutral  states, 
were  no  less  impolitic  than  unjust.  Admiral  Rodney,  without  contro- 
verting Mr.  IJurke's  general  principle,  totally  denied  his  statement  of  the 
case  ;  the  Dutch  were  at  war  with  us,  therefore  it  was  perfectly  fair,  and 
consistent  with  the  law  of  nations  that  their  property  captured  without  a 


1782.— Chap.  XXVIIl.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  5Q3 

[Question  relative  to  America.     Plan  of  attack  against  administration] 

capitulation  sliould  be  confiscated  ;  he  had  seized  the  whole,  not  for  him- 
self and  the  other  captors,  but  for  the  crown  ;  he  could  have  no  morcenarj' 
views,  as  he  did  not  till  long  after  receive  intelligence  of  the  king's  in- 
tention to  bestow  the  booty  on  the  fleet  and  army.  He  knew  of  no  out- 
rage, and  never  had  heard  that  any  was  committed  by  the  conquerors. 
The  charge  being  unsupported  by  facts  and  documents,  Mr.  ]>urke's  mo- 
lion  was  negatived.  On  the  12th  of  December,  the  day  appointed  for 
considering  the  army  supplies,  a  motion  was  brought  forward  by  sir 
James  Lowther  concerning  the  American  war,  apparently  intended  to 
sound  the  dispositions  of  the  house,  and  preparatory  to  more  pointed  pro- 
positions. It  was  pro])osed  to  declare,  that  the  war  in  North  America 
had  been  hitherto  irietfectual  to  tlie  purposes  for  which  it  was  tuidertaken  ; 
and  that  perseverance  in  it  wouhl  be  unavailing,  and  also  injiuious  to  the 
country,  by  weakening  her  power  to  resist  her  ancient  and  confederated 
enemies.  On  this  subject,  so  often  discussed  in  such  a  variety  of  forms, 
there  could  be  little  novelty  of  arguinent.  But  opposition,  in  the  divi- 
sion, ascertained  the  point  which  they  were  most  anxious  to  establish  : 
the  minority,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  to  two  hundred 
and  twenty,  showed  that  ministers  were  losing  ground.  In  the  course  of 
the  discussions  which  American  affairs  underwent  before  the  recess,  the 
dilTerQnce  between  lord  Slielburne's  connexions  and  the  Rockingham 
party,  concerning  the  independence,  became  more  manifest  than  on  any 
former  occasion.  Great  contests  also  prevailed  in  the  cabinet,  respec- 
ing  the  plan  of  policy  to  be  adopted  in  the  present  emergency.  Some  of 
the  ministers  proposed  the  total  evacuation  of  America,  and  the  direction 
of  our  whole  force  against  the  house  of  Bourbon  :  but  the  majority  still 
cast  a  longing  lingering  look  after  the  object  which  they  had  pinsued  for 
so  many  years.  The  most  sanguine  saw  now,  that  all  hopes  of  reducing 
the  whole  of  the  colonies  were  for  ever  vanished,  but  they  still  fondly 
fancied  that  they  might  preserve  a  part ;  and  it  was  the^refore  determined, 
that  a  considerable  force  should  be  left  at  New- York. 

During  the  recess  the  opponents  of  ministry  were  employed  in  forming 
and  maturing  a  plan  of  general  attack  against  administration.  The  chief 
conduct  was  intrusted  to  Mr.  Fox  ;  and  the  various  parts  assigned  to 
other  senatois,  were  to  be  directed  and  supported  by  this  illustrious 
leader,  so  admirably  fitted  for  the  warfare  which  he  now  undertook.  In- 
deed, though  it  would  be  difficult  to  determine  in  what  mode  such  tran- 
scendent powers  coui.D  be  most  effectually  exerted  ;  it  is  certain,  as  an 
historical  fact,  that  the  force  and  splendour  of  Mr.  Fox's  genius  have 
been  most  frequently  displayed,  not  in  legislative  invention  or  plans  of 
executory  policy,  but  in  reprehcnsive  eloquence  ;  not  in  devising  sys- 
tems and  measures  for  the  wise  and  beneficial  government  of  the  country; 
but  in  contending  that  others  have  planned  and  acted  unwisely  and  inju- 
riously. On  the  23d  of  January,  the  day  after  the  Christmas  adjo\irn- 
ment  expired,  Mr.  Fox  moved  an  iiiquiry  into  the  causes  of  the  want  of 
success  of  his  majesty's  naval  forces  daring  the  war,  and  more  particu- 
larly in  the  year  1781.  For  this  purpose,  he  proposed  a  committee  ; 
which  being  agreed  to  by  ministers,  he,  a  fortnight  after,  on  the  7(h  of 
February,  discussed  tiie  sul>)ect.  He  traced  the  naval  history  fVom  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  exhibited  a  summary  of  the  alleged  miscar- 
riages of  the  successive  years.  In  surveying  the  events  of  1780,  he,  with 
peculiar  energy,  exposed  the  infatuation  which  sent  captain  Moutray, 


()04  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVm.— 1782. 

[Molion  requesting  the  king  to  ternninate  the  American  war.] 

with  the  East  and  West  India  fleets,  so  near  the  enemy's  coasts.  Hav- 
infi  reached  17S1,  he  stated  five  distinct  charges  of  misconduct  in  the 
naval  department:  Ist,  De  Grasse  was  sulFered  to  depart  for  the  West 
Indies,  witlioiit  any  effort  to  intercept  his  fleet.  He  had  sailed  from 
Brest  on  the  22<1  of  March,  with  twenty-five  ships  of  the  line  ;  Darby 
was  at  sea  on  the  13th,  but  instead  of  being  sutlered  to  pursue  the  ene- 
my, he  had  been  sent  out  of  the  way  to  Ireland.  The  second  charge 
was,  the  loss  of  the  St.  Eustatius  convoy,  which  had  been  captured  on 
its  way  home  ;  this  might  have  been  ea<;ily  saved  by  sending  a  squadron 
at  the  time  they  were  expected.  The  third  was  a  letter  sent  to  the  mayor 
of  Bristol  from  the  admiralty,  in  answer  to  one.from  that  gentleman,  re- 
questing information  concerning  the  comliined  fleet ;  the  admiralty  had 
misinformed  and  misled  tiie  IJristol  merchants,  by  intimating  that  the 
hostile  ar(nament  was  not  in  the  channel,  when  tiiey  knew  that  it  was 
there,  and  had  thereby  endangered  the  trading  ships  of  that  city.  The 
fourth  charge  was  on  the  force  sent  to  cope  with  the  Dutch  :  and  the 
fifth,  the  inadccpinle  ilcet  sent  out  with  admiral  Kempcnfeldt.  The  ge- 
neral defence  adduced  by  lord  Mulgrave,  in  favour  of  earl  Sandwich, 
was,  that  he  had  acted  according  to  information,  moral  probability,  and 
the  existing  circumstances.  ]Mr.  Fox  made  a  motion,  founded  on  his 
five  charges,  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that  there  has  been 
gross  mismanagement  in  the  administration  of  the  naval  affairs  of  Great 
Britain  during  the  course  of  the  year  1781.  The  question  being  called 
for,  Mr.  Fox's  motion  was  negatived  by  a  majority  of  only  two  hundred 
and  five  to  one  hundred  and  eighty-three.  P^ncouraged  by  the  progressive 
declension  of  ministerial  majorities,  .on  the  22d  of  February,  opposition, 
in  a  motion  made  by  generalC/onway,  propoacd  to  address  the  king,  to 
put  an  end  to  the  American  war.  After  both  sides  had  repeated  argu- 
ments so  often  employed,  the  country  gentlemen  now  leaving  ministers, 
Conway's  motion  was  negatived  by  a  majority  of  only  one,  being  oiie 
hundred  and  ninety-four  to  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  ;  and  opposition 
cherished  hopes  of  speedy  success.  Fully  confident  of  victory,  Conway, 
on  the  27th  of  February,  proposed  the  same  motion  under  a  different 
form.  The  usual  arguments  being  repeated,  opposition  carried  their 
motion  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-tour  to  two  hurtdred  and 
fifteen  ;  and  tluis,  after  a  contest  of  eight  years,  Mr.  Fox  and  his  party 
succeeded  in  their  attempt  to  procure  a  vole  from  the  house,  for  request- 
ins  the  kinii  to  conclude  tiie  American  war. 

The  following  motion  was  accordingly  carried  :^-"  Resolved,  Tebru- 
ary  27th,  in  the  house  of  commons,  that  an  hu|nble  addj-essbe  presented 
to  his  mtijtjstv,  most  humbly  to  represent  to  his  majesty,  that  the  farther, 
prosecution  of  offensive  war  on  the  continent  of  North  7\merica,  for  the 
purpose  of  reducing  the  revolterl  colonies  to  obedience  by  force,  will  be 
the  means  of  weakening  the  efforts  of  this  c6untry  against  her  European 
enemies;  tends,  under  the  present  circumstances,  dangerously  to  increase 
the  mutual  enmity,  so  fatal  to  the  interests  both  of  (ireat  Britain  and 
America;  and  by  preventing  a  happy  reconciliation  with  that  country, 
to  frustrate  the  earnrist  desire,  graciously  expressed  by  his  majesty,  to 
restore  the  blessings  of  public  tranquillily."  To  this  address  his  majesty 
returned  the  following  answer  :  "  Gentlemen  of  the  house  of  commons, 
There  are  no  objects  nearer  to  my  heart,  than  the  ease,  happiness,  and 
prosperity  of  my  people.     You  may  be  assured,  that,  in  pursuance  to 


1782— Chap.  XXVIII.  UEIGN  OF  GEOIUiK  111.  005 

[Motion  for  the  removal  of  ministers.     Defence  of  lord  North.] 

your  advice,  I  shall  take  such  measures  as  shall  appear  to  me  to  be  most 
couducive  to  the  restoration  of  harmony  hetweon  Great  liritain  and  the 
revolted  colonies,  so  essential  to  the  prosperity  pf  hoth  ;  and  that  my 
etibrts  shall  he  directed  in  the  most  efTectual  manner  against  our  Eu- 
ropean enemies^  till  such  peace  can  be  obtained  as  shall  consist  with  the 
interests  arid  permanent  welfare  of  my  kingdom." 

Ministers  had  often  declared  that  they  would  hold  their  places  no 
longer  than  a  parliainent>jry  majority  should  sanction  their  system  and 
measures  :  it  was  therefore  expected  that  a  resignation  tvould  immedi- 
ately ens\je.  Lord  North  and  his  colleagues,  however,  continued  to 
hold  their  places,  because  they  said  it  did  not  appear,  by  any  vote  or  re- 
solution, that  parliament  had  witlidrawn  its  confidence  from  the  present 
administration  :  confiding  in  its  increasiugstrength,  the  0[)posite  party 
resolved  to  bring  this  question  to  immediate  issue.  Accordingly  lord 
John  Cavendish,  on  the  8th  of  March,  proposed  .resolutions  to  the  fol- 
lowing eHect ;  that,  from  1775,  the  nation  had  expended  ui)wards  of  one 
hundred  millions  in  a  fruitless  war:  during  which  we  had  lost  thirteen 
colonies,  many  of  our  valuable  West  India  and  other  islands  ;  that  the 
rest  were  in  imminent  danger ;  that  we  were  now  engaged  in  an  expen- 

.sive  war  with  America,  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  without  a  single 
ally  ;  that  the  chief  cause  of  these  accumulated  n)isfortunes  was  the  uni- 
ted incapacity  and  misco^iduct  of  administration.  T-he  three  first  of  these 
.  resolutions  coufd  not  hut  be  admitted  as  matters  of  fact :  respecting  the 
fourth,  which  was  an  inferenre  from  the  others,  Mr.  Fox  contended, 
that  a  long  uniform  series  of  calamity  and  disgrace  was  a  sufficient  proof 
of  misconduct :  and  farther,  that  weakness  and  folly  distinctly  marked 
each  separate  measure  of  every  minister,  as  they  collectively  pervaded 
the  whole  system  of  administration.  Lord  North  argued,  that  it  was  un- 
fair from  misfortune  4;o  infer  misconduct;  but  that  even  if  misconduct 
existed,  it  might  be  in  the  execution  instead  of  the  plans.  The  minister, 
however,  was  aware,  tliat  a  direct  and  pointed  answer  to  the  charges 
could  be  of  little  avail;  therefore,  with  his  usual  dexterous  ingenuity  he 
shifted  his  ground.  To  draw  the  attention  of  the  house  from  the  con- 
duct of  ministers,  the  question  at  issue,  he  called  on  them  to  consider  if 
the  present  counsellors  should  be  removed,  who,  probably,  would  be  their 
successors.  His  lordship  well-knew  that  there  were  independent  mem- 
bers in  the  house,  who,  though  they  disapproved  lately  of  administration, 
were  by  no  means  desirous  of  being  governed  by  a  whig  combination. 
By  far  the  greater  number  of  opposition  members  either  originally  were, 
or  had  become  partisans  of  that  connexion.  He  was  aware,  that  not  only 
the  Rockragham  system  of  ruling  the  nation  by  a  confederacy,  but  also 
various  opinions  cind  measures  were  by  no  means  consonant  to  the  senti- 
ments of  all  who  now  voted  on  their  side.  Was  the  house  (he  said)  pre- 
pared to  new  model  the  constitution,  to  alter  the  duration  of  parliaments, 
and  the  rights  of  elections  1  Vv'ould  it  consent  to  a  violation  of  the  nation- 
al faitli  with  the  crown,  by  adopting  a  celebrated  bill  of  reform  in  the 
civil  list  expenditure]  Would  it  vote  the  independence  of  America  1   on 

'  which  subject  he  understood  there  was  as  great  difference  between  the 
two  branches  of  opposition,  as  between  opposition  and  ministers.  Mr. 
Dundas  eminently  distinguished  himself,  and  with  his  usual  strength  of 
explicit  and  direct  argument  urged  the  house,  before  they  voted  foe  re- 
moving the  present  mmisters  and  throwing  the  government  into  the  hands 


f^OG  IIISTOKY  OF  THK  Chap.  XXVIII.— 1782. 

[Resignation  of  ministers.     Character  of  the  North  administration  ] 

of  their  opponents!,  to  have  it  thoroughly  ascertained  and  accurately  de- 
fined, what  the  objects  ol' these  opponents  were  ;.  what  system  they  pro- 
posed to  adopt,  and  what  measures  they  intended  to  pursue.  These  con- 
siderations had  so  much  influence,  that  the  supporters  of  ministers  pre- 
vaile<l,  and  the  resolution  was  negatived  by  a  mnjority  of  ten,  and  a  mo- 
tion was  carried  tor  adjourning  the  house  until  the  loth.  Many  mode- 
rate and  independent  members  wished  for  a  coalition,  which  should  pre- 
v«'nt  the  c<)uiitrv  tVom  britig  entirely  governed  by  any  party.  Ministers 
were  well  iuclnu'd  to  that  exjiedient,  and  daring  the  adjournment  made 
several  attempts  to  give  it  etlecl,  but  to  no  purpose.  On  the  15th,  sir 
John  Rous  made  a  motion  similar  to  that  of  the  8th  ;  no  less  than  four 
hundred  and  eighty  members  were  present,  when  ministers  still  carried 
the  negative  by  a  majority  of  nine.  The  opposite  party  immediately  an- 
noiinred,  that  tlic  resolutions  would  be  again  proposed  ;  accordingly,  on 
t!ie  20tii  of  March,  a  very  crowded  house  attended,  and  lord  Surry  rose 
to  make  the  promised  motion.  Before  he  had  begim  to  speak,  lord 
North  rose  to  communicate  to  the  house  information,  which  (he  said) 
would  supersede  the  necessity  of  the  present  motion  and  require  an  ad- 
journment. Some  disorder  arose  from  what  was  conceived  interruption 
to  lord  Surry  ;  but  being  quieted,  lord  North  informed  the  house,  that 
tliere  was  no  aibninislralion,  and  moved  for  an  adjournment  until  new  ar- 
rangements should  be  formed.  ■  lie  then  took  his  leave  of  the  commons 
as  minister,  by  thanking  them  for  their  honourable  support  during  so 
long  a  course  of  years,  and  in  so  many  trying  situations.  He  expressed 
his  grateful  sense  of  their  flattering  partiality  towards  .him  at  all  times, 
and  their  forbearance  on  many  occasions.  A  successor  of  greater  abi- 
lities, of  better  judgment,  and  more  qualified  for  his  situation,  (he  said) 
was  easy  to  be  ibund  ;  a  sticcessor  more  zealously  attached  to  the  inter- 
ests of  his  country,  more  anxious  to  promote  them,  more  loyal  to  his  so- 
vereiL'n,  and  more  desirous  of  preserving  the  constitution  whole  and  en- 
tire, he  might  be  allowed  to  say,  could  not  so  easily  be  found.  He  con- 
cluded his  speech  with  declaring  he  did  not  mean  to  shrink  from  trial, 
but  should  always  be  prepared  to  meet  inquiry,  nay,  even  demanded 
from  his  adversaries  the  strictest  scrutiny. 

Thus  ended  the  administration  of  lord  North,  a  period,  of  which  the 
greater  part  teemed  with  calamitous  events,  beyoad  any'of  the  same  du- 
ration to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  British  history.  A  war,  with  so  great, 
productive,  and  important  part  of  our  own  community,  lost  thirteen  flour- 
ishing and  powerful  colonies,  the  promoters  of  private  and  public  wealth, 
and  the  nourishers  of  national  force.  Hostilities,  whcncesoever  they 
aro*-e,  not  only  subtracted  from  us  ^such  constituents  of  strength,  but 
added  them  to  our  inveterate  enemies.  Year  after  year  our  blood  and 
treasure  were  expended  to  no  purpose^  myriads  of  men  were  killed,  hun- 
dred.s  of  millions  were  lavished  without  ol)taining  any  valuable  object. 
Temporary  gleams  of  partial  success  were  followed  by  the  permanent 
gloom  of  general  disaster.  AVere  we  to  judge  from  result  solely,  and  to 
draw  a  conclusion  from  the  broad  principle;  that  an  uniform  series  of  mis- 
carriages in  the  natural  course  of  human  afliiirs,  iinf)lies  a  great  portion* 
nf  misconduct,  our  estimate  of  this  administration  might  be  easily  form- 
ed ;  but  general  rules,  applied  to  the  appreciation  of  conduct,  often  re- 
quire to  be  nicelv  modified  according  to  the  actual  circumstances.  I  trust 
it  ha.?  appeared  to  the  impartial  reader,  that  the  chief  minister  possessed 


1782.--CHAP.  XXVIII.  liEIGN  OF  GF-OUGE  III.  G07 

[Proposed  inquiry  into  the  execution  of  colonel  Haines.] 

very  considerable  talents  and  fair  intentions,  though  mingled  with  defects, 
and  acting  in  such  emergencies  as  precluded  beneficial  exertion  and  con- 
sequences. But  however  erroneous  and  hurtful  the  series  of  measures 
was  during  this  administration,  far  is  the  blame  from  being  confined  to 
ministers.  It  indeed  belongs  chiefly  to  parliament,  which  by  its  appro- 
bation sanctioned  their  a;ts,  and  to  the  people  themselves,  of  whom  the 
greater  part  was  eager  for  commencing  and  continuing  the  war.  When 
the  nation  censures  this  burthensome  and  disastrous  war,  productive  of 
such  an  enormous  load  of  taxes,  they  must  remember  that  it  originated 

IN   THEMSELVES. 

While  the  house  of  commons  was  engaged  in  the  momentous  discus- 
sions, which  I  have  been  narrating,  matters  of  a  more  personal  nature 
were  debated  in  the  house  of  lords.  The  duke  of  Richmond  moved  for 
an  inquiry  into  the  case  of  colonel  Haines,  executed  at  Charleston,  under 
the  following  circumstances.  Haines,  an  American  officer,  having  been 
taken  prisoner  at  Charleston,  had  demanded  his  parole,  but  had  been  re- 
fused, unless  he  woidd  take  the  oatlis  of  allegiance.  With  this  alterna- 
tive he  readily  complied,  and  thus  bound  himself  to  perform  the  duties 
of  a  British  subject.  On  the  faith  of  his  sworn  fealty,  he  was  permitted 
to  go  and  reside  on  his  estate  in  the  interior  country  at  some  distance 
from  Charleston  ;  he  there  raised  two  hundred  men,  attacked  the  inno- 
cent inhabitants  who  would  not  join  his  banditti,  murdered  some,  fired  the 
houses  of  others,  and  threatened  the  lives  of  many  who  fled  ;  by  taking 
this  ungenerous  inhuman  advantage  of  the  lenity  which  he  experienced 
he  added  perjury  to  a  breach  of  trust,  and  aggravated  the  forfeiture  of  his 
word  by  the  blackest  treachery.  By  the  laws  of  war  as  established  in  the 
{)ractice  of  nations,  a  person  taken  in  arms  against  the  state  under  which 
he  had  accepted  his  parole  was  liable  to  be  hanged  instantly  without  any 
farther  proof  than  what  should  identify  his  person.  Haines  was  taken  in 
arms;  and,  his  identity  being  admitted,  he  was  by  lord  Rawdon  and  a 
board  of  ofiicers  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  and  accordingly  suffered  the 
punishment  due  to  such  treachery.  General  Greene  had  represented 
this  judgment  as  a  transgression  of  the  laws  of  nations,  and  issued  a 
manifesto  to  that  effect,  threatening  to  retaliate  on  British  prisoners;  but 
adduced  neither  argument  nor  authority  to  prove  his  positions.  The 
duke  of  Richmond  having  received  some  partial  account  of  these  circum- 
stances, described  the  procedure  of  lord  Rawdon  and  the  other  officers 
to  have  been  irhpolitic,  illegal,  and  barbarous.  Lord  Stormont  and  the 
chancellor  stated  the  actual  case,  and  vindicated  the  noblemen  and  gen- 
tlemen in  question  from  so  heavy  a  charge.  His  grace,'  on  reconsider- 
ing the  subject,  was  induced  to  make  a  satisfactory  explanation  to  the 
young  lord  whose  name  had  been  called  in  question,  and  to  declare  to 
the  house  his  high  opinion  of  that  brave  soldier's  humanity*  and  just  in- 
tentions, though  he  still  doubted  whether  the  proceeding  was  strictly 
legal.  It  being  understood  in  the  house  that  a  peerage  was  about  to  be 
conferred  on  lord  George  Germaine,  as  a  mark  of  royal  approbation  for 
his  ministerial  conduct,  opposition,  not  choosing  directly  to  interfere  with 
the  king's  right  of  bestowing  that  dignity,  objected  to  it  on  a  different 

•  Lord  Rawdon  was  inclined  to  save  Haines,  had  such  an  extension  of  mercy 
been  consistent  with  strict  justice,  and  the  example  to  be  exhibited  to  treache- 
rous violators  of  their  parole. 


608  HISTOliY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXVUI.— 1782. 

[New  administration.     Adjustment  with  Ireland.] 

ground,  that  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  honour  of  that  house,  for  a  per- 
son who  had  received  such  a  sentence  from  a  court-martial,  farther  con- 
lirmed  by  his  sovereign,  to  be  raised  to  the  peerage.  A  motion  to  that 
etiect  being  made  was  immediately  negatived,  as  a  violent  encroachment 
on  the  rights  of  the  crown.  Some  days  after,  his  lordship  having  now 
taken  his  scat  in  the  upper  house,  the  motion  was  again  introduced  :  vis- 
count Sackville  vindicated  his  own  character  individually  as  being  by  the 
long  confidence  of  his  sovereign  purified  from  the  stigma  of  a  sentence 
of  twenty-two  years  beibre,  under  circumstances  of  very  questionable  im- 
partiality and  equity  ;  and  farther  asserted  the  constitutional  right  of  thp 
crown,  to  be:«tow  the  peerage  accordingjo  its  judgment  and  discretion. 

During  the  adjournment  of  the  house,  a  new  administration  was  form- 
ed :  the  marquis  of  Rockitiglmra  was  appointed  first  lord  of  the  treasury  ; 
the  earl  of  Slielburne  and  Mr.  Fox  secretaries  of  state;  lord  Camden 
president  of  the  council  ;  the  duke  of  Grafton  privy-seal ;  lord  John  Ca- 
vendish chancellor  of  the  exchequer  ;  admiral  Keppel,  who  was  also  cre- 
ated a  viscount,  first  commissioner  of  the  admiralty  ;  general  Conway 
commander  in  chief  of  the  forces  ;  the  duke  of  Richmond,  master-gene- 
ral of  the  ordnance  ;  lord  Thurlow  was  continued  in  his  office  of  lord 
high  chancelKir,  Mr.  Dunning  was  created  baron  Asliburton,  and  made 
chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lancaster.  The  following  were  understood  to 
he  tlic  public  measures  which  ministers  undertook  to  support :  peace  with 
the  Americans,  and  the  acknowledgment^ of  their  independence  was  not 
to  be  a  bar  to  the  attainment  of  that  oliject ;  they  were  to  efiect  a  substan- 
tial reform  in  several  brandies  of  the  civil  list  expenditure,  on  the  pl^in 
proposed  by  Mr.  Burke,  the  din)inution  of  The  influeiice  of  the  crown  ; 
under  which  article  the  bills. for  excluding  contractors  from  seats  in  par- 
liament, and  disqiialifyifig  the  revenue  officers  from  voting  iri  the  election 
of  members,  were  included.  The  house  adjourned  for  several  days  at 
Easter,  and  did  not  meet  after  the  formation  of  the  new  ministry,  to  exe- 
cute any  business  until  April.  On  the  8th,  Mr  Eden,  who  had  been  se- 
cretary to  lord  Carlisle,  late  lord-lieutenant,  exhibited  a  view  of  the.  poli- 
tical history  of  Ireland,  stated  means  which  were  then  forming  for  render- 
ing the  country  totally  independent  of  the  British  legislature,  and  conclud- 
ed with  moving  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  repeal  so  much  ofthe  act  of 
the  6th  of  George  I.  as  asserted  a  right  in  the  king  and  parliament  of 
Great  Britain  to  make  laws  to  bind  the  kingdom  of  Ireland.  Mr.  Fox  in- 
formed the  house  that  Irish  affairs  had  already  undergone"  the  dis-:ussion 
of  several  privy-councils,  and  that  the  next  day ^^  he  would  be  prepared  to 
propose  a  preliminary  measure  on  the  subject ;  Eden  therefore  withdrew 
his  motion.  The  next  day  messages  were  delivered  to  the  two  houses, 
recommending  sucli  an  adjustment  as  would  give  mutual  satisfaction  to 
both  kingdoms.  The  duke  of  I'ortland,  the  lord-lieutenant,  senla  sinli- 
lar  message  to  both  the  houses  ofthe  Irish  parliament,  in  consequence 
of  which  an  address  was  moved  by  the  celebrated  Mr.  (irattan,  leader  of 
the  popular  [tarty.  This  representation  fully  and  explicitly  asserted  the 
independent  rights  ofthe  kingdom  of  Ireland,  and  proceeded- to  slate  the 
causes  of  those  jealousies  and  discontents  which  had  arisen  in  that  coun- 
try ;  the  act  of  the  6th  of  George  I.,  the  power  of  sujjpressing  or  altering 
bills  in  the  privy-council,  and  the  perpetual  mutiny  bill.  It  concluded 
v.ith  expressing  the  most  sanguine  expectations  from  his  majesty's  virtu- 
ous choice  of  a  chief  governor,  and  their  great  confidence  in  the  wise, 


1782— Chap.  XXVIir.  KF.KiN  -OI--  GEOUGK  III.  (^Qy 

[I'urt  of  Mr.  Burke's  plan  of  reform  ndopled.     Mr.  I'itt.] 

auspicious,  and  constitutional  counsels  which  they  had  the  satisfaction  to 
see  his  majesty  had  adopted.  On  the  seventeenth  of  May,  the  repeal  of 
the  act  complained  of  was  moved  in  the  house,  and  passed  without  oppo- 
sition :  and  the  parliament  of  Ireland  was  rendered  independent  on 
the  parliament  of  Great  Britain.  In  return  for  the  liberal  procedure 
of  the  Britisli  government  in  relinquishing  iis  claims  without  any 
stipulation  or  condition  whatever,  the  parliament  of  Ireland  immediately 
voted  100,000/.  for. the  purpose  of  raising  20,000  Irish  seamen  for  the 
service  of  his  majesty's  navy.*  The  new  ministers  proceeded  to  their 
plans  of  reform  and  economy;  bills  were  passed  for  disqualifying  reve- 
nue officers  from  voting  in  the  election  of  members  of  parhament,  and  for 
rendering  contraetors  incapable  of  sitting  in  the  house  of  commons.  On 
the  15lh  of  April,  a  message  was  brought  from  the  king,  recommending 
the  adoption  of  a  plan  for  the  curtailment  of  expenses  through  all  the 
branches  of  public  expenditure.  Mr.  Burke,  now  paymaster-general  of 
the  forces,  revived  his  plan  of  reform,  and  proposed  as  part  of  it,  a  bill  to 
enable  his  majesty  to  pay  off  the  debt  on  his  civil  list,  to  prevent  the  like 
in  future,  and  to  carry  into  a  law  the  retrenchments  which  his  majesty 
had  graciously  proposed  to  make  in  his  household.  Without  entering 
into  the  detail  of  the  reduction  which  was  effected  by  this  bill  when  pass- 
ed into  a  law,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  slate  in  general,  that  its  annual  sav- 
ing amounted  to  72,368/.  He  followed  the  bill  by  another,  for  the  regu- 
lation of  his  own  office  :  the  principal  object  of  the  latter  act,  was  to  pre- 
vent the  possibility  of  any  balance  accumulating  in  the  hands  of  the  pay- 
master general.  On  the  3d  of  May,  Mr.  Wilkes  having  made  his  annual 
motion  for  expunging  the  famous  resolution  of  1769,  respecting  the 
Middlesex  election,  at  last  succeded  by  a  majority  of  115  to  47. 

Mr.  Wdliam  Pitt  had  voted  against  lord  North's  system  and  measures, 
but  never  formed  any  connexion  with  the  Rockingham  confederacy,  and 
accepted  no  place  under  the  new  administration.  Young  as  this  gentle- 
man was,  he  had  studied  moral  and  political  philosophy  more  thoroughly, 
knew  them  more  deeply,  radically,  and  extensively,  than  most  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  time,  though  matured  by  experience.  He  had  accu- 
rately investigated  the  history,  detail,  and  spirit  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion, comprehended  its  objects,  principles,  and  actual  state  :  he  conceived 
it  to  be  the  highest  elibrt  of  human  wisdom,  and  its  support  essential  to 
the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  nation.  He  saw  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  excellence  of  our  polity,  various  corruptions  had  arisen,  and  va- 
rious evils  had  issued  from  legislature,  very  pernicious  to  the  country. 
Considering  one  of  the  chief  advantages  of  our  system  to  be  the  equipoise 
of  the  component  estates,  he  imputed  recent  measures  and  miscarriages 
to  a  derangement  in  the  proper  balance.  Like  other  young  men  of  lofty 
genius,  grand  conceptions,  habituated  to  scientific  processes,  and  accus- 
tomed to  generalization,  but  not  yet  matured  in  the  practice  of  affairs,  in 
devisiuii"  a  corrective  he  formed  theories  which  subsequent  experience 
could  not  entirely  confirm.  There  was  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom  a 
disposition  of  election  franchises  totally  disproportionate  both  to  numbers 

•  Tlie  sum  of  50,000/.  was  also  voted  for  purchasin}?  an  estate,  and  erecting  a 
mansion  therein,  to  be  settled  on  Henry  Grattan,  esq.  and  the  heirs  of  his  body,  as 
a  testimony  of  their  jjralitude  for  the  unequalled  benefits  conferred  by  him  on 
that  kingdom. 

Vol.  VII.— 77  ,  . 


510  llISTtMlY    Ol'  TIIF.  Chap.  XXVIII.— 1782, 

[He  projects  n  reform  in  parliament.     Troposed  inquiry  into  the  representation.] 

and  to  property ;  and  hence  there  appeared  to  be  a  defect  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  commons  of  England.  This  ineqiiaUty  was  founded 
neither  on  alfogcd  merits  or. property  on  tlie  part  of  the  electors.  In  a 
considerable  number  of  boroughjj,  there  Was  not  only  a  paucity  of  voters, 
but  the  few  that  enjoyed  franchises  were  in  such  a  state  as  to  render 
them  in  a  great  measure  dependent  on  individuals.  As  there  were  evi- 
dently very  creat  abuses  in  the  aclminisfration  of  affairs,  as  legislature 
appeared  in  many  instances  to  have  sanctioned  measures  viery  detrimen- 
tal to  the  country,  it  was  natural  to  impute  the  conduct  of  part  of  the 
majorities  to  the  corrupt  influence  of  the  crown,  and  the  efficacy  of  mi- 
nisterial seduction.  'To  remove  the  alleged  source  of  evil,  many  pa- 
triotic men  projected  a  reform  i6  parlianfieht.  .  Lord  Chntham  had  been 
favourable  to  an  alteration  in  this  department  of  tlie  constitution  :  his  son 
formed  the  same  general  opinion..  To  the  contemplation  of  philosophi- 
cal theory  it  appeared  an  anomaly  in  the  British  pojity,  that  seven  thou- 
sand individuals  should  return  three-eighths  of  the  national  representa- 
tives, whilst  seven  hundred  thousand,  not  inferior  in  property,  merit,  or 
anv  other  constituent  of  superiority,  had  not  a  single  vote.*  He  there- 
fore resolved  to  propose'some  plan  for  meliorating  the  representation. 
Aware,  however,  of  the  delicate  ground  on  which  he  trod,  he  proceeded 
very  cautiou.'^ly  ;  intending  to  investigate  facts  before  he  drew  a  conclu- 
sion or  constructed  schemes,  he  confined  himself  to  a  motion  that  a  com- 
mittee siiould  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  representation 
in  parliament,  and  to' report  their 'sentiments  to  the  house.  This  subject 
was  not  then  debated  as  a  party  question,  but  as  a  proposition  of  general 
policy.  Of  men  of  talents,  the  younger,  suQh  as  Messrs."  Fox,  Pitt,  and 
Sheridan,  were  chiefly  ia  favour  of  the  inc(uiry  :  the  older  and  more  expe- 
rienced, such  as  Mr.  Bi;rke',  lord  North,  and  Mr.  Dundas,  opposed  the 
agitation  of  topics  whjch  they  conceived  might  excite  a  ferment  in  the  coun- 
try. TKey  argued  that  representation,  as  it  stood,  though  in  theory  appa- 
rently irregular,. assembled  in  parliament  as  much  collective  virtue,  wis- 
dom and  property,  as  could  be  brought  together  by  any  mode  that  might 
be  adopted ;  that  parHament  by  its  present  constitution,  was  as  much  dis- 
posed, qualified,  and  empowered  to  answer  the  ends  of  legislature,  as  it 
could  be  rendered  by  any  increase  or  new  modification  of  representatives 
and  electoral  franchises.  Besides,  sentiments  had  begun  to  be  enter- 
tained and  inculcated  in  certain  classes  respecting  government,  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  supporters  of  the  present  inquiry  in  parliament. 
Doctrines  tending  to  diminish  the  veneration  of  Britain  for  our  constitu- 
tional establishments,  and  to  recommend  the  visionary  theories  of  de- 
mocratical  republicanism,  were  published  by  men  of  considerable  name 
and  authority,  and  rapidly  spread  among  their  peculiar  adherents.  Though 
thrse  sciolists  wero  understood  to  have  no  connexion  with  the  ablest  and 
most  eminent  advocates  of  parliamentary  reform,  yet  it  was  easily  fore- 

•  It  is  probihle  ihe  j;reat  manufacturers  of  Manchester  may  be  more  interested 
in  the  prosperity  of  fheir  country  th^u  a  journeyman  carpentef  at  Shoreliam  ; 
that  Dr.  Samuel  .lohnson,  or  Mr  I)a\  id  Hume,  mi.^ht  be  more  corppetent  judges 
of  a  lawgiver  than  a  journeyman  ropeniaker  of  the  same  noted  repository  of 
electors.  The  capitalists  and  philosophers  had  no  vote,  the  labouring  mechanics 
have  a  vote.  Still,  however,  the  property  of  the  man  of  wealth  is  protected,  and 
benefits  both  himself  and  his  country  :  the  talents  of  the  men  of  genius  were  re- 
munerated, and  protliiced  honour  and  advantage  to  their  country  as  much  as  if 
ihcy  had  all  possessed  a  privilege  of  polling  for  a  member  of  parliament. 


ir82.— Chap.  XX\MIL  TtEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  fi]  1 

[Death  of  the  marquis  of  Rockingham.    Resignation  of  Mr.  Fox,  etc.] 

seen  that  they  might  arrive  at  great  influence  over  the  weaker  votaries 
of  political  change,  in  whose  undistinguishing  minds  their  wild  and  ex- 
travagant theories  might  pas.s  for  the  soundest  philosophy,  or  the  most 
beneficial  lessons  of"  prtictical  wisdom.  From  these  considerations,  the 
most  .experienced  of  oiir  able  senators  opposed  the  motion,  which  was 
negatived  by  a  majority  of  one  himdred  and  si.\fy-one  to  one  hundred 
and  forty-one.  On  the  18th  of  October,  lord  John  Cavendish  moved 
ten  resolutions,  by  which  the  house  should  declare  the  necessity  of  pro- 
ceeding early  the  next  session  with  those  regulations  for  the  reform  of 
the  civil  list,  which  it  was  thought  too  late  to  complete  in  the  present. 
While  such  measures  were  proceeding  in  tlie  senate,  Mr.  Fox  com- 
menced the  exertion  of  his  talents  as  a  minister,  by  offering  to  Holland 
the  renewal  of  that  peace  and  amity  which  had  so  long  subsisted  between 
the  respective  powers,  upon  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  1674.  In  order 
to  effect  so  desirable  an  object,  he  proposed  hostilities  should  be  imme- 
diately suspended :  this  ofier  was  made  through  the  Russian  minister, 
but  was  very  coldly  received  by  the  Dutch,  who  were  not  disposed  to 
put  an  end  to  the  war  without  their  allies.  He  also  made  overtures  for 
peace  with  the  Americans  :  soon  after  he  was  appointed  mini.ster,  he  pro- 
posed to  recognise  the  independence  of  thCiUnited  States  of  America 
unconditionally,  and  not  to  reserve  it  as  a  term  of*  peace.  The  proposal 
being  agreed  to  in  council,  lord  Shelburnp  officiully  wrote  to  the  com- 
mander in  chief  to  eorhmunicate  this  resolution  to  congress,  as  well  as 
the  determination  of  parliament  to-put  an  dnd  to  tlie  American  war;  but 
that  body  would  not  agree  to  a  separate  peace.  Before,,  however,  the 
resolutions  of  the  provincials  on-  this  subject  could  be  reported  to  the 
British  government,  an  event  bapperted,  ,'the  consequence  of  which  in- 
duced Mr.  Fox  and  his  connexions  to  resigh  their  places  in  administra- 
tion. On  the  1st  of  July  died  Charles  marquis  of  Rockingham,  first 
lord  of  the  treasut^y ;  a  man  of  plain  and  sound  r.nderstandiYig,  unques- 
tioned probity,  great  benevolence,  the  most  liiieral  munificence,  and  pa- 
triotic intentions.  He  was  a  lover  of  the  British  constitution,  but  edu- 
cated in  the  prejudices  as  well  as  principles  of  the  whig  party,  he  early 
imbibed  apd  always  retainpd  an  opinion,  that  it  was  necessary  for  the 
well-being  of  this  country,  lor  its  government  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a 
whig  connexion.  His  adherents  and  supporters  either  adopted  or  pro- 
fessed to  adopt  this  opinion;  the_ablest  of  these,  Messrs.  Biirke  and 
Fox,  extraordinary  as  their  talents  were,  appeared  to  rest  their  conse- 
quence less  on  their  individual  powers  than  on  the  rank  which  they  held 
in  the  whig  confederacy.  On  tl^e  death  of  the  marquis  of  Rockingham, 
the  duke  bf  Portland  was  esteemed  by  his  party  the  head  of  the  whigs, 
and  on  that  accouiit  the  properesl  person  to  be  first  lord  of  the  treasury. 
His  majesty,  however,  using  his  prerogative  of  appointing  his  own  ser- 
vants, made  choice  of  lord  Shelburne.  Lord  John  Cavendish  and  Mr. 
Fox  soon  afterwards  resigned  their  ofTices,  and'  were  followed  by  the 
duke  of  Portland  as  lord-lieutenant,  Mr.  Montague  from  tlrc  board  of 
treasury,  lord  Duncannon  and  Mr.  J.  Townshend  from  the  admiralty, 
Mr.  Burke,  and  Mr.  Lee  the  solicitor-general.  BIr.  William  Pitt  was 
made  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  Mr.  T.  Townsliend  and  lord  Gfrant- 
ham  secretaries  of  state,  Mr.  Pepper  Arden  succeeded  Mr.  Lee,  the 
lord-advocate  of  Scotland  filled  the  place  of  Mr.  Barre,  v.ho  was  re- 
moved to  the  pay  ofiice,  and  earl  Temple  was  appointed  to  the  lieute- 


{Sl;l  HISTORY  OF  THB  Chap.  XXVIII.— 1782. 

[India  affairs  and  reports  of  the  committees.] 

nancy  of  Ireland.  Parliament  having  met  the  9th  of  July,  for  the  first 
time  after  this  change,  Mr.  Fox  undertook  to  explain  the  motives  of  his 
late  resignation.  "  It  had  (he  said)  been  understood  by  lord  Rocking- 
ham's friends,  that  lord  Shelburne  had,  on  coming  into  ofiice,  acceded 
to  their  measures ;  that  he  had  sacrificed  his  own  opinion  respecting  the 
independency  of  America  to  the  sentiments  of  his  colleagues;  but  Mr. 
Fox  found  totally  ditleront  principles  were  adopted,  which  he  would  not 
then  detail,  and  thought  it  liis  duty  to  resign.  He  pledged  himself,  when 
circumstances  would  admit  of  a  particular  statement  of  his  reasons,  to 
prove  that  they  were  well  founded." 

The  two  committees  continued  to  bestow  unremitting  attention  on 
East  India  affairs.  Their  reports  were  voluminous  beyond  example,  and 
universally  aUbwed  to  be  drawn  up  with  the  greatest  ability  and  discri- 
mination. The  first  object  of  inquiry  and  original  cause  of  its  being  set 
on  foot,  was  the  conduct  of  judges  :  this  being  investigated,  produced  a 
report,  of  which  the  following  are  the  heads 4  it  appeared  that  the  English 
judges  had  taken  cognizance  of  causes  between  native  land  holders,  not 
in  the  service  of  the  company,  consequently,  by  the  act  of  parliament, 
not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Knplish  courts  ;  and  had  proceeded  in 
several  cases  to  inflict  severe  penalties  on  those  who  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge their  aulhoi'ity.  The  most  important  instances  alleged  of  extra- 
judicial assumption,  were  in  civil  actions,  the  Patna  and  the  Cossijurah 
causes,  in  the  first,  two  native  magistrates,  men  of  rank  and  respectabi- 
lity, were  imprisoned,  and  their  effects  confiscated  by  an  English  sheriflf, 
for  their  official  conduct  in  a  case  which  was  not  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  English  tribunal.  In  the  second,  the  rajah  of  Cossijurah  having 
resisted  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,,  the  sheriff  had  despatched  an  armed 
force  to  compel  obedience  ;  but  the  governor-general  and  council  ordered 
a  more  numerous  body  to  march  speedily,  and  prevent  what  they  con- 
ceived to  be  illegal  acts.  The  most  noted  instance  of  interference  in 
extra-judicial  causes  of  criminal  process,  was  the  trial  and  execution  of 
Nundcomar  for  forgery.  Nundcomar,  a  braniin  of  the  highest  cast,  was 
tried,  condemned,  and  hanged  on  a  statute  of  George  II.  against  for- 
gery, strictly  confined,  and  appropriated  to  England  and  its  paper  cur- 
rency. Neither  the  person  accused,  nor  the  person  whose  name  was 
forged  were  subject  to  the  British  jtuisdiction  :  by  the  laws  of  India,  for- 
gery is  not  punishable  capitally  ;  thus  a  man  was  put  to  death  by  a  court 
to  which  he  was  not  amenable,  for  a  crime  not  capital  by  the  laws  to 
which  he  was  amenable.  On  these  reports  several  resolutions  were 
brought  forward  by  general  Smith,  some  of  which  were  to  censure  Mr. 
Sullivan  for  neglect  of  duty  in  delaying  to  transmit  the  act  of  regulation 
to  the  servants  of  the  company,  and  instructions  to  release  the  unjustly 
imprisoned  magistrates  of  Patna ;  and  also  for  restraining  one  of  the 
secretaries  of  the  India  company,  by  an  oath,  from  giving  information  to 
the  committee.  The  other  motions  related  to  the  conduct  of  sir  Elijah 
Impey.  On  these  resolutions,  the  house  addressed  his  majesty  to  recall 
sir  Elijah  Impey.  The  committee,  in"  discussing  the  conduct  of  judica- 
ture, foimd  some  proceedings  in  which  Mr.  Hastings  appeared  to  have 
exceeded  the  authority  vested  in  the  governor-general  by  the  act  of  par- 
liament. The  chairman,  therefore,  proposed  that  a  new  act  .should  he 
introduced  to  a.sccrtain  the  power  of  the  governor-general  and  council 
of  Bengal. 


1782.~CuAp.  XXVIII.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  613 

[Exertions  of  Mr.  Dundas.     Supplies.] 

The  secret  committee  took  a  much  wider  range  of  inquiry  than  the 
select  committee,  and  extended  its  investigations  to  the  proceedings  of 
dcHberative  and  executive  offices,  as  well  as  judicative ;  and  also  in- 
cluded the  presidency  of  Madras  with  Calcutta.  The  vigorous  genius 
and  indefatigable  industry  of  Mr.  Dundas  produced  one  hundred  and 
eleven  resolutions,  which  he  arranged  into  three  classes,  each  of  which 
consisted  of  three  distinct  heads ;  the  two  first  of  a  public  and  general 
nature,  the  third  of  personal  culpability.  The  first  class  regarded  the 
general  system  of  our  government  in  India,  and  included  a  severe  cen- 
sure on  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Hastings  and  Mr.  Hornsby,  with  a  declara- 
tion, that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  directors  to  recall  these  officers  of  the 
company  from  employments  in  which  they  had  been  guilty  of  flagrant 
malversation.  The  second  and  third  classes  of  resolutions  respected 
the  affairs  of  the  Carnalic,  and  contained  very  severe  animadversions  on 
the  general  administration  of  the  presidency,  with  specific  charges  of 
great  moment  against  sir  Thomas  Rumbold,  late  governor  of  Madras, 
Mr.  Whitehill  and  Mr.  Perrin,  members  of  the  council.  Bills  of  pains 
and  penalties  were  passed  against  these  gentlemen,  and  the  usual  regu- 
lations annexed,  to  prevent  themselves  from  leaving  the  kingdom,  or 
their  effects  from  being  confiscated. 

The  supplies  of  the  year  were  one  hundred  thousand  seamen,  with 
nearly  the  same  number  of  land  forces  as  in  the  former  year.  The  loan 
this  year  was  13,510,000/.  the  terms  were  near  six  per  cent,  but  as  stocks 
were  so  low  as  fifty-four,  and  money  could  not  be  borrowed  at  a  much 
cheaper  rate,  the  conditions  underwent  little  animadversion ;  the  new 
taxes  were  on  insurances,  bills  of  exchange,  inland  water-carriage  and 
coasting  navigation,  five  per  cent,  additional  duty  on  all  excise  and  cus- 
toms on  brandies,  about  ten  per  cent,  on  the  necessary  article  of  small 
beer,  and  twenty  per  cent,  on  salt  and  tobacco :  imposts  so  much  affect- 
ing the  lower  classes,  were  the  subjects  of  loud  complaint.  On  the  11th 
of  July  his  majesty  prorogued  parliament,  and  in  his  speech  steered  very 
clear  of  every  allusion  to  political  changes. 


614  HISTORY  OF  TUB  Chaf.  XXIX.— 1782. 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


West  Indies. — French  recover  St.  Kustatius  to  the  Dutch — invest  St.  Christo- 
pher's— bold  attempt  of  sir  S.imiiel  Hood  to  relieve  the  island — skilful  opera- 
tions of  that  admiral — but  for  want  of  military  force  inefi'eclual. — St.  Christo- 
pher's surrenders,  and  also  Nevis  and  Montserrat. — Apprehensions  for  Jamai- 
ca.— Sir  Georpe  Rodney  arriving  from  Britain  with  a  re-enforcement,  resumes 
the  command. — Objects  of  the  admiral. — De  Grasse  sails  from  Martinico. — 
Rodney  pursues  the  enemy,  and  overtakes  them  offGuadaioupe. — Battle  of  the 
12th  of  April — gallant  efforts  of  the  French — at  length  Rodney  breaks  the  line — 
gains  a  decisive  victory — takes  or  destroys  a  great  part  of  the  fleet. — Principle 
of  naval  warfare  illustrated  by  this  victory — important  advantages. — Summary 
of  Itodney's  exploits  against  our  three  naval  enemies — created  a  peer. — North 
America. — Sir  Henry  Clinton  resigns  the  command — succeeded  by  Carleton — 
No  active  hostilities. — Kast  Indies — Pecuniary  deficiencies. —  Schemes  of  Mr. 
Hastings  to  procure  resources  for  carr}iiig  on  the  war. — The  zemindars — tenure 
of  their  possessions — Cheyt  Sing — rajah  of  Benares. —  Stipulated  subsidy. — 
Mr.  Hastings's  view  of  Cheyt  Sing's  relation  to  the  company. — Applies  for  an 
extraordinary  subsidy  to  answer  the  company's  emergency — granted  repeatedly 
Avith  reluctance  — Hastings  repeats  his  demand. — Proceeds  to  Benares  to  en- 
force compliance. — Conduct  of  Cheyt  Sing  and  his  people — he  flies  from  Be- 
nares.— Alleged  disaffection  and  machinations  of  the  Begums. — At  the  instance 
of  Mr.  H-astings  their  treasures  confiscated. — Hastings  detaches  the  Mahratta 
prince  from  tlie  confederacy  of  native  powers. — Suftrein  expects  to  crush  the 
British  naval  force  in  India — disappointed. — Various  conflicts  between  him  and 
sir  Edward  Hughes — though  not  decisive,  are  favourable  to  Britain.— Campaign 
of  sir  Eyre  Coote  against  Hyder  Ally. —  Colonel  Braitluvait's  corps  surprised 
and  overpowered  by  Tippoo  Saib. — Signal  victory  of  sir  Eyre  Coote  at  Red- 
liill — Hyder  Ally  completely  discomfited — worn  out  by  fatigue,  sir  Eyre  Coote 
resigns  the  command. — Hastings  succeeds  in  putting  an  end  to  the  Indian  con- 
federacy.— Operations  of  sir  Edward  Hughes. — E.xpedition  against  Mysore  from 
the  Malabar  coast. — Tippoo  Saib  surprises  general  Matthews  in  a  defile,  and  cap- 
tures his  detachment. — Death  of  sir  Eyre  Coote,  the  military  saviour  of  India. — 
Hastings  the  political  saviour. — Farther  operations  stopt  by  intelligence  from 
Europe. — Europe. — Siege  of  Minorca  by  a  great  armament — the  gun-ison  after 
a  gallant  defence  capitulates. — Fleets  of  France,  Spain,  and  Holland. — Admiral 
Barrington  intercepts  part  of  a  French  convoy  destined  for  the  East  Indies. — 
Exploit  of  captain  .fervis — Lord  Howe  prevents  the  Dutch  fleet  from  sailing. — 
Combined  fleets  sail  to  the  channel — disappointed,  they  return  southward  — 
Loss  of  the  Royal  George  and  admiral  KempenfL-ldt. —  l{enewed  preparations 
against  Gibraltar — enormous  battering  ships  — large  army  and  fleet — the  be- 
siegers calculate  that  twenty-four  hours  would  reduce  Gibraltar. — Elliot  antici- 
pates their  attack — pours  red  hot  balls  on  their  batteries — again  destroys  their 
preparations,  and  shows  their  hopes  to  be  groundless — they  again  attempt  to 
blockade. — Lord  Howe  sails  to  supjjly  and  relieve  (iibrallar — efi'ects  his  pur- 
pose in  the  face  of  a  much  superior  fleet — offers  the  enemy  battle,  which  they 
decline. — General  purpose  of  Bourbon  ambition  against  Britain  frustrated. — 
Britain  maintains  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea. — The  belligerent  powers  at  length 
convinced  that  their  hostilities  are  reciprocally  ruinous. — Overtures  for  a  gene- 
ral peace — the  preliminaries  signed  at  Paris. — Independence  of  America  ac- 
knowledged.— Treaties  between  Britain  and  the  respective  powers — General 
yiew  of  this  arduous  contest. — Her  resistance  against  such  a  confederation  of 
foes  manifested  the  immense  resources — lofty  genius  and  invincible  spirit  of 
the  British  nation. — Folly  of  naval  states  provoking  to  hostilities  the  tnislress 
of  lh«  ocean. — Consequences  proximate  and  eventual  to  the  respective  parlici. 


1782.— CHiP   XXIX.  HEIGN  OF  GF-OUGK  III.  615 

[St.  Eiistatius  invested  by  the  French.     Attempt  to  relieve  the  place.] 

In  the  close  of  the  year  1781,  while  the  British  fleet  was  unsuccess- 
fully occupied  in  attempting  to  relieve  the  anny  in  Virginia,  the  marquis 
de  Bouillfe,  governor  of  Martiriico,  invaded  St.  Eustatius  with  two  thou- 
sand men,  easily  subdued  that  island,  being  defended  by  only  seven  hun- 
dred men  belonging  to  the  thirteenth  and  fifteenth  regiments.     Besides 
the  inferiority  of  force,  the  garrison  having  no  expectations  of  such  an  at- 
tempt, were  in  a  state  of  security,  and  indeed  oscitancy,  which  greatly  fa- 
cilitated the  success  of  their  enemies.     A  consi('erable  part  of  the  effects 
captured  by  the  British  still  remained  on  the  island,  so  that  it  proved  a 
very  valuable  prize.    In  the  beginning  of  January,  the  French  retook  the 
Dutch  settlements  of  Demarara  and  Essequibo,   and  by  restoring  them 
to  Holland,  confirmed  the  amity  of  the  aristocratic  party  in  that  country 
towards  their  new  ally.     The  count  de  Grasse  was  now  returned  from 
North  America  to  the  Leev/ard  Islands,  and  commanded  a  fleet  of  thirty- 
two  ships  of  the  line.     Sir  Samuel  Hood  was  also  come  back  to  Barba- 
does.     Trusting  to  their  superiority,  the  French  commanders  made  an 
attempt  on  the  valuable  island  of  St.  Christopher's.     The  land  forces 
under  the  command  of  de  Bouille,  consisted  of  eight  thousand  men,  es- 
corted and  seconded  by  the  fleet.     On  the  11th  of  January,  they  effect- 
ed a  landing.     The  British  garrison  commanded  by  general  Fraser,  did 
not  exceed  six  hundred  men  ;  taking  possession  however  of  a  very  strong 
post,  the  commandant  fortified  himself,  in  hopes  of  holding  out  till  suc- 
cour should  arrive.     The  whole  military  force  of  Britain  in  those  islands 
was  inconsiderable  ;  notwithstanding  this  consideration,  and  the  compa- 
rative smallness  of  his  naval  force,  sir  Samuel  Hood  determined  to  ven- 
ture one  of  those  bold  measures  \yhich  have  generally  terminated  with 
victory  to  British  arms,  and  which  in  her  relative  situation  to  her  foes, 
instead  of  being  chargeable  with  temerity,  are  the  wisest  that  can  be 
pursued.     He  departed  from  Antigua,  took  on  board  general  Pi  escot  and 
the  few  troops  that  could  be  afforded,  and  immediately  sailed  to  attack 
the  enemy's  fleet.     The'count  de  Grasse  was  much  surprised  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  English  fleet,  and  expecting  to  profit  by  what  he  deem- 
ed their  rashness  ;  thinking  that  by  an  increase  of  sea-room  he  could  the 
more  easily  avail  himself  of  his  superior  numbers,  he  moved  away  from 
shore.     Sir  Samuel  Hood  instantly  saw  the  advantage  that  might  be  de- 
rived from  the  enemy's  departure,  and  while  they  were  form.ing  their  line 
a-head,  pushed  into  the  road  which  they  had  left.     The  enemy  were  not 
only  astonished  at  the  ability  and  judgment  with  which  this  design  was 
conceived  and  formed,  and  the  boldness  and  nautical  skill  with  which  it 
was  executed,  but  alarmed  at  the  consequences  which  must  ensue  from 
its  success.     They  were  apprehensive  that  the  British  fleet  might  cut  off 
the  communication  between  the  French  naval  and  military  force.     Hop- 
ing to  overpower  our  armament  by  their  numbers,  they  on  the  25th  of 
January  attacked  the  rear  of  the  squadron  commanded  by  commodore 
Affleck ;  but  that  brave  officer,  seconded  by  lord  Robert  Manners  and 
captain  Cornwallis,  (heroes  worthy  of  the  marquis  of  Granby  and  earl 
Cornwallis,)  ard  the  other  ships  of  the  division,  repelled  the  enemy. 
The  next  day  de  Grasse  made  a  general  attack,  but  he  was  again  repel- 
led with  severe  loss  ;  and  sir  Samuel  Hood  retained  his  position  between 
the  enemy's  fleet  and  army,  without  any  farther  interruption.     Mean- 
while the  French  general  had  made  considerable  progress  in  the  invest- 
ment of  the  fort ;  but  from  the  strength  of  the  place,  small  as  the  garrison 


61()  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Chai-.  XXIX.— 1782. 

[Progress  of  the  Trench.     Junction  of  the  British  fleets.] 

was,  he  found  that  a  regular  siege  would  be  necessary.     On  the  16th  of 
January  he  opened  the  trenches,  proceeded  with  the  works  and  mounted 
his  batteries,  wiiich  soon  played  with  terrible  effect.    The  British  continu- 
ed to  nuike  the  mostgailant  resistance  :  admiral  Hood  sent  general  Pres- 
cot  ashore,  in  hopes  to  be  able  to  assist  the  besieged  ;  but  finding  the  at- 
tempt itnpracticablo,  from  the  number  and  disposition  of  the  enemy,  re- 
embarked  his  tro()j>s.     T!ie  garrison,  after  having  with  the  greatest  pa- 
tience and  fortitude  withstood  the  host  of  their  enemies,  became  every 
day  weaker  both  in  number  and  fortifications  ;  and  at  last  finding  all  their 
•efforts  hopeless,  agreed  toa  capitulation  which  was  concluded  on  honour- 
able terms.     The  French  ffeet  being  joined  by  two  ships,  admiral  Hood, 
now,  that  the  preservation  of  the  island  was  no  longer  in  view,  resolved 
not  to  hazard  an  engagement  until  a  re-enforcemcnt  which  was  daily  ex- 
pected should  arrive  from  England,  he  therefore  quitted  his  present  situa- 
tion, and  retired  towards  Antigua.     The  islands  of  Nevis  and  Montser- 
rat  followed  the  fortune  of  St.  Christopher's  :  so  that  of  all  our  former 
valuable  possessions  in  the  West  Indies,  Jamaica,  Barbadoes,  and  Anti- 
gua, now  only  remained,  and  affairs  wore  a  very  inauspicious  aspect  to 
the  British  interests.     Jamaica  the  great  object  of  Spanish  ambition,  was 
now  proposed  to  be  attacked  by  tlie  count  de  Grasse,  who  was  to  be 
joined  by  a  Spanish  fleet  and  army  for  that  purpose.     The  Spaniards  had 
stationed  at  llispaniola  and  Cuba,  about  twenty-six  ships  of  the  line  and 
a  considerable  body  of  soldiers  :  the  fleet,  when  combined,  would  amount 
to  sixty  ships  of  the  line,  the  troops  to  about  twenty  thousand  ;  and  a 
great  naval  and  military  re-cnforcenient  was  daily  expected  under  admi- 
ral Guichen.     The  land  force  of  Britain,  in  Jamaica,  consisted  of  si.x 
battalions  of  regulars,  amounting  to  two  thousand  four  hundred  men, 
and  the  militia  about  double  that  number.     From   the  British  fleet,  so 
outnuml)ered,  they  could  have  expected  little  assistance.     The  goodness 
of  the  troops,  the  zeal  and  bravery  of  the  inhabitants,  together  with  the 
natural  strength  of  the  country,  might  have  long  withstood  so  mighty  a 
host,  and  perhaps,  ultimately,  with  the  assistance  of  the  climate  so  pe- 
culiarly fatal  to  Spanish  indolence,  repelled  the  invaders  :  but  the  con- 
flict would  have  been  arduous,  and  a  great  part  of  the  valuable  property 
nuist  have  been  destroyed  during  its  operations  ;  the  well  grounded  ap- 
prehension therefore  of  such  an  attempt  was  extremely  alarming  to  the 
islanders  themselves,  and  to  all  interested  in  the  fate  of  so  estimable  a 
possession.     While  alTairs  were  in  this  situation,  and  the  hopes  and  fears 
of  the  contending  parlies  so  anxiously  aroused,  intelligence  arrived  that 
Guichen's  ffi^et  and  convoy,  after  their  encoimter  with  admiral  Kempen- 
feldt,  had  been  shattered  by  successive  tempests  ;  and  unable  to  proceed 
on  their  voyage,  returned  to  France,  and  two  ships  of  the  line  only  wore 
strong  enc)ugli  to  join  de  Grasse. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  sir  George  Rodney  with  twelve  ships  of  the 
line  arrived  from  England  at  Barbadoes,  and  a  few  days  after  joining  sir 
Samuel  Hood,  took  command  of  the  whole  fleet  before  the  end  of  the 
month  ;  being  re-enforced  by  two  n)ore  ships  of  the  line  from  England, 
the  British  fleet  consisted  of  thirty-six  ships  of  the  line.  Having  receiv- 
ed information  that  a  second  convoy  had  sailed  from  Brest,  in  order  to 
compensate  to  a  certain  degree  the  failure  of  the  former,  and  was  convey- 
ing provisions,  naval  and  military  stores,  he  tried  to  intercept  it  before  it 
reached  de  Grasse ;  but  the  French  convoy  found  means  to  elude  the 


1782.— Chap.  XXnC.  REIGN  OF  GKORGR  III.  f^^j 

[De  Grasse  sails  from  Martinico.     Pursuit  by  the  British.] 

danger,  and  to  join  the  admiral  on  the  20th  of  March,  in  Fort  Royal, 
where  he  was  repairing  his  ships  with  a  view  of  sailing  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble to  the  westward  :   admiral  Rodney  stationed  himself  ofi'  St.  Lucia  to 
watch  his  motions.     It  was  the  object  of  the  f^onch  admiral  to  avoid 
fighting,  until  he  should  join  the  Spaniards  at  Hispaniola  ;  the  British 
commander  proposed  to  prevent  the  intended  junction,  and  to  bring  the 
^         French  to  a  decisive  battle.  The  fate  of  the  British  West  Indies  depend- 
ed on  the  success  or  miscarriage  of  the  admiral's  design  ;  if  the  two  hos- 
tile fleets  joined,  our  naval  force  would  no  longer  be  able  to  preserve  our 
islands  from  ruin.     If  Rodney  could  bring  de  Grasse  to  fight,  the  form- 
er having  thirty-six  ships  of  the  line,  the  latter  thirty-four,  but  balancing 
our  superiority  of  number  by  size,  weight  of  metal,  and  a  greater  multi- 
tude of  menj  the  fleets  would  be  very  near  an  equality  of  physical  force; 
consequently  there  could  be  little  doubt  that  the  ability,  skill,  and  prow- 
ess of  England  would  be  triumphant.     De  Grasse  was  stationed  at  Mar- 
tinico ;  admiral  Rodney  at  Gros  Islet  bay  in  St.  Lucia,  and  his  fleet  rea- 
dy to  sail,  the  van  was  commanded  by  admiral  Drake,  the  rear  by  sir 
Samuel  Hood,  and  the  centre  by  Rodney  himself.     Frigates  were  dis- 
posed near  the  French  fleet  to  give  the  English  admiral  intelligence  if 
they  sailed.     .Accordingly,  on  the  8th  of  April,  news  arrived  that  de 
Grasse  had  weighed  anchor,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  same  day  Rod- 
ney began  to  follow  his  course.     De  Grasse,  in  order  to  avoid  the  Bri- 
tish fleet,  instead  of  s^iiling  directly  westward  to  Hispaniola,  chose  a 
northern  and  circuitous  course  along  the  coast  of  Gaudaloupe.     Had  he 
proceeded  in  the  direct  track  which  was  to  leeward,  he  thought  he  could 
not  avoid  being  overtaken  by  the  English,  but  by  coasting  between  the 
islands,  as  the  French  were  much  better  acquainted  with  these  channels, 
he  expected  to  baffle  their  pursuit.     The  British  signals,  however,  were 
repeated  with  such  quickness  and  exactness  through  the  intervening  sta- 
tions, that  the  fleet  sailed  within  five  hours  of  the  French,  and  came  in 
siglit  of  them  that  very  same  night  near  Dominica.     De  Grasse,  think- 
ing that  a  distant  and  running  fight  would  be  unavoidable,  formed  his  line 
for  that  purpose.      Early  next  morning  when  sir  George  Rodney  v.'as 
making  dispositions  for  battle,  he  found  himself  becalmed.     A  breeze 
however  reached  the  van  between  eight  and  nine  in  the  morning,  with- 
out extending  to  the  centre  and  rear.     The  first  division  of  the  British 
fleet  being  thus  separated  from  the  rest,  count  de  Gras.'^e  willingly  engag- 
ed, hoping  by  his  whole  fleet  to  cut  ofl'the  advanced  part  of  ours.     Not- 
withstanding the  superiority  of  the  enemy,  sir  Samuel  Hood  made  so 
bold  a  stand  as  to  sustain  all  their  efforts,  though  not  without  his  ships 
suffering  material  damage.   At  length  Rodney  himself  being  able  to  come 
up  with  part  of  the  centre  division,  the  battle  became  less  unequal.     De 
Grasse,  who  from  the  command  of  the  wind  could  either  fight  closely  or 
distantly,  drew  off"  his  fleet,  and  before  the  rest  of  the  British  anived,  was 
entirely  out  of  reach  of  battle.    The  next  day  admiral  Rodney  was  oblig- 
ed to  employ  in  refitting  the  damaged  ships,  and  transposing  the  van  and 
rear,  as  those  who  had  not  been  in  the  late  action  w«^re  the  fittest  for  be- 
ginning a  nev/  conflict.     On  the  11th,  the  enemy's  fleet  weathered  Gua- 
daloupe,  and  got  to  such  a  distance  that  they  were  barely  perceivable. 
About  noon  that  day  two  of  the  enemy's  ships  were  seen  so  much  astein 
of  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  that  the  British  had  no  doubt  of  cutting  them  ofiz 
a  signal  for  general  chase  was  thrown  out.     The  pursuit  was  sovigoroiw 
Vol.  VIL— 78 


^jg  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIX.— 1782. 

[Battle  off  Guadaloupc,  and  victory  of  the  Iiritish.] 

that  tliey  would  have  been  undoubtedly  captured  had  not  the  whole 
French  fleet  returned  for  their  protection.  This  movement  gave  the 
British  commanders  inlinitely  more  delight,  than  they  would  have  deriv- 
ed from  the  possession  of  the  two  ships.  They  perceived  that  the  ene- 
my could  not  avoid  a  close  engagement,  and  during  the  night  the  line  was 
formed  in  a  most  masterly  disposition.  The  enemy,  sensible  that  they 
must  now  fight,  were  also  arranged  with  great  skill.  The  scene  of  ac- 
tion was  a  basin  of  water  lying  between  the  islands  of  Guadaloupe,  Do- 
minica, the  Saints,  and  Marigalante  ;  and  bounded  both  to  windward  and 
leeward  by  dangerous  shores. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  at  seven  in  the  morning,  the  hostile  fleets  met 
upon  opposite  tacks.  The  signal  for  close  fighting  was  thrown  out  and 
punctually  observed,  the  line  was  formed  at  only  a  cable's  length  dis- 
tance, our  ships  as  they  came  up  ranged  slowly  and  closely  along  the 
enemy's  line,  and  under  their  lee,  where  they  gave  and  received  a  tre- 
mendous fire.  Admiral  Drake,  who  now  commanded  the  van,  began  the 
battle  with  the  greatest  gallantry  :  received,  and  with  the  most  efficacious 
energy  returned  the  shot  of  the  whole  French  line.  His  leading  ship  the 
Marlborough,  commanded  by  captain  Penny,  was  peculiarly  distinguish- 
ed, received  and  returned  at  the  nearest  distance  the  first  broadside  of 
twenty-three  French  ships  of  war,  and  had  the  fortune  only  to  have  three 
men  killed,  and  sixteen  wounded.  As  the  ships  were  so  near,  every 
ball  took  effect,  and  the  French  ships  being  very  full  of  men,  great  num- 
bers were  slain.  The  French  made  a  most  gallant  resistance,  which 
they  were  enabled  to  do  the  more  eflectually  as  the  British  rear  was  long 
prevented  by  a  calm  from  taking  any  active  share  in  the  battle.  They 
had  fought  five  hours,  before  the  British,  though  evidently  the  more  forci- 
ble, had  gained  any  decisive  advantage  ;  when  between  twelve  and  one 
o'clock,  Rodney,  with  fo>ir  ships,  bore  athwart  the  enemy,  and  broke 
their  line;  being  admirably  supported  by  his  division,  he  doubled  upon 
them,  separated  their  force,  and  threw  them  into  irrecoverable  disorder. 
As  soon  as  he  had  eircclod  this  movement,  he  threw  out  a  signal  for  the 
van  to  tack  ;  admiral  Drake  instantly  complying,  by  this  means  got  to 
windward  of  the  enemy,  and  completed  the  general  confusion.  The 
French  van  bore  to  loeward  in  an  attempt  to  restore  their  broken  line, 
but  C(juld  not  succeed.  Meanwhile  sir  Samuel  Hood  had  reached  the 
scene  of  battle  with  part  of  his  division,  and  contributed  to  crush  the 
enemy.  Even  after  ;ill  order  and  connected  system  was  entirely  de- 
stroyed on  the  part  of  the  French,  their  slii[).s  singly  and  severally  fought 
with  the  most  inflexible  courage.  Do  Grasse  himself,  in  the  Ville  de 
Paris,  after  the  route  became  general,  rnnde  a  most  obstinate  resistance, 
but  at  last  struck  to  sir  Sanuiel  Hood.  The  Hector,  the  Glorieux,  the 
Caisar,  of  74  guns,  the  Ardetit  of  64,  were  also  captured  ;  the  Diadem 
was  sunk  ;  three  thousand  of  the  enemy  were  killed  or  drowned,  and  six 
thousand  were  wounded,  and  about  two  thousand  taken  prisoners :  most 
of  their  ships  that  escaped  being  taken  or  sunk,  were  so  damaged  as  to 
be  unfit  for  service.  The  loss  on  the  side  of  the  English  was  about  a 
thousand  killed  and  wounded  ;  among  the  slain  was  captain  Blair,  who 
eminently  distinguished  himself  on  that  glorious  day,  and  also  had  ac- 
f)uired  great  renown  the  yc.'ir  before,  in  the  Dolphin  man  of  war.  Among 
the  wounded  was  lord  Robert  Manners,  brother  to  the  duke  of  Rutland  ; 
this  brave  young  nobleman,  though  not  twcnfy-scvcn  years  of  age,  had 


1782.— Chap.  XXIX.  liEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  ^|9 

[Principle  of  naval  warfare  illustrated.     Summary  of  Rodney's  exploits.] 

acquired  distinguished  glory  in  the  Resolution,  a  seventy- four  gun  ship, 
during  a  series  of  brilliant  actions,  which  he  crowned  in  the  last  conflict. 
His  wound  proved  mortal,  and  deprived  the  country  of  his  virtues  a  few 
weeks  after  the  victory. 

Naval  critics  in  reviewing  the  operations  which  terminated  in  so  bril- 
liant a  victory  to  Britain,  have  adduced,  or  at  least  confirmed  general 
principles  of  the  liighest  importance  to  the  service.  In  the  first  place, 
they  observed  it  illustrated  the  wise  policy  of  a  commander  of  British 
ships  and  British  sailors  being  adventurously  bold.  If  admiral  Rodney, 
when  he  found  the  rear  division  becalmed,  had  endeavoured  to  avoid  bat- 
tle, the  enemy  might  have  escaped  ;  it  also  showed,  that  in  close  fight  Bri- 
tish ships  and  seamen  possess  a  very  great  superiority,  and  that  the 
increase  of  their  advantage  in  proportion  to  their  closeness,  renders  it 
generally  expedient  for  British  commanders  to  break  the  enemy's  line. 
The  consequences  of  this  victory  were  important  and  extensive,  thirty- 
six  chests  of  money,  destined  to  pay  the  army  and  fleet  in  the  West  In- 
dies, were -found  in  the  Ville  de  Paris.* 

The  day  after  the  battle  admiral  Rodney  endeavoured  to  pursue  the 
remains  of  the  JFrench  fleet,  but  was  becalmed  for  three  days  at  Guada- 
loupe.  Sir  Samuel  Hood,  having  been  but  a  short  time  in  the  fight,  was 
fitter  for  pursuit  than  the  other  ships,  the  admiral  therefore  despatched 
that  commander  in  hopes  of  overtaking  or  intercepting  the  remains  of  the 
enemy.  On  the  19th  of  April  he  captured  two  ships  of  the  line  in  the 
Mona  Passage,  between  Porto  Rico  and  Hispaniola.  Admiral  Rodney 
proceeded  witli  the  disabled  ships  and  prizes  to  Jamaica,  was  rejoined  by 
sir  Samuel  Hood  off"  Cape  Tiberoon  in  St.  Domingo ;  and  in  the  end  of 
April  having  arrived  at  the  place  of  his  destination,  was  received  by  the 
grateful  islanders  as  their  glorious  dehverer.  Rodney  indeed  had  been 
the  most  brilliant  promoter  of  naval  glory,  the  effectual  supporter  of  naval 
power,  and  beneficial  protector  of  commerce  and  wealth  to  this  country, 
of  any  personage  whose  actions  reflected  a  lustre  on  the  annals  of  the 
American  war ;  in  two  years  and  a  quarter  he  had  struck  a  severe  blow 
against  each  of  our  three  European  enemiei^.  In  his  victory  over  the 
Spaniards,  he  broke  that  naval  force  which  some  months  before  ostenta- 
tiously paraded  on  our  coasts ;  reducing  the  Dutch,  he  deprived  them  of 
the  chief  sinew  of  war ;  by  the  discomfiture  of  the  French  he  completely 
overthrew  all  the  mighty  projects  of  the  Bourbons  for  exalting  themselves 
by  ruining  our  plantations  and  marine  force.  He  showed  himself  a  gal- 
lant and  skilful  .sailor  and  an  able  commander,  that  could  direct  all  the 
excellence  of  British  ships  and  British  seamen.  Such  a  commander 
supplied  with  a  force  equal  to  the  enemy,  was  successful,  and  always  must 
be  successful.  This  victory  not  only  secured  our  West  India  possessions, 
but  in  a  great  degree  ended  the  West  India  war,  as  no  operations  of  any 
importance  were  afterwards  undertaken  in  that  part  of  the  world.  Soon 
after  sir  George  Rodney  had  so  essentially  served  his  king  and  country, 
intelligence  arrived  that  the  new  administration  had  resolved  he  should 

•  This  ship  liad  a  hundred  and  ten  p^uns,  and  no  Jess  than  thirteen  hundred 
men,  including  soldiers,  on  board.  She  bad  been  a  present  to  Louis  XV.  from 
the  oily  of  Paris,  during  tlic  low  state  of  the  French  navy  resulting  fiom  the  last 
war  in  which  that  prince  had  been  engaged  with  England.  She  had  cost  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy -six  thousand  pounds  before  slie  was  fitted  for  sea,  and  was  the 
only  first  rate  man  of  war  that  had  ever  been  captured. 


(J20  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cukr.  XXIX.— 1782- 

[America.    East  Indies.    Schemes  of  Mr.  Hastings.] 

serve  no  longer,  and  had  appointed  admiral  Pigot  to  take  the  command 
in  his  stead.  Whatever  that  gentleman's  talents  might  be,  his  situation 
had  never  aflorded  him  opportunities  of  such  exertion  or  display  as  to 
demonstrate  the  policy  of  the  minister,  who,  to  avail  himself  of  Mr. 
Pigot's  professional  elibrts,  superseded  admiral  Rodney.  Our  gallant 
veteran  relinquished  a  command  in  which  he  had  now  left  so  little  un- 
done, and  returned  home  to  enjoy  the  gratitude  of  his  king  and  country, 
and  the  honours  which  had  been  conferred  by  his  sovereign.  The  victo- 
rious admiral  was  called  to  the  house  of  lords,  because  he  had  made  the 
best  of  a  force  intrusted  to  his  command,  by  conquering  the  enemy  and 
discomfiting  their  designs.  Sir  Samuel  Hood  also,  who  next  to  admiral 
llodney  ha^  so  eminently  distinguished  himself,  was  promoted  to  the 
well  earned  honour  of  an  Irish  peerage.  Blessrs.  Drake  and  Affleck  for 
their  respective  services  were  created  baronets. 

In  North  America,  .sir  Henry  Clinton  having  resigned  the  command, 
was  succeeded  by  sir  Guy  Carleton,  but  no  military  transactions  of  any 
importance  took  place  in  this  campaign.  -  The  resolutions, agai/ist  the 
American  war,  and  the  negotiations  for  peace,  although  they  did  not  in- 
duce the  provincials  to  a  separate  trpaty,  yet  in  a  great  measure  sus- 
pended ho^^tilities.  The  armies.  Indeed,  were  nearly  equ;il  in  strength, 
Carleton  had  no  motive  to  attack  the  enemy  for  the  sake  of  lulvancing  in 
a  country  into  which  all  progress  was  now  renounced,  and  Washington 
had  no  inducement  to  assail  a  force  which  was  still  very  formidable.  The 
Spaniards  finding  all  their  hopes  of  important  conquest  in  the  West  In- 
dies disappointed,  employed  their  armaments  in  less  considerable  enter- 
prises. The  governor  of  Cuba,  with  five  thousand  men,  made  an  attack 
on  the  Bahama  islands,  which  being  defended  by  about  two  hundred  only, 
capitulated.  The  French,  with  the  remainder  of  their  beaten  fleet,  con- 
certed a  predatory  expedition  against  the  property  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
company,  and  acquired  a  considerable  booty.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
English  made  a  successful  excursion  to  the  Musquito  shore,  and  captur- 
ed fort  Ddlin,  with  a  great  number  of  Spanish  troops. 

In  Africa,  the  Dutch  were  dispossessed  of  most  of  their  settlements, 
except  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  but  they  were  still  able  to  retain  this 
important  key  to  India. 

While  in  the  Carnatic  those  warlike  preparations  were  carrying  on 
which  are  narrated  among  the  transactions  of  1780  and  1781,  the  gover- 
nor-general was  not  inactive  in  Bengal.  Aware  of  the  dispositions  of  the 
native  powers  to  join  in  the  confederacy  against  British  India,  it  was  an 
important  part  of  his  duty  to  counteract  their  designs.  He  had  also  the 
task  of  providing  resources  and  means  of  defence  agiinst  both  treacher- 
ous friends  and  professpd  enemies.  The  expenses  of  the  present  war, 
in  which  all  the  English  presidencies  were  so  deeply,  and  one  at  least 
dangerously  involved,  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  even  the  finances  of 
Lennal  proved  unequal  to  their  supply.  It  was  therefore  necessary,  not 
only  to  be  very  strict  in  e:tacting  the  revenue,  but  either  to  create  new 
source.",  or  to  relinquit-h  the  defence  of  our  possessions  in  India.  The 
governor-general  anxiously  desirous  of  securing  such  valuable  interests, 
appeared  to  tliink  that  the  preservation  of  British  India  might  justify 
measures  that  nothing  but  political  necessity  could  sanction.  The  Indian 
landholders  are  called  zemindars,  and  the  chief  zemindars  are  called 
rajahs.     The  great  estai— •  appeared  to  have  held  of  the  mogul,  as  lord 


1783.— Chap.  XXIX.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  521 

[Cheyt  Sing.    View  of  his  relation  to  the  company.    Demands  of  Mr.  Hastings.] 

paramount  of  the  soil :  the  inferior  zemindars  to  have  held  of  the  rajahs. 
A  doubt  was  alleged,  whether  the  tenure  of  the  zemindars  was  stable  on 
the  performance  of  certain  conditions,  or  dependent  on  the  discretion  of 
the  superior  in  the  various  degrees,  from  the  lowest  tenant  to  the  empe- 
ror. The  former  mode  would  unquestionably  be  the  most  consonant  to 
the  ideas  of  freeborn  Britons,  but  the  latter  was  no  less  agreeable  to  the 
analogy  of  Mahomcdan  despotism.  Whatever  power  the  emperor  him- 
self possessed  over  the  lands  or  effects  of  the  zemindars,  he  delegated 
to  the  collectors  of  revenues,  and  consequently  had  transferred  to  the 
India  company  over  the  provinces  of  Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Orissa,  by  the 
treaty  concluded  in  17P4.  The  extent  and  hmits  of  the  jurisdiction  which 
by  this  treaty  the  company  acquired  over  either  the  lands  or  effects  of  the 
inhabitants,  were  to  be  defined  not  by  any  reference  to  British  rules  of 
property,  but  by  the  usage  and  laws  of  India.  Lord  Clive,  at  the  treaty 
of  Illahabad,  had  guaranteed  to  Buhvart  Sing,  the  zemindary  of  Be- 
nares, subject  to  the  payment  of  the  former  revenue  to  the  nabob  of  Oude. 
The  guarantee  did  not  extend  to  the  rajah's  family,  and  on  the  death 
of  Boiwart  Sing,  in  1770,  it  appeared  that  the  zemindary  of  Benares 
was  not  hereditary,  as  Cheyt  Sing,  the  late  rajah's  son,  paid  to  the 
nabob  a  fine  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds,  with  an  increase 
of  rent  of  three  hundred  thousand  pounds,  in  order  to  be  admitted 
to  his  father's  tenements.*  The  nal)ob  afterwards  endeavoured  to 
extort  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  pounds  more  from  his 
vassal,  which  thovigh  prevented  -by  the  interference  of  Mr.  Hastings, 
affcnded  a  presuni[)tive  proof  of  the  discretionary  tenure  by  which  the 
zemindary  was  held.  In  1775,  under  Sujah  Dowla,  the  nabob  of  Oude, 
the  sovereignty  of  Benares  was  transferred  to  the  company,  and  thus 
Cheyt  Sing  became  vassal  to  that  body  on  precisely  the  same  tenure  as 
he  had  before  been  to  the  nabob  of  Oude.  Mr.  Hastings,  soon  after  this 
agreement,  authorised  his  resident  to  assure  Cheyt  Sing  of  the  compa- 
ny's approbation  of  his  conduct,  and  on  that  account  that  he  should  be 
allowed  to  occupy  the  zemindary  on  the  same  conditions  as  before,  and 
at  the  same  time  recommended  him  to  raise  a  body  of  two  thousand  horse. 
Mr.  Hastings,  from  the  analogy  of  Indian  tenures,  considered  Cheyt  Sing 
as  a  tenant  at  will,  with  a  general  promise  of  holding  his  lands  during 
good  behaviour,  and  thought  himself  the  steward  of  the  proprietor,  enti- 
tled to  interpret  the  goodness  of  the  tenant's  conduct,  by  the  fidelity  and 
gratitude  which  he  should  manifest  towards  the  proprietors,  from  whose 
bounty  he  was  allowed  to  retain  his  lands. |  The  requisite  exertions 
might  be  greater  or  less  according  to  circumstances  ;  it  was  evident 
that  the  terms  on  which  he  held  Benares  were  extremely  advantageous, 
and  as  obviously  Mr.  Hastings  appeared  to  conceive  that  his  tenure  was 
good  conduct  and  attachment  to  the  company.  His  di.spositions,  the 
state  of  affairs  soon  put  to  the  test:  intelligence  being  received  of  the 
war  with  France,  and  a  variety  of  circumstances  having  intimated  the  de- 
sign of  a  native  confederacy,  it  was  determined  by  the  governor-general 
and  council,  in  the  month  of  July  177S,  that  the  rajah  Cheyt  Sing  should 
be  required  to  contribute  an  extraordinary  subsidy  of  five  lacks  of  rupees 
towards  the  expenses  which  this  nev/  exigency  would  impose  on  govern- 

*  Annual  Register,  1783,  chap.  i. 

f  This  may  be  gathered  from  his  defence,  and  the  writings  of  his  friends. 


622  HISTORY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXIX.— 1782: 

[Evasions  of  Ihe  rajah.    Mr.  Hastings  resolves  to  enforce  compliance.] 

ment  during  the  current  year.  The  rajah  paid  this  advanced  rent  with 
great  unwillingness  ;  the  next  year  he  testified  much  stronger  reluctance, 
although  the  increase  of  hostilities  rendered  supplies  still  more  indispen- 
sably necessary  ;  and  though  known  to  be  extremely  rich,  pretended  to 
be  in  the  most  distressing  poverty.  Mr.  Hastings  found  him  so  slow  in 
his  payments,  tiiat  he  sent  two  battalions  of  sepoys  to  Benares  to  be  paid 
and  subsisted  by  the  rajah,  until  he  made  good  the  required  sum.  The 
third  year  he  made  still  stronger  professions  of  poverty,  and  the  subsidy 
was  procured  with  greater  dilhculty.  In  1781,  when  the  designs  of  the 
confederacy  had  not  only  unfolded  themselves,  but  in  the  Carnatic  were 
carried  into  successful  execution,  the  same  additional  subsidy  was  de- 
manded, and  also  the  two  thousand  horse  which  he  had  been  desired  to 
keep  in  readiness  when  protection  was  promised  him  by  the  company  on 
his  first  having  become  their  vassal.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  whole 
amount  of  the  extraordinary  subsidy  imposed,  from  so  urgent  a  necessity, 
on  this  tributary,  was  only  one  fifth  of  his  yearly  rent ;  that  he  was  ex- 
tremely rich,  and'could  well  afford  the  addition,  which  was  much  less  than 
his  former  superior,  or  any  other  native  chief  acting  upon  the  discretion- 
ary principles  of  Asiatic  governments,  would  have  exacted.  Even  after 
paying  the  demand  he  was  not  in  a  worse,  but  in  a  better  situation  as  the 
tenant  of  the  company,  than  that  in  which  he  would  have  been  as  the 
tenant  of  Oude,  or  any  other  oriental  state.  The  rajah  baffled  the  de- 
mands by  repeated  evasions,  and  at  this  time  (the  beginning  of  1781,) 
when  the  possessions  of  the  company  were  in  the  greatest  danger,  and 
her  want  of  assistance  both  in  men  and  money  most  urgent,  Cheyt  Sing 
much  more  manifestly  displayed  his  reluctance  to  contribute  aid  than  in 
preceding  years.*  All  the  countries  adjoining  the  rajah's  territories  were 
either  openly  or  secretly  engaged  in  the  combination  ;  from  that  circum- 
stance, together  with  the  rajah's  unwillingness  to  support  the  cause  of  the 
company,  the  governor- general  suspected  Cheyt  Sing  to  be  connected 
with  the  hostile  confederacy.  Various  accounts,  both  from  English  re- 
sidents at  Benares  and  the  neighbouring  countries,  confirmed  the  suspi- 
cion. Mr.  Hastings  now  being  extremely  straitened  from  want  of  money 
for  paying  the  company's  troops  and  other  services,  and  farther  desirous 
of  exploring  the  intentions  and  designs  both  of  the  rajah  and  others  who 
professed  amity,  resolved  to  make  a  progress  into  the  upper  country. 
Impressed  with  an  opinion  of  the  rajah's  culpability,  the  governor-gene- 
ral had  privately  resolved  that,  if  on  examination  he  found  him  really  hos- 
tile, the  punishment  of  treacherous  designs  to  injure  the  company  should 
be  such  a  fine  as  would  relieve  their  present  exiirencies.  Accordingly 
he  proceeded  to  Benares  :  the  rajah  met  him  on  the  frontiers,  expressed 
)iis  complete  submission,  made  protestations  of  the  most  zealous  fidelity 
and  attachmrrit  to  the  company,  and  declared  that  his  zemindary  and  all 
his  possessions  were  the  gift  of  the  company,  and  at  their  command. 
Mr.  Hastings  little  moved  with  these  general  professions  of  friendship, 
after  arriving  at  I'onares,  made  specific  charges  of  infidelity  and  disaffec- 
tion to  the  English  government,  from  which  he  held  his  zemindary ;  of 
internal  tyranny  and  oppression,  contrary  to  the  tenure  of  his  vassalage  ; 
and  of  evasion  resf»ecting  the  payment  of  subsidies.  The  rajah  denied 
these  charges,  and  endeavoured  to  refute  them,  but  not  to  the  governor's 

•   See  Annual  Register,  1783,  c  i.;  and  Thomson's  War  in  Asia. 


1782.— Chap.  XXIX.  IfElGN  OF  GEOIJGE  III.  (323 

[Flight  of  the  rnjah.     Proceedings  against  the  begums.] 

sali.sfaction  :  to  make  him  more  compliant,  ho  put  Cheyt  Sing  under  an 
arrest.  The  inhabitants  of  Benares  rushed  in  great  numbers  upon  a 
small  party  of  two  companies  which  guarded  Sing's  person,  cut  them  to 
pieces,  and  rescued  the  rajah.  The  governor  himself  was  in  considera- 
ble danger,  having  but  a  small  body  of  attendants  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile 
multitude.  Finding  the  disorderly  spirit  of  the  people  he  sent  for  troops 
from  different  quarters  to  come  to  Benares,  the  rajah  fled  to  a  distant 
place  of  refuge,  from  thence  he  sent  a  suppliant  letter,  to  which  Mr. 
Hastings  made  no  answer.  A  war  broke  out  in  Benares  ;  the  governor 
soon  subdued  that  country,  and  took  possession  of  the  treasures  of  the 
rajah.  Immense  sums  were  found  in  his  treasury,  which  proved  that  his 
excuses  of  poverty  were  totally  unfounded.  Cheyt  Sing  published  a  ma- 
nifesto addressed  to  other  rajahs,  in  which  he  attempted  to  justify  him- 
self, and  stir  up  his  neighbours  against  the  British  name,  and  immediately 
afterwards  retired  into  banishment. 

Mr.  Hastings  considerinji  this  insurrection  at  Benares  as  a  rebellion, 
deemed  it  part  of  the  great  combination  against  British  India.     It  appear- 
ed to  him  that  Cheyt  Sing  had  been  warmly  supported  by  the  neighbour- 
ing province  of  Oude,  especially  in  the  countries  that  were  governed  by 
the  begums,  or  dowager  princesses,  who  according  to  the  customs  of  In- 
dia had,  for  the  support  of  their  widowhood,  the  investiture  of  certain  de- 
mesnes ai.d  treasures  under  the  name  of  jaghires.    The  begums  of  Oude 
were  the  mother  and  grandmother  of  the  reigning  prince.     The  nabob 
came  down  to  Chunar,  with  tlw.  professed  intention  of  paying  his  respects 
to  the  governor-general,  acconspanied  with  a  considerable  number  of 
troops  :  Mr.  Hastings  by  no  means  approved  of  this  visit,  he  had  no  oc- 
casion for  the  nabob  for  quelling  the  commotions  in  Benares,  and  was 
not  without  suspicions  of  the  treachery  so  incidental  to  the  feeble  and 
timid  characters  of  oriental  despotism;  not,  however,  choosing  to  commu- 
nicate to  the  nabob  his  distrust,  he  expressed  his  acknowledgements  for 
his  kind  attention,  and  at  Chunar  they  met.     Mr.  Hastings  being  well  in- 
formed of  the  proceedings  of  the  begums,  consulted  with  sir  Elijah  Im- 
pey,  whether,  they  being  in  actual  rebellion,  the  nabob  might  not  confis- 
cate their  property ;  sir  Elijah  answered  in  the  affirmative.     Fortified 
with  this  authority,  Mr.  Hastings  appeared  to  entertain  no  doiibt  of  the 
legality  of  the  principle ;  but  it  was  necessary  to  the  purposes  of  equity 
and  justice  to  examine  the  fact :  in  this  investigation  he  requested  the  as- 
sistance of  the  judge,  who  undertook  to  collect  testimonies,  and  the  re- 
sult was,  that  the  begums  had  abetted  the  rebellion  of  Cheyt  Sing.     Hav- 
ing ascertained  this  fact  to  his  satisfaction,  and  also  that  they  were  hos- 
tile to  the  government  of  the  nabob  himself,  he  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
that  prince;  one  article  of  which  was,  that  as  great  distress  had  arisen  to 
the  nabob's  government,  from  the  military  power  and  dominion  assumed 
by  the  begums,  he  should  be  permitted  to  resume  such  of  their  lands  as 
he  might  deem  to  be  necessary.     As  the  nabob  acknowledged  a  great 
debt  to  the  company,  the  proceeds  of  the  confiscation  were  to  be  applied 
to  liquidate  that  demand,  and  consequently  to  increase  the  pecuniary  re- 
sources of  the  company  when  supplies  were  so  much  wanted.     The  na- 
bob having  returned  to  Oude,  and  not  having  immediately  proceeded  to 
the  forfeiture  stipulated  in  the  treaty,  was  strongly  urged  not  only  to  seize 
a  part  but  the  whole  of  the  effects  as  confiscated  in  consequence  of  the 
rebellion :  that  prince  at  last  enforced  the  act,  and  dispossessed  the  be- 


624  IIISTOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIX.— 1782. 

[Peace  with  the  Mahratta  prince.     Operations  of  the  French.] 

gums  of  all  their  treasures.*  Such  was  the  procedure  of  Hastings  re- 
specting Cheyt  Sing  and  the  begums,  which  the  narrator  considers,  with 
its  ostensible  rea.>ons,  as  part  of  the  series  of  British  afVairs  in  India  that 
it  is  his  duty  to  relate,  though  he  conceives  it  unnecessary  to  canvass 
all  the  assertions  and  attempted  arguments,  all  the  replies  and  attempted 
refutations,  that  arose  from  tliis  subject.  Leaving  the  moral  rectitude 
and  judicial  legality  of  Mr.  Hastings's  conduct  with  the  appropriate  tribu- 
nal by  which  it  has  been  already  discussed,  the  history  proceeds  to  the 
political  etfects  of  the  e.xpedition.  It  afforded  the  company  the  means  of 
paying  their  troops,  increasing  their  resources,  and  redoubling  their  exer- 
tions against  the  combined  enemies.  It  prevented  the  native  powers 
from  effectually  joining  the  confederacy,  and  served  also  to  detach  one 
important  sovereign,  Moodejee  Sindia,  the  Mahratta  prince,  from  the 
alliance.  A  peace  was  concluded,  in  October  17S1,  between  him  and 
Mr.  Hastings  ;*  so  that,  on  the  whole,  the  measures  of  Mr.  Hastings, 
at  this  time  very  essentiallv  served  the  British  cause. 

The  French,  we  have  seen,  had  formed  expectations  of  ruining  the 
British  interests  through  themselves  and  the  confederacies  which  they 
instigated  in  the  eastern  as  well  as  the  western  world  ;  and  with  that 
view  sent  a  squadron  with  a  powerful  body  of  forces,  under  monsieur 
Suflfrein,  to  India.  Sailing  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Suffrein  joined 
monsieur  de  Orves  at  the  island  of  Mauritius  :  the  French  commander, 
with  a  fleet  often  ships  of  the  line,  one  fifty  gun  ship,  several  large  fri- 
gates, and  a  multitude  of  transports  and  store  vessels,  having  on  board  a 
numerous  body  of  land  forces,  sailed  in  .Janunry,  1782,  for  tlie  coa.st  of 
Coromandel :  M,  de  Orves  dying  on  the  passage,  the  sole  command  of 
the  fleet  devolved  on  M.  de  SulFrein.  A  British  convoy,  under  general 
Meadows,  was  proceeding  with  troops  for  India,  and  two  ships  of  the  line 
and  t\k-o  fifties  ;  the  Hannibal,  one  of  tlie  latter,  was  taken  by  tlie  enemy; 
but  the  rest  of  the  fleet  reached  Madras,  the  place  of  their  destination. 
On  the  31st  of  January,  sir  Edward  Hughes  was  obliged  to  sail  from 
Trincomale  for  Madras,  to  procure  a  supply  of  stores  and  provisions,  and 
refit  his  ships.  At  his  arrival  on  the  8th  of  February,  he  was  informed 
by  lord  Macartney,  the  new  governor,  that  a  French  armament  amount- 
ing to  thirty  sail  had  been  seen  on  the  coast,  and  was  supposed  not  to  be 
above  twenty  leagues  to  the  northward.  Admiral  Hughes  had  only  si.x 
ships  of  the  line,  with  the  crews  in  a  very  indifferent  condition,  when  he  was 
the  following  day  re-enforced  by  the  two  ships  of  the  line  and  one  of  fifty 
guns,  which  were  just  arrived  from  England.  Sir  Eyre  Coote  with 
great  alacrity  and  expedition  assisted  him  in  manning  his  ships  from  the 
land  forces ;  and  having  now  his  stores  and  provisions  on  board,  on  the 
l.jth  of  February  he  sasv  the  French  fleet  bearing  directly  to  Madras, 
with  ten  sail  of  the  line,  two  fifties,  andl^six  frigates.  Suffrein  had  ex- 
pected to  find  only  six  English  ships  of  the  line,  and  hastened,  in  all  the 
vivacity  of  French  fancy,  hoping  to  overpower  the  English  fleet  and 
thereby  co-operate  so  eflbctually  with  Hyder  Ally  as  to  reduce  Madras  ; 
and  by  a  little  farther  extension  of  the  imagination,  anticipated  the  speedy 
ruin  of  British  India.  The  pleasing  reverie  of  Suffrein  met  with  a  disa- 
greeable interruption  in  the  view  of  nine  ships  of  war  prepared  to  ob- 

•  Annual  Rejjistpr,  1783,  chap.  i. 
f  Ibid,  and  'rhumsuii'ii  War  in  Asia. 


17«S.— Chap.  XXIX.  UEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  fll.  525 

[Naval  engagements—consequences  favourable  to  the  British] 

struct  his  progress  :  on  this  discovery  ho  immediately  stopped,  and  soon 
after  drew  oft"  his  fleet  to  the  southward.*     Admiral  Hughes  immediate- 
ly followed,  and  the  next  day  descried  the  French  ships  of  war  to  the 
eastward :   while  t!ie  convoy  escorted  by  frigates  was  steering  south  to- 
wards Pondicherry,  the  British  admiral  threw  out  a  signal  for  chase,  with 
the  double  view  of  capturing  the  convoy  and  inducing  the  French  admiral 
to  return  to  attempt  tlicir  relief.     In  the  course  of  the  pursuit  the  British 
ships  retook  five  English  prizes  with  their  crews  and  cargoes,  and  cap- 
tured a  sixth,  that  proved  to  be  a  very  important  advantage  :  she  was  a 
large  French  transport  of  thirteen  hundred  tons,  containing  a  considera- 
ble train  of  artillery  and  a  groat  quantity  of  gunpowder  and  other  military 
stores  for  H3'der  Ally,  with  three  hundred  soldiers  on  board.     Mean- 
while the  French  fleet  endeavouring  to  assist  the  convoy,  obliged   the 
British  admiral  to  recall  the  chasers;  and  having  ordered  (he  prizes  to 
be  sent  to  Negapatan-,,  he  prepared  to  form  the  line  of  battle.     On  the 
17th  of  February,  early  in  the  morning,  the  admiral  threw  out  the  signal 
for  forming  in  a  compact  order,  so  as  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  profit- 
ing by  tluir  superiority  ;  but  the  weather  was  extremely  unfiivourable  to 
the  collection  of  his  ships.     The  enemy  perceiving  the  British  squadron, 
notwithstanding  every  effort  of  both  commander  and  ofiicers,  to  be  still 
dispersed,  attacked  the  rear,  while  the  rest  were  by  a  calm  prevented 
from  takmg  a  share  in  the  action.     The  British  ships  that  were  engaged 
were  much  shattered  and  in  danger  of  being  entirely  wrecked,  when  a 
favourable  wind  rising,  enabled  the  others  to  bear  down  on  the  enemy 
with  force  and  effect,' but  darkness  intervening  prevented  the  battle:  and 
during  the  night  the  French  fleet  sailed  away  to  the  north-east.     In  this 
uneqwdl  contest,  though  the  event  was  not  decisive,  two  English  captains 
were  killed  ;  Stevens  of  the  Superb,  and  Reynolds  of  the  Exeter  ;  and 
these  two  ships  were  so  much  damaged,  that  Hughes  found  it  necessary 
to  proceed  to  Trincomale  for  repairs.     There  he  expected  to  meet  a  con- 
voy with  troops  and  stores  from  England,  which  he  intended  to  escort 
to  Madras  :  he  however  found  only  part  of  the  convoy  ;  but  was  joined 
by  two  seventy-four  gun  ships.     Having  refitted  his  squadron,  he  coast- 
ed southwards,  and,  on  the  8th  of  Apiil.   saw  the  French  fleet  to  the 
north-east,  but  at  a  considerable  distance  :  in  three  days  he  arrived  ofi' 
the  coast  of  Ceylon.     The  enemy  meanwhile  having  gained  the  wind, 
and  knowing  the  bay  to  be  extremely  rocky,  resolved  to.  attack  the  Bri- 
tish under  the  disadvantage  of  a  lee-shore  and  a  very  dangerous  road  ; 
and  on  the  12th  of  April  forming  their  line  with  superior  numbers,  favour- 
abl-;  wind,  and  situation,  they   prepared  for  the  onset.      1  he  Enghsli 
admiral  under  these  disadvantages  arrayed  his  fleet ;  the  battle  began 
about  noon ;  both  sides  fought  with  great  fury  ;  and  the  French  finding, 
notwithstanding  their  multiplied  advantages,  they  could  make  no  impres- 
sion on  the  British,  drew  off  their  ships.     Although  these  actions  were 
not  decisive,  yet  they  proved  very  beneficial  to  the  Bn;ish.     Hyder  Al- 
ly had  entered  the  Carnaticin  full  reliance  that  the  naval  force  of  France 
would  crush  the  English,  that  thereby  he  should  capture  Madras,  depose 
the  nabob  of  Arcot,  and  place  his  son  Tippoo  in  his  stead.     Expecting 
the  promised  and  destined  squadron,  he  had  with  the  prospects  of  1788 
consoled  himself  for  the  disappointments  of  1781  ;  but  on  finding  the 

•  Annual  Register,  1783, 
Vot.  VII.— 79 


626  IIIbn)KY  OF    IIIK  Chap,  XXIX.--lf8i. 

[Campaign  against  ITydcr  Ally.     His  defeat  and  death.] 

French  with  so  great  a  superiority  of  numbers  repeatedly  retiring,  he  be- 
gan to  be  convinced  of  tlic  vast  superiority  of  British  prowess,  and  to 
despair  of  accoinphsliiiig  his  favourite  objects.  Tlic  otlier  Indian  pow- 
ers received  tlie  same  impression  in  a  greater  degree,  aiid  became  less 
disposed  to  hostilities,  which  they  now  apprehended  would  be  ultimately 
unavaihng. 

Sir  Eyre  Coote's  plan  of  the  campaign  was  to  divert  Hyder's  force, 
into  detached  operations,  while  he  himself  pressing  on  him  with  t:  e 
main  army,  should  oblige  him  to  evacuate  the  Carnatic.     Major  Abing- 
don at  the  begmning  of  the  year  arrived  in  Tilliciierry,  then  blockaded 
by  a  considerable  part  of  Hyder's  troops  ;  by  a  bold  and  well  conducted 
sallv,  he  entirely  defeated  the  Mysorean,  and  compelled  him  to  raise  the 
blockade  and  retreat  from  the  coast.     Another  British  ijctachmont  was 
stationed  to  protect  Tanjore,  to  repress  the  designs  of  Hyder  Ally  and 
the  French  on  that  side  of  Pondicherry,  and  toco-operate  l>6ni  the  south 
with  the  main  army.     This  body,  consisting  of  two  thousand  foot  and 
two  hundred  and  tiity  horse,  commanded  by  colonel  Braithwaite,  was 
posted  on  the  river  Coleroon ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  recent  defeat 
of  Hyder's  troops  at  Tillicherry,  was  not  apprehensive  that  the  enemy 
■would  approach  the  sea-coast.     Tippoo  Saib  understanding  the  securit} 
of  the  English  detachment,  formed  a  plan  for  surprising  and  surrounding 
the  corps,  with  about  four  hundred  French  and  twenty  thousand  native 
troops.     He  was  but  too  successful,  and  though  the  British  force  made, 
the  most  skilful  and  gallant  resistance,  tliey  were  overpowered  by  num- 
bers.    The  humanity  of  the  French  commander  saved  the  remains  of  the 
British  troops  from  being  massacred  by  Tippoo's  barbarians ;  but  those 
who  survived  the  defeat  were  obliged  to  undergo  the  miseries  of  a  long 
and  cruel  imprisonment.     By  this  disaster  the  southern  parts  of  the  Car- 
natic were  exposed,  and  the  arrival  of  a  considerable  body  of  French 
troops  from  the  Mauritius  made  the  state  of  the  Englisli  more  critical. 
These  forces,  joined  by  a  numerous  body  from  Mysore,  besieged  Cud- 
dalore,  and  soon  compelled  it  to  capitulate;   while  Ilyder  Ally  watched 
the  motions  of  sir  Eyre  Coote.     After  this  capture  they  made  an  attempt 
upon  Vandiwash.     Sir  Eyre  Coote  marched  to  its  relief,  both  to  protect 
an  important  post,  and  in  the  hopes  that  Hyder  Ally,  trusting  to  the  effi- 
cacy of  his  European  auxiliaries,  would  hazard  a  battle  ;  the  Mysorean, 
however,  cautiously  avoided  an  engagement,  and  relinquishing  Vandi- 
wash, retired  backwards  two  days  march,  and  posted  himself  in  a  very 
strong  situation  at  a  place  called  Redhill.     General  Coote  pursued  him 
thither,  attacked  him  on  the  2d  of  June,  defeated  him,  put  his  troops  to 
the  route,  killed  great  numbers,  and  would  have  gained  a  much  more  de- 
cisive victory  had  he  possessed  cavalry  to   pursue  the  fugitives.     The 
battle  of  the  2d  of  June  obliged  the  enemy  to  retire  far  into  the  interior 
country,  and  completed  the  discomllture  of  Hyder's  designs.     This  as- 
piring adventurer,  with  a  comprehensiveness  of  genius,  a  firmness,  and 
magnanimity  of  mind,  not  unworthy  of  the  highest  European  capacity 
and  heroism,  had  projected  to  become  master  of  the  Indian  empire  ;  and 
for  that  purpose,  to  make  tools  of  the  French  and  native  powers,  in  a  con- 
federacy for  expelling  the  English,  the  great  obstacles  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  lofty  projects  of  his  ambition.  In  the  scenes  of  his  personal  en- 
terprise, he  and  his  European  auxiliaries  were  counteracted  and  baffled 
by  British  prowess  directed  by  the  skill  and  abilities  of  a  Hughes  and  a 


f 

ir82.— (;i(Ai'.  XXIX.  ItHIGN  OF  r.KOUGE  Ul.»*.      .'  t527 

[Dissolution  of  the  Indian  confederacy.     Operations  of  sir  Edward  Hughes.] 

Coote,  while  in  the  more  distant  regions  of  hi.s  political  operations,  he 
had  to  contend  with  the  penetrating  sagacity,  profound  and  powerful  ge- 
nius, of  a  lla.st«|||s.  }ie  was  already  apprized  of  the  successful  etlorts 
of  the  governor-general  in  impairing  the  confederacy,  by  reducing  disaf- 
fected allies,  and  persuading  opposing  states  to  a  separate  peace.  He  was 
apprehensive  that  the  same  energetic  character  would  finish  the  enmity 
of  their  powers,  and  that  the  force  of  Bengal,  Madras,  and  Bombay,  might 
ultimately  be  exerted  against  Mysore  alone.  These  disappointments  of 
past  hopes  and  fears  of  future  evils  preyed  on  the  mind  of  Hyder  Ally, 
aflected  his  healtli,  and  spread  a  languor  over  his  subsequent  measures 
and  actions  :  he  withdrew  to  his  capital,  where  some  months  after  he 
died.  The  constitution  of  sir  Eyre  Coote  was  so  greatly  affected  by  the 
iatigues  which  he  had  underoone,  that  he  was  unable  to  keep  the  field 
any  longer ;  he  thereioro  retired  to  Madras,  leaving  the  command  to 
major-general  Stuart.  The  enemy  cautiously  abstaining  from  battle, 
and  the  British  commander  not  being  able  to  compel  an  engagement,  no 
event  of  much  importance  happened  by  land  during  the  rest  of  the  cam- 
paign. The  French  fleet  having  refitted  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  return- 
ed to  the  coast  of  C'oromandel  ;  and  understanding  that  a  re-enforce- 
ment was  daily  expected  to  join  the  Engli.sh  squadron,  sailed  to  Negapa- 
tam  before  the  supplies  should  arrive.  Hughes,  immediately  on  descry- 
ing the  foe,  formed  his  line  of  battle  :  the  contest  began  ;  the  .enemy 
were  thrown  into  disorder  ;  several  of  their  ships  were  greatly  disabled, 
and  they  expected  a  complete  defeat,  when  an  unfavourable  wind  pre- 
vented the  British  from  reaping  the  fruits  of  the  victory,  or  retarding  the 
retreat  of  the  French.  During  the  battle,  a  French  ship  of  the  line 
struck  her  colours,  but  afterwards,  in  defiance  of  the  established  laws  of 
war  and  of  nations,  when  the  British  ship  trusted  to  the  surrender  of  her 
antagonist,  fired  into  her ;  and  the  unfavourable  wind  unfortunately  kept 
the  British  captain  from  punishing  the  infamous  treachery.  Suffrein  re- 
tired to  Cuddalore  to  refit :  fresh  troops  having  arrived  from  France, 
with  two  more  ships  of  the  line,  he  with  his  fleet  and  land  forces  sailed  to 
Trincomale,  which  they  took  by  surprise.  Both  sir  Eyre  Coote  and  sir 
Edward  Hughes  were  very  anxious  for  the  preservation  of  this  import- 
ant possession,  and  the  admiral  immediately  sailed  to  its  relief.  A  fourth 
naval  action  took  place,  in  which  the  English,  though  still  inferior  in 
iorce,  after  a  very  hard  fought  battle,  again  compelled  the  enemy  to  re- 
treat with  great  loss  of  men,  and  their  ships  very  much  disabled.  This 
was  the  last  conflict  between  the  two  fleets  in  the  campaign  of  1782. 

In  northern  India,  Mr.  Hastings  was  successfully  engaged  in  detach- 
ing powers  from  the  hostile  combination.  Having  by  colonel  Muir  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  Moodajee  Sindia,  he  procured  the  mediation  of  that 
chieftain  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Mahrattas,  which  was  concluded  by 
Mr.  Anderson  as  envoy  of  the  governor-general  and  council.  The  Mah- 
rattas engaged  to  sufi'er  no  Europeans  but  the  English  to  establish  facto- 
ries on  their  coasts  ;  to  have  no  intercourse  with  any  others,  except  the 
Portuguese  anciently  settled  in  those  countries,  and  to  join  in  compelling 
the  prince  of  Mysore  to  restore  whatever  possessions  he  had  wrested 
from  the  English  or  their  aUies. 

Sir  Edward  Hughes  having  returned  to  Madras,  was  exposed  to  great 
danger  from  a  hurricane  :  fortunately  his  fleet  escaped  without  loss,  but 
much  damage  was  suffered  by  mercantile  ships.     The  larger  part  of  the 


t 


528  *        **     ^iSTORY  OF  THR  Chap.  XXIX.— 1782, 

[Expedition  against  Mysore.     Death  of  sir  Eyre  Coote.] 


crop  office  beitiir  destroyed,  produced  a  famine  which  cut  off  great  num- 
bers of  the  natives;  but  tlie  vigilant  attention  of  the  governor-general 
and  the  council  of  Calcutta  tended  powerfully  to  allev||te  the  calamity. 
There  beinj;  no  naval  dock  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  sir  Edward 
Hughes  sailed  round  to  Bombay,  to  be  thoroughly  repaired  :  there  he 
was  joined  i)y  the  long  expected  .squadron  under  sir  Richard  Bickerton. 
The  councils  of  Calcutta  and  Bombay  now  freed  from  the  Mahratta  war, 
directed  their  views  to  Tippoo  Saib,  and  proposed  to  make  a  powerful  di- 
version on  the  iMalahar  coast.  To  enable  tlie  government  of  Bombay  to 
carry  on  the  war  with  vigour  and  eflect,  the  supreme  council  sent,  them 
fifteen  lacks  of  rupees  from  the  treasury  of  Calcutta,  which  was  now  by 
the  policv  of  Mr.  Hastings  well  supplied  ;  and,  instead  of  wanting  money 
for  that  settlement  itself,  was  able  to  assist  the  other  presidencies. 

In  the  close  of  1782,  colonel  Humbcrslown,  with  a  considerable 
body  of  troops,  was  despatched  to  the  Malabar  coast;  and  after  having 
made  proi^ress  in  the  maritime  parts,  ventured  to  penetrate  into  the 
interior  country,  where  he  was  repulsed  wiiii  loss,  closely  pursued, 
and  involved  in  a  very  dangerous  situation  Tippoo  Saib  informed 
that  the  British  commander  was  so  far  advanced,  hastened  after  him, 
but  Humberstown  by  forced  marches  reached  Paniary,  where  colonel 
Macleod  was  just  arrived  from  Madras  with  a  body  of  troops.  Tippoo 
Saib  immediately  followed,  and  invested  the  town,  of  which  Macleod. 
as  elder  officer,  look  the  command:  the  bravery  of  the  British  com- 
pelled Tippoo  to  raise  the  siege,  and  he  returned  with  great  expedi- 
tion to  the  Carnatic.  General  Matthews  having  been  sent  from  Bom- 
bay to  the  relief  of  colonel  Humberstown,  received  on  his  way  intel- 
ligence of  Tippoo  Saib's  discomfiture  and  retreat.  Encouraged  by 
this  information,  he  attacked  the  city  of  Onore,  the  capital  ol'  Bednorc 
(called  also  Canara ;)  be  took  it  by  storm,  nor  was  he  able  to  prevent 
the  outrages  incidental  to  tliat  mode  of  captvire.  Matthews  pcneiraled 
into  ihat  country,  took  other  towns  and  fortresses  by  assault,  and  though 
the  detail  of  his  operations  be  not  accurately  known,  yet  it  would  ap- 
pear from  the  general  outlines  communicaied  to  the  public,  that  very 
unnecessary,  and  consequently  very  unjustifiable  cruelties  wei'e  com- 
mitted. About  this  time  died  sir  Eyre  Coote,  who  had  rendered  such 
very  important  services  to  the  British  interests  in  India.  Having 
found  the  company's  fortune  at  Madras  at  the  lowest  ebb  in  1 78  I,  he, 
with  a  very  inferior  force,  that  year  effectually  checked  tlie  progress 
of  the  Indian  conqueror;  and  in  the  next  entirely  overthrew  his  pro- 
jects. He,  indeed,  seconded  by  sir  Edward  Hughes,  may  be  consider- 
ed as  the  immediate  military  saviour  of  the  Carnatic,  in  co-operation 
with  Mr.  Hastings,  the  political  saviour  of  India. 

Sir  Edward  Hughes  arrived  at  Madras  with  his  fleet  in  April, 
1783,  and  on  the  2d  of  May  set  sail  in  (jucst  of  the  enemy.  His 
strength  was  considerably  weakened  by  sickness;  they,  however, 
sought  an  action  with  the  enemy,  who  gave  them  battle  on  the  20th 
of  June,  in  which  the  French,  having  the  advantage  of  the  wind,  pre- 
vented a  close  engagement.  Sir  Edward  Hughes  returned  for  sup- 
plies and  provisions  to  Madras:  but  before  he  was  ready  to  sail 
again,  intelligence  arrived  from  Europe  which  stopped  his  intended 
operations. 

Tippoo  Sultan*  having  surprised,  and  by  superior  numbers  ovcr- 

•  He  assumed  the  title  of  SulUn  on  the  death  of  his  father.    See  Annual  Regis 
ter,  1783. 


1782.— Chap.  XXIX. ,  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  111,  520 

[Europe.    Siege  and  capture  of  Minorca  ] 

powered  Matthews's  band,  and  retaken  some  of  the  towns  which  that 
{general  had  captured,  turned  the  siege  of  the  rest  into  a  blockade. 
General  Stuart,  now  commander  in  the  Carnatic,  made  it  liis  chief 
object  to  expel  the  French,  Avho  were  re  enforced  by  a  fresh  body  of 
soldiers  under  the  marquis  de  Bussy,  and  assisted  by  a  detachment  of 
Tippoo's  troops  After  he  had  evacuated  Mysore  himself  with  his 
main  army,  he  sent  colonels  Long  and  Fullerton  to  inv-idc  the  south- 
ern parts  of  Tippoo's  dominions  ;  and  these  commanders  overran  the 
whole  Coimbatour  country.  The  French  were  strongly  fortified  at 
Cuddalore  ;  this  town  Stuart  determined  to  besiege;  and  having  spent 
the  month  of  May  in  making  preparations,  he  marched  in  the  begin- 
ning of  June.  On  the  7th,  seconded  admirably  by  all  his  officers  and 
soldiers,  and  natives,  lie  carried  the  outworks  of  the  enemy  ;  some 
days  after,  repulsed  a  very  vigorous  and  well-conducted  sally,  and 
made  such  approaches  as  were  likely  to  ensure  success,  when  orders 
from  Europe  put  a  stop  to  hostilities. 

The  first  scene  of  warlike  operations  in  Europe  in  the  year  178  3, 
was  Minorca.    The  Spaniards  had  made  very  great  preparations  to  re- 
cover this   ancient   possession :   thither  were  sent  sixteen  thousand 
land  forces,  with  a  train  of  artillery,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and 
nine  pieces  of  the  heaviest  cannon,  and  thirty-six  great  mortars.    Tlic 
English  garrison  amounted  to  only  two   thousand  six  hundred  and 
ninety-two  men  ;  and  the  whole  force  of  Britain  was  so  appropriated 
to  various  services,  that  no  addition  could  be  spared  for  the  relief  of 
Minorca.    The   fortress   was  in  some  respects  very  strong,   but   its 
works  were  so  numerous  and  extensive,  as  to  require  at  least  six 
thousand  men  for  effeciual  defence,  so  that  the  present  number  was 
totally  inadequate.    Notwithstanding  the  vast  advantage  possessed  by 
the   enemy,    their   king    endeavoured   to   increase  it    by  instigating 
treachery  ;  a  bribe  was  offered  to  the  govei'nor,  general  Mui  ray  :  the 
gallant  veteran  treated  the  attempt  with  tlie  generous  indignuiion  of 
a  man  of  integrity  and  honour,  solicited   to  become  a   villain.    The 
enemy  finding  their  insidious  proffers  rejected   with    merited  scorn, 
proceeded  to  invest  St.  Philip's.    In  August,   1781,    they  had  cut  off 
all   communication  between   the  fort  and  the   country;  and  though 
there  was  no  want  of  other  provisions,  they  were  debaired  from  sup- 
plies of  vegetables.    This  privation  was  the  more  severely  felt,  as  tliey 
were  obliged  to  live  on  salted  meats:  the  scurvy  soon  began  to  rage, 
and  was  accompanied  by  a  putrid  fever,  which  carried  off  great  num- 
bers of  the  garrison,  while  others  were  daily  falling  by  the  cannonade 
of  the  enemy.    Notwithstanding  these  multiplied  evils,  the  defenders 
displayed  the  utmost  valour  and  constancy,  and  made  several  success- 
ful sallies.    Though  by  their  artillery  they  daily  impaired  the  numbers 
of  the  British,  the  enemy  employed  five  nionihs  in  constructing  theii 
works.    In  the  beginning  of  February,  the  garrison  was  so  much  re- 
duced by  sickness,  that  there  were  only  six  hundred  and  sixty  men 
left  who  were  in  a  degree  fit  for  duty  ;  and  of  ihese  all  but  one  hun- 
dred were  so  far  tainted  with  the  scurvy,  that  the  physicians  and  sur- 
geons declared  they  could  hold  oiit  only  a  very  few  days  before  they 
must  be  sent  to  the  hospital:  they  likewise  affirmed,  that  longer  per- 
severance in  defence  must  prove  the  inevitable  destruction  of  the  re- 
mains of  that  brave  garrison.    There  was,  they  said,  no  possible  re- 
medy for  the  sick,  nor  means  even  of  keeping  the  greater  part  of  them 


630  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIX— irs; 

[French  convo)  intercepted.    Efibrts  of  captain  Jervis.] 

much  long^er  alive  but  by  a  speedy  relief  of  wholesome  air,  aided  by 
an  abundant  supply  of  vegetables.  It  was  also  apprehended  that  the 
enemy,  knowiiiij  the  weakness  of  the  garrison,  would  now,  that  their 
works  were  finished,  attempt  to  carry  it  by  assault.  From  all  these 
considerations,  the  governor  thought  it  necessary  to  capitulate,  and 
obtained  ihe  most  honourable  terms. 

Meanwhile  preparations  were  making  on  both  sides  for   the  naval 
campaign.    The  armaments  which   France,   Spain,   and  Holland  had 
equipped  to  act  against  Great  Britain  on  the  European  seas,  contained 
seventy  ships  of  the  line.    As  our  force  for  the  home  service  was  very 
inferior  to  the  fleets  of  the  enemy  if  united,  the  object   of  the  first 
iniporlance  was  to  prevent  their  junction,  and  weaken  them  by  sepa- 
rate attacks  :  the  second  was  lo  protect  our  numerous  convoys,  with- 
out departing  so  far  as  to  leave  our  coasts  unguarded ;  and  the  third, 
to  relieve  Gibraltar.    On  the  13th  of  April,  admiral  Barrington,  with 
twelve  ships  of  the  line  and  several  frigates,  sailed  towards  the  bay  of 
Biscay.    On  the  20th,  he  descried  a  fleet,  that  proved  to  be  a  convoy 
destined  for  the  East  Indies,  to  supply  the  loss  incurred  by  the  dis- 
persion and  capture  of  the  former  transports.    They  had  sailed  from 
Brest  only  the  day  before,  escorted  by  the  Protecteur  and  Pegase  of 
seventy-four  guns,  the  Actionaire  of  sixty-four,  and  a  frigate.    The 
British  admiral  having  made  a  signal  for  general  chase,  captain  Jer- 
vis of  the  Foudroyant  of  seventy  four  guns,  so  far  outstripped  the  rest 
during  the  night,  that  in  the  morning  he  was  out  of  sight  of  the  fleet. 
The  French  commander  ordering  the  convoy  to  disperse,  and  the  Pro- 
tecteur having  a  large  sum  of  money  on  board,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
other  two  ships  sliould  keep  the  enemy  employed,  while  she  made 
the  best  of  her  way.     In  a  short  time  captain  Jervis  overtook  the  Pe- 
gase, both  ships  were  fresh  from  the  harbour,  and  were  nearly  equal 
in  force.    A  very  fierce  action  ensued,  in  which,  notwithstanding  the 
most  valiant  efforts  of  the  enemy,  British   seamanship  and  discipline 
so  completely  prevailed,  as  that  near  a  hundred  of  the  French  were 
killed,  and  a  much  greater  number  wounded;  though  not  one  Briton 
was  killed,  and  but  very  few  wounded  :  after  a  conflict  of  an  hour,  the 
French  ship  surrendered.    The  Pegase  being  extremely  disabled,  cap- 
tain Maitlanc!  of  the  Queen  took  her  in  charge,  while  the  Foudroyant 
proceeded  in  the  chase.    Captain  Maitland  having  taken  three  hun- 
dred of  the  prisoners  out  of  the  Pegase,  sent  lieutenant  Bissct  with  a  " 
party  on  board  to  guard  the  rest,  and  take  direction  of  the  prize.    Im- 
mediately after,  a  French  ship  of  war  appeared,  which  he  understood 
to  be  the  Protecteur  :  he  ordered  the    lieutenant,  with  a  cutter  that 
was  in  company,  to  conduct  the  Pegase  into  an  English  port,  while 
he  himself,  incumbered  as  he  was  with  prisoners,  pursued  the  enemy. 
A  chase  of  fourteen  hours  brought  him  up  with  the  Frenchman,  when, 
after  the  first  broadside,  she,  to  his  great  suiprise,  struck  her  colours, 
and  proved  to  be  the  Actionaire,   having  on  board  two  hundred  and 
fifty  seamen,  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers.    The  other  pursuers 
were  also  successful,  and  took  twelve  ships  of  the  convoy,  having  on 
board  about  a  thousand  soldiers.    After  this  very  successful    cruise, 
extremely  boisterous  weather  obliged  the  admiral  to  return  to  port, 
where  he  arrived  in  the  end  of  the  month.    Captain  Jervis  was  im- 
mediately after  made  a  knight  of  the  bath,  an  honour  destined  to  be 
prelusive  to  a  more  splendid  mark  of  his  sovereign's  favour,  earned 


^irS2.— CiiAr.  XXIX.  RETGN  OF  GEOUr.E  III.  (j31 

[The  combined  fleets  enter  the  channel.   Loss  of  the  Royal  George.] 

by  the  exertion  of  the  same  heroic  qualities  on  a  much  wider  field. 
Intelligence  being  received  that  the  Dutch  fleet  was  prcpariiic;;  to 
come  out  of  the  Texel,  lord  Howe  sailed  with  twelve  sliips  of  the 
line  to  the  coast  of  Holland,  either  to  interceptor  confine  the  enemy; 
but  finding  they  weie  not  disposed  to  venture  to  the  North  Seas,  and 
that  the  combined  fleets  of  France  and  Spain  had  set  sail,  he  returned 
to  join  admiral  Kempcnfcldt  at  Portsmouth.  In  the  bcs^inning  of  June, 
Guichen,  who  had  been  some  months  stationed  at  Cadiz,  and  don 
Louis  dc  Coidova,  sailed  with  twenty-five  ships  of  the  line,  and  in 
their  progress  northward  were  joined  by  about  twenty  more.  Willi 
this  mighty  force,  steering  to  the  channel,  they  intercepted  part  of  a 
Xewioundland  convoy;  but  the  most  valuable  portion,  together  with 
the  escorting  ships  of  war,  escaped.  The  enemy  being  now  in  the 
mouth  of  the  channel,  great  apprehensions  were  entertained  concern- 
ing a  homeward-bound  fleet  of  merchantmen  from  Jamaica,  protected 
by  only  three  ships  of  the  line,  under  sir  Peter  Parker.  Lord  Howe 
sailed  in  the  beginning  of  July,  accompanied  by  the  admirals  Barring- 
ton,  sir  John  Lockhart  Ross,  and  Kempenfcldt.  This  fleet  amounted 
to  no  more  than  twenty-two  sail  of  the  line  :  therefore  the  object  was 
to  receive  the  Jamaica  fleet,  and  bafllc  tiie  attempts  of  the  enemy, 
without  being  forced  to  an  engagement  with  so  very  superior  an  ar- 
mament. The  abilities  and  professional  skill  of  this  great  man,  so 
well  seconded,  very  dexterously  and  completely  accomplished  these 
purposes.  The  combined  fleets  neither  intercepted  our  trade,  nor 
could  eflect  a  junction  with  the  Dutch:  and,  finding  they  could  de- 
rive no  advantage  from  continuing  in  the  channel,  retired  from  our 
coasts.  The  British  fleet  having  returned  to  Portsmouth,  an  acci- 
dental calamity  befell  one  of  our  ships,  involving  in  it  circumstances 
that  caused  a  deep  concern  throughout  the  nation.  While  other  ships 
were  receiving  some  necessary  repairs,  the  Royal  George,  of  one 
hundred  guns,  was  found  to  require  a  slight  species  of  careen,  which 
can  be  executed  by  laying  a  vessel,  in  a  certain  degree,  on  her  side, 
without  the  trouble  and  delay  of  taking  her  into  dock.  On  the  29th  of 
August  this  business  was  undertaken  ;  the  ship  was  crowded  with 
people  from  the  shore,  especially  about  three  hundred  women,  be- 
sides about  nine  hundred  of  the  crew.  The  carpenters  had  moved  the 
ship  a  kreake  more  on  her  side  than  was  intended  ;  when,  about  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  sudden  squall  arising,  threw  her  fatally  up- 
on her  side,  and  her  gun-ports  being  open,  and  the  motion  of  the 
cannon  increasing  the  violence  of  the  shock,  she  was  almost  instantly 
filled  with  water,  and  went  to  the  bottom.  The  admiral,  with  a  con- 
siderable number  of  his  ofiicers,  and  about  nine  hundred  of  the  crew 
and  visitors,  perished  at  this  melancholy  moment.  The  Royal  George 
was  the  largest  and  strongest  ship  in  the  British  navy  ;  had  been  the 
seat  of  command  under  most  of  our  distinguished  admirals,  especially 
lord  Hawke,  in  his  celebrated  battle  with  Conflans.  Admiral  Kemp- 
enfeldt*  was  very  eminent  for  professional  science,  knowledge,  and 
judgment,  and  deemed  unrivalled  in  the  art  of  manoeuvring;  being 
besides  amiable  and  estimable  as  a  man,  he  was  universally  lamented. 
Having  protected  our  coasts  and  our  trade,  and  prevented  the  junc- 

•  He  was  son  to  colonel  Kempenfeldt,  exhibited  by  the  Spectator  under  the 
name  of  captain  Sentry. 


h32  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIX.— 178^ 

[Renewed  operations  against  Gibraltar.] 

tion  of  the  Bourbon  fleets  with  the  Dutch,  Biitaio  now  directed  her 
naval  attention  to  tlie  relief  of  Gibraltar.    From  the  surrender  of  Mi- 
norca, the  king  of  Spain  hoped  ilic  key  of  the  Mediterranean  v.  ould 
be  the  next  acquisition.     The  duke  de  Criilon,  a  French  nobleman, 
who  had  commanded  at  Mniorca,  undertook  the  supreme  conduct  of 
the  siege  :   he  was  assisted  by  a  great  nuniber  of  the  best  officers  of 
both  countries,  and  particularly  by  the  most  skilful  engineers  and  ar- 
tillerists of  his  own.    An  immense  increase  of  land  and  sea  forces  was 
brought  both  from  France  and  Spain,  to  aid  the  troops  already  before 
Gibraltar  ;  and  many  of  the  nobility  from  both  countries  came  to  serve 
as  volunteers.    The  two  princes  of  the  blood-royal  of  France,  one  of 
them   the  king's  own  brother,  the  count  d'Arlois,  sought   glory  by 
combating  the  brave  British  garrison,  and  its  illustrious  commander. 
In  the  spirit  of  loyalty  which  was  then  diffused  through  the  French 
soldiers,  the  presence  of  their  princes  excited  an  enthusiastic  desire 
of  distinguishing  themselves  before  so  adored   witnesses  :  the  same 
spirit  pervaded  the  Spaniards,  and  both  became  impatient  for  action. 
The  besiegers  had  prepared  new  and  extraordinary  machines  ;  bat- 
tering ships  which,  though  of  an  astonishing  bulk,  could  go  through 
all  their  evolutions  with  the  ease  and  dexterity  of  frigates.    Twelve 
hundred  pieces  of  heavy  ordnance  were  to  play  from  land   and  sea, 
besides  a  large  floating  battery,  and  five  bomb  ketches.    The  land  and 
naval  troops  by  whicli  these  operations  were  to  be  carried  on,  amount- 
ed to  forty  thousand  men,  besides  the  combined  fleet  of  fifty  ships  of 
the  line,  that  was  to  cover  and  support  the  attack.     While  disposi- 
tions   were   making    for    so    tremendous    an    assault,    the   besiegers 
amused  themselves  with  calculations  of  the  exact  time  in  which  Gib- 
raltar would  be  taken  ;  some  said  the  garrison  would  hold  out  twelve 
hours  after  the  onset  commenced  ;  others  less  sanguine,  thought  it  would 
last  .sixteen  ;  and  some,  though  very  few,  allowed  even  twenty-four  for 
the  completion  of  the  conquest.* 

Elliot,  without  precisely  knowing  what  the  inventions  of  the  enemy 
were,  had  a  general  idea  tliat  their  dispositions  were  both  mighty  and 
extraordinary,  and   with  comprehensive  wisdom  and  magnanimity  pre- 
pared again.st  evory  species  of  attack.    Perceiving  their  works  on  the 
land  side  to  be  nearly  completed,  he  determined  to  try  how  far  a  vigorous 
cannonade  and  bombardment  with  red-hot  balls,  carcasses,  and  shells, 
might  operate  to  their  destruction.    On  the  8th  of  September,  at  seven  » 
in   the  morning,   he  commenced  a  firing  so  powerful,  and  so  admirably 
directed,  as  to  commit  considerable  devastation  on  the  enemy's  works. 
Enraged  at  this  lo.is,  the  besiegers  hurried  on  their  grand  attack.    On  the 
13th  of  September,  this  tremendous  operation  commenced  both  by  sea 
and  land  ;  the  various  parts  being  very  skilfully  adjusted,  their  batteries 
appeared  to  have  prodigious  efl^ect;  their  battering  ships  especially,  so 
formidable  for  odence,  during  several  hours  seemed  exquisitely  adapted 
for  defence,  and  invulnerable  to  the  red-hot  balls  that  were  pouring  from 
the  garrison.    The  execution  of  these  terrible  instruments,  though  not 
inslantaneou.s,  was  nevertheless  efllactual :  about  two  o'clock,  the  admi^ 
ral's  ship  was  seen  to  issue  smoke,  at  night  she  was  in  flames,  and  seve- 
ral others  on  fire  ;  soon  afterwards  the  conflagration  was  general  over 
the  battering  ships,  and  the  sole  endeavours  of  the  enemy  were  exerted 

•  Annual  Register,  1782,  p.  232. 


1782.— Chap.  XXIX.  KEIGN  OF  GKORGE  III.  ^^33 

[Attempted  blockade.    The  fleet  is  relieved  by  lord  Howe.] 

in  saving  the  men.  Tlie  small  naval  force  employed  in  the  garrison  of 
Gibraltar,  was  commanded  by  captain  Curtis  ;  that  brave  officer  and  his 
sailors  had,  in  the  preceding  attacks  from  the  garrison,  performed  very 
difficult  and  important  services  by  laud  ;  now  an  opportunity  occurred 
for  exerting  themselves  on  their  own  element.  During  the  confusion  and 
distress  of  the  eneiny  hurrying  from  the  burning  battering  ships,  captain 
Curtis,  with  twelve  gun-boats,  flanked  their  line,  raked  them  on  one  side, 
whilst  the  garrison  was  destroying  them  from  another.  The  Spanish 
boats  durst  no  longer  attempt  to  assist  the  battering  ships  ;  and,  when 
daylight  appeared,  the  assailants  who  had  been  stationed  on  those  were 
seen  perishing  in  the  flames,  or,  endeavouring  to  escape,  overwhelmed 
by  the  opposite  element.  The  British  now  seeing  that  they  had  com- 
pletely destroyed  those  formidable  batteries,  with  characteristic  humani- 
ty, endeavoured  to  rescue  the  remainder- of  their  defenders  ;  and  captain 
Curtis  and  his  gallant  band,  through  great  danger  to  themselves,  saved 
the  lives  of  about  four  hundred.  Such  was  the  signal  and  complete  de- 
fensive victory  obtained  by  a  comparatively  small  handful  of  heroes,  over 
the  combined  efforts  and  united  powers  by  sea  and  land,  of  two  great, 
warlike,  and  potent  nations,  who,  sparing  no  expense  nor  exertion  of  art 
for  the  attainment  of  a  favourite  object,  exceeded  all  former  examples  as 
well  in  the  magnitude  as  the  formidable  nature  of  their  preparations.  The 
enemy  being  so  totally  disappointed  in  their  sanguine  expectations  of 
.taking  this  fortress  by  assault,  now  rested  their  sole  hopes  on  the  re- 
sumption of  blockade,  by  preventing  lord  Howe  from  bringing  the  ex- 
pected ammunition  and  provisions.  They  professed  ardently  to  wish  for 
the  arrival  of  the  British  fleet,  and  assured  themselves  of  compensating 
their  direful  disasters  by  brilliant  victory.  On  the  9th  of  October  a  vio- 
lent storm  dispersed  the  combined  armament,  and  exposed  them  to  im- 
minent danger.  Lord  Howe  having  been  retarded  by  contrary  winds, 
did  not  arrive  at  the  straits  until  the  11th  of  October;  during  the  night  a 
considerable  part  of  the  fleet  having  missed  the  bay  of  Gibraltar,  entered 
the  Mediterranean,  and  the  next  day  the  admiral  followed  to  assemble 
the  scattered  ships,  having  left  the' Buffalo  of  sixty  guns  to  cojlect  the 
store-ships  as  they  arrived  in  the  bay,  and  also  the  Panther  d/tHe  same 
force  in  the  straits.  On  the  13th,  the  combined  fleet  passed  the  straits 
with  about  forty-seven  ships  of  the  line,  three  of  their  men  of  war  having 
been  disabled  by  the  tempest,  and  discovered  lord  Howe  with  thirty-two 
ships  of  the  line  off  the  coast  of  Grenada  ;  next  morning,  however,  they 
were  out  of  sight.  The  British  admiral  now  sailing  westward,  sent  his 
convoy  safe  into  Gibraltar  ;  it  contained  a  re-enforceinent  of  troops, 
with  plentiful  supplies  of  ammunition  and  provisions  of  every  sort  for  the 
garrison.  The  enemy  did  not  make  their  appearance  until  after  this  great 
object  of  the  expedition  was  completely  effected.  On  the  19th  of  Octo- 
ber, when  lord  Howe,  being  joined  by  the  Buffalo  and  Panther,  was,  with 
thirty-four  ships,  entering  into  the  gut  of  Gibraltar,  he  descried  the  ene- 
my sailing  from  the  northeast  towards  the  straits,  with  the  wind  blowing 
fair  from  the  Mediterranean.  He  thought  it  would  be  extremely  impru- 
dent, with  so  mferior  a  force,  to  hazard  an  engagement  in  a  dangerous 
road,  well  known  to  the  enemy,  but  not  to  his  fleet;  he  therefore  pro- 
ceeded to  the  open  ocean.  On  the  21st  of  October,  he  descried  the  ene- 
my following  him  at  about  five  leagues  to  windward,  and  immediately 
Vol.  VII.— 80 


034  HISTORY  OF  Tlin  CuAP.  XXlX.— 1783 

[Pacific  disposition  of  the  belligerent  powers.] 

formed  a  line  of  battle.  The  enemy  havinf]f  the  wind  in  their  favour,  had 
their  choice  both  of  the  time  of  action  and  tiie  di.-^tancc  from  which  they 
should  engage.  At  sunset  the  combined  fleets  began  a  cannonade,  which 
the  British  returned  with  such  effect  as  to  produce  considerable  damage, 
and  to  throw  their  antagonists  into  evident  contusion.  The  French  and 
Spanish  admirals  drew  off  their  ships  about  ten  at  night ;  and  in  the  morn- 
ing they  were  seen  at  a  great  distance,  sailing  away  in  the  direction  of 
Cadiz.  Several  considerations  prevented  lord  Howe  from  pursuing  the 
enemy  ;  he  iiad  effected  the  principal  purpose  of  his  command  in  relieving 
Gibraltar;  he  had  been  ordered  to  despatch  eight  of  his  ships,  after  the 
relief  of  the  garrison,  to  the  West  Indies  :  the  force  of  the  enemy  was  so 
superior  as  to  render  the  issue  of  a  battle  extremely  doubtful ;  and  even  if 
he  should  succeed,  he  was  to  expect  his  ships  to  be  so  much  damaged  as  to 
disable  them  from  proceeding  tcr  the  other  destined  services.  Lord  Howe 
was  too  wise  to  light  merely  for  the  sake  of  battle,  and  to  incur  certain 
danger  without  any  definite  object.  He  therefore  proceeded  to  England, 
where,  after  having  on  his  way  detached  part  of  his  fleet  to  the  West  In- 
dies, he  arrived  in  safety  with  the  rest.  Thus  in  the  protection  of  her 
coasts  and  trade,  preventing  the  junction  of  the  Dutch  vyith  the  Bourbon 
fleets,  and  the  relief  of  Gibraltar,  Britain  effected  the  three  great  objects 
of  the  campaign  1782  in  Europe.  In  the  East  and  West  Indies  the 
schemes  of  our  enemies  had,  as  we  have  seen,  proved  equally  abortive. 
A  confederacy  extending  from  the  north  sea  to  the  Mediterranean,  con- 
taining the  three  greatest  naval  states,  and  almost  all  the  maritime  force 
r)f  continental  Europe,  found  their  mighty  efforts  against  the  navy  of 
England  recoil  on  themselves. 

The  various  contending  parties  at  length  began  to  see,  that  whatever 
partial  advantages  might  be  gained,  the  contest  in  which  they  were  en- 
gaged tended  to  the  general  injury  of  all  the  belligerent  powers.  France 
had  succeeded  in  separating  the  American  colonies  from  Britain;  but  had 
been  foiled  in  her  principal  purpose  of  obtaining  naval  and  commercial 
supremacy.  Her  operations  had  been  carried  on  at  an  enormous  ex- 
pense, which  not  only  annihilated  all  the  recent  savings  of  her  reforming 
economist,  but  infinitely  exceeded  her  revenue,  and  overwhelmed  her 
with  new  debt.  The  war  which  caused  euch  unprecedented  expenditure, 
had  been  far  from  producing  any  advantage  likely  to  secure  an  eventual 
equivalent :  her  expectations  of  compensating  present  embarrassment, 
were  becoming  daily  more  hopeless.  The  confederacy  in  India  was 
crumbling  to  pieces,  and  British  superiority  was  again  manifest :  all  her 
sanguine  projects  against  the  West  Indies  had  fallen  under  the  victorious 
arms  of  Rodney  ;  and  America,  impoverished  by  her  long  and  arduous 
struggle,  was  more  likely  to  drain  than  to  supply  the  treasure  of  her  al- 
lies. Spain  had  engaged  in  the  war  as  the  tool  of  French  ambition,  which 
artfully  playing  on  the  weakness,  personal  prejudices,  and  vanity  of  the 
prince,  dazzled  him  by  splendid  promises  of  Gibraltar  and  Jamaica,  and 
thereby  blinded  him  to  his  real  interests,  to  which  nothing  could  be  more 
contrary  than  cither  the  ei;couragement  of  revolt  in  American  colonies,  or 
hoh-tilities  with  England.  All  her  mighty  and  costly  preparations  against 
Gibraltar  had  Hillcn  under  Elliot's  red-hot  balls.  From  Rodney  her 
schemes  against  Jamaica  received  a  decisive  defeat,  her  hopes  of  naval 
and  commercial  aggrandizement  through  the  depression  of  England  had 


irR2.— CnAP.  XXIX.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  535 

[Preliminary  articles  signed.    Acknowledgment  of  American  independence.] 

perished,  her  ships  had  been  captured  and  her  fleets  overthrown.  In  four 
years,  all  her  extraordinary  exertions,  all  her  waste  of'blood  and  treasure 
had  conquered  a  defenceless  province,*  and  captured  a  hospital. "f  Ame- 
rica had  succeeded  in  the  contest,  and  attained  the  objects  lor  which  she 
fought;  but  she  prevailed  by  efforts  which  drained  her  resources,  by  la- 
bours that  required  a  respite  as  soon  as  it  could  be  procured  consistently 
with  her  public  engagements.  During  her  short  warfare,  Plolland,  in  the 
loss  of  her  settlements,  the  seizure  of  her  treasures,  and  the  destruction 
of  her  trade,  learned  how  dangerous  it  is  for  a  state  derivinjr  its  subsist- 
ence  from  commerce,  to  provoke  to  war  a  neighbour  that  rules  the  ocean. 
Britain  for  the  last  five  years  had  been  engaged  in  a  war  to  defend  her 
maritime  sovereignty  ;  great  as  had  been  her  collateral  losses,  she  had 
on  the  wliole  maintained  that  grand  object ;  but  her  defence,  though  ma- 
nifesting her  energy,  had  drained  her  resources  :  her  expenditure  was 
enormous,  her  debts  and  taxes  had  far  exceeded  the  anticipation  of  even 
her  most  desponding  politicians  ;  trade  was  interrupted,  difficulties  and 
distress  poignant  and  alarming  ;  incretising  demands  appeared  to  por- 
tend the  derangement  of  her  finances,  and  the  downfall  of  her  credit. 
From  all  these  circumstances  it  was  the  interest  of  each  party  separately, 
and  all  jointly,  to  conciliate  peace. 

The  determination  lately  avowed  by 'England  to  acknowledge  the  in- 
dependence of  America,  removed  the  most  ostensive  obstacle  to  an  ac- 
commodation, as  the  discomfiture  of  their  designs  dispelled  the  real  ob- 
jections of  our  European  enemies.  The  empress  of  Russia  and  emperor 
of  Germany,  finding  a  pacificatory  disposition  in  the  belligerent  powers, 
and  that  circumstances  now  admitted  of  its  being  carried  into  effect,  of- 
fered themselves,  and  were  accepted  as  mediators.  Soon  after  lord  Shel- 
burne  became  prime  minister,  the  Briti.^h  government  had  sent  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Windham  Grenville,  brother  to  the  earl  of  Temple,  to  Paris,  to  pave 
the  way  for  opening  a  negotiation  in  the  proper  form.  These  prelimina- 
ries being  settled,  Mr.  Fitzherbert,  env^oy  at  Brussels,  was  appointed 
plenipotentiary  to  negotiate  and  conclude  a  peace  with  the  ministers  of 
France,  Spain,  and  Holland.  He  accordingly  proceeded  to  Paris  in  the 
beginning  of  November;  Mr.  Oswald,  a  merchant,  was  likewise  de- 
spatched to  the  French  metropolis  as  commissioner  from  his  Britannic 
majesty,  for  treating  of  peace  with  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
John  Jay,  and  Henry  Laurens,  four  of  the  commissioners  nominated  for 
the  same  purpose  on  tlie  part  of  the  United  States  of  America.  On  the 
30th  of  November,  provisionary  articles  were  signed  as  the  grounds  of 
future  peace  :  by  this  treaty,  the  freedom,  sovereignty,  and  independence 
of  the  thirteen  United  States  was  individually,  by  name,  and  in  the  fullest 
and  most  express  terms,  acknowledged,  and  every  claim  to  their  govern- 
ment, property,  and  territorial  rights  for  ever  relinquished  by  the  crown 
of  Britain.  To  prevent  all  future  disputes  about  boundaries,  several  lines 
were  drawn,  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  follow  with  geographical  minute- 
ness ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  Britain  retained  Canada  and  Nova  Sco- 
tia ;  and  acknowledged  all  the  territory  southwards  to  Georgia  inclusive, 
westward  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  eastwards  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  be  independent :.  to  the  United  States,  so  defined,  she  granted 

•   West  Florida,  f  Minorca. 


536  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIX.— 1783. 

[Treaties  between  Britain  and  the  respective  powers.] 

ail  unlimited  right  of  fishery  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  in  the  gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  and  all  other  places  where  both  nations  had  heretofore 
been  accustomed  to  fish.  American  creditors  were  to  recover  fair  debts 
in  sterling  money  :  congress  engaged  to  recommend  to  the  legislatures 
to  restore  all  estates,  rights,  and  properties,  belonging  to  real  British 
subjects,  wliich  had  been  confiscated  ;  also  of  other  loyalists  who  had 
not  borne  arms  against  the  United  States,  and  to  treat  with  mildness  all 
descriptions  of  loyalists.  Congress  I'arther  engaged,  that  after  the  con- 
clusion of  the  treaty,  there  should  be  no  future  confiscations,  or  prosecu- 
tions for  having  joined  the  British. 

By  the  treaty  with  France,  England  extended  the  privilege  of  the 
French  to  fish  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  likewise  ceded  the 
islands  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon  in  full  right  to  France,  and  cbnse- 
quently  without  any  restriction  in  point  of  fortification.  In  the  West  In- 
dies, England  restored  to  France  the  island  of  St.  Lucia  ;  and  ceded  and 
guaranteed  to  her  the  island  of  Tobago.  On  the  other  hand  France  re- 
stored to  Britain,  the  island  of  Grenada,  and  the  Grenadines,  with  St. 
Vincent's,  Don)inica,  St.  Christophers,  Nevis,  and  Montserrat.  In  Af- 
rica, England  ceded  to  France  the  river  of  Senegal,  with  the  forts  and 
dependencies ;  and  also  the  island  of  Goree.  France  guaranteed  to 
England  the  river  Gambia,  and  Fort  St.  James.  In  India,  England  re- 
stored her  acquisitions  during  the  war ;  in  return  for  which  France,  hav- 
ing made  no  conquest,  could  not  give  an  equivalent  in  that  country,  and 
none  was  required  in  any  other.  In  Europe,  England  agreed  to  the  ab- 
rogation and  suppression  of  all  the  articles  relative  to  Dunkirk,  from  the 
treaty  of  peace  concluded  at  Utrecht,  in  1713,  inclusively  to  the  present 
time. 

By  the  treaty  with  Spain,  Great  Britain  ceded  not  only  Minorca  and 
West  Florida,  but  also  East  Florida;  and  Spain  on  her  part  restored  to 
Britain  the  Bahama  Islands.  The  preliminaries  between  Britain  and  Hol- 
land were  not  immediately  signed,  but  until  these  should  be  adjusted  a 
suspension  of  arms  was  established.  It  was  afterwards  agreed  that,  with 
regard  to  the  honours  of  tlie  flag,  the  same  custom  should  be  respectively 
followed  as  was  practised  before  the  war ;  the  captured  ships  from  each 
nation  should  be  restored  ;  and  there  should  be  a  general  restoration  of 
all  places  taken,  except  ^icgapatam,  which  was  to  continue  in  possession 
of  bis  Britannic  majesty,  until  the  Dutch  should  ofier  an  equivalent. 
The  Dutch  engaged  not  to  obstruct  the  navigation  of  British  subjects  on 
the  eastern  seas  ;  and  whereas  disputes  had  arisen  between  the  African 
companies  of  the  respective  nations,  it  was  agreed  these  should  be  re- 
ferred to  commis.^ioners. 

The  preliminaries  between  Britain,  Franco,  and  America,  were  signed 
on  or  bf'forf'  the  21st  of  January,  1783  ;  and  as  an  armistice,  soon  after 
followed  by  a  treaty  of  peace,  was  at  the  same  time  established  between 
Britain  and  Holland,  wc  may  from  this  time  consider  the  war  as  finished. 

Thus  ended  the  American  war  ;  in  which  all  the  nations  that  contend- 
ed, however  potent  their  exertions,  or  brilliant  their  several  successes, 
yet  were  very  great  sufferers  by  the  events.  The  American  colonies,  in- 
deed, so  fiir  succeeded  in  their  object,  as  to  render  themselves  an  inde- 
pendent and  separate  community.  The  real  advantage  to  accrue  from 
this  dismemberment  wa.-=  problematical  and  contingent ;  to  depend  upon 


1783.— Chap.  XXIX.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  537 

[General  view  of  this  arduous  contest.] 

not  only  physical  and  moral  causes,  of  which  the  operation  and  efTect 
might  be  doubtful,  but  on  a  variety  of  circumstances  and  incidents  which 
could  not  possibly  be  foreseen.  One  fact  they  could  experimentally  as- 
certain :  their  revolutionary  eflbrts  had  impoverished,  devastated,  and  un- 
peopled the  country.  This  was  a  notorious  and  glaring  evil,  present, 
seen,  and  felt,  the  good  was  doubtful,  and  hitherto  to  be  found  only  in 
anticipating  imagination.  Waving  the  question  of  abstract  right,  and  con- 
sidering only  expediency,  concerning  the  resistance  of  the  Americana 
situated  as  they  liad  been  relatively  to  the  mother  country ;  policy  and 
prudence  could  justify  their  repugnance  to  the  acts  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, only  on  the  supposition  that  these  tended  to  change  their  former 
happy  situation,  and  to  deprive  them  of  their  rights  as  freemen,  and  Bri- 
tish subjects.  In  this  case,  refusal  to  comply  would  not  be  a  measure  of 
choice,  but  to  generous  and  magnanimous  minds  a  dictate  of  necessity. 
There  not  only  might  be,  but  were  many  who  conceived  the  Americans 
driven  to  hostilities  at  first,  yet  censured  the  unaccommodating  spirit 
which  refused  the  proffers  of  returning  amity ;  and  lamented  the  separa- 
tion between  children  of  the  same  origin.  Britain  was  a  greater  loser  by 
this  contest  than  by  any  in  which  she  had  ever  been  engaged  :  thirteen 
provinces,  before  the  unhappy  dij:pute,  rapidly  increasing  not  only  their 
own  prosperity,  but  the  individual  and  national  wealth,  the  defensive 
and  ofiensive  force  of  the  parent  state,  were  severed  from  it  for  ever. 
Through  her  quarrel  with  America,  Britain  had  been  involved  in  a  com- 
plication of  the  most  expensive  and  formidable  wars  ;  and  a  few  years, 
nearly  doubling  her  burthens,  almost  equalled  the  cost  of  a  century.  So 
far  were  these  enormous  sums  from  being  expended  in  the  reasonable  hope 
of  future  indemnification,  that  they  were  a  sacrifice  of  a  great  part  of  the 
public  capital  to  preserve  the  existence  of  the  British  nation.  Heretofore 
Britain  had  fought  for  victory,  now  she  contended  for  bare  life  ;  but  all 
her  dangers,  difficulties,  and  distresses  from  the  European  confederacy 
had  their  origin  in  the  contest  with  the  American  colonies  ;  and  here  im- 
partial history,  without  either  impugning  or  supporting  the  alleged  right 
of  the  Americans  to  tax  themselves,  justifying  or  condemning  the  policy 
of  the  principle  and  mode  of  asserting  that  right,  must  exhibit  one  gene- 
ral series  of  facts,  tending  to  impeach  the  wisdom  of  British  counsels ; 
eve^'ij  coercive  measure,  from  the  stamp  act  doxvnivards,  prodvced  a  directly 
contrary  effect  to  that  which  its  abettors  sought  and  proposed.  The  only 
soothing  and  conciliatory  schemes  adopted  before  the  rupture,  the  plans 
of  the  marquis  of  Rockingham  and  lord  North,  in  1766  and  1770,  in  a 
great  degree  removed  the  evils  which  projects  of  imperious  exaction  had 
generated  through  most  of  the  colonies  5  theyrestored  the  harmony  which 
imperious  dictation  had  disturbed  ;  and  the  repeal  of  imposts  reproduced 
that  revenue  which  attempted  taxation  destroyed.  Thus  experience  the 
most  recent  afforded  strong  reasons  to  conclude,  that,  to  preserve  the 
attachment  of  America,  and  profit  by  her  industry,  prosperity,  and  riches, 
the  imposition  of  taxes  must  be  laid  aside.  Strong,  and  general,  and  uni- 
form, as  the  colonial  expression  of  repugnance  to  taxation  had  been,  and 
was,  the  British  ministers  conceived  a  notion  that  it  was  confined  to  the 
influence  of  a  few  factious  demagogues  :*  such  reports,  indeed,  they  re- 

•  See  this  volume,  passim. 


038  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXIX.— 1783. 

[Impartial  estimate  of  ministerial  policy.] 

ceived  from  their  own  partial  and  interested  adherents ;  on  these  they 
acted  III  tlie  face  of  the  plainest  evidence  of  imiver.sal  anssociation;  which 
to  ahhnrrence  of  British  taxation  sacrificed  every  predilection  of  taste  and 
habit  for  British  commodities;  and  manifested  individual,  corporate,  and 
confederate  reprobation,  both  in  word  and  deed,  of  pecuniary  contribution 
without  their  own  consent.  Ministers  still  thought  that  the  majority  of 
the  colonies  was  favourable  to  British  impost.  And  here  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, that  the  abettors  of  the  project  as  a  scheme  of  beneficial  policy, 
with  the  means  of  being  thoroughly  informed,  were  really  ignorant  of  the 
state  of  the  case  concerning  which  they  professed  to  reason  and  to  plan. 
Oriirinalin"'  in  misapprehension,  their  conclusions  were  false,  and  their 
measures  unwise  and  pernicious.  The  most  partial  admirers  of  lord 
North's  administration  would  find  it  impossible  to  prove,  or  even  plausi- 
bly to  contend,  that  liis  schemes  respecting  America  were  founded  in  ade- 
quate knowledge,  just  dediiclion,  or  wise  policy.  But  his  enemies  on 
the  other  hand  must  allow,  though  the  propositions  might  be  his,  the  en- 
actment belonged  to  the  whole  legislature.  The  same  imperfect  informa- 
tion that  marked  the  senatorial  motions  of  rninisters  affected  also  their  ex- 
ecutorial plans  and  directions.  In  addition  to  their  favourite  theory  of 
the  general  attachment  of  the  Americans  to  British  supremacy,  they 
adopted  another  hypothesis,  that  the  colonists  were  cowards.  On  this 
speculation  they  formed  their  military  arrangements,  and  to  repress  hos- 
tile resistance  sent  a  very  inadequate  force.  Their  tardy  projects  of  par- 
tial conciliation,  and  retained  coercion,  encouraged  colonial  confidence, 
without  removing  disaffection  and  resentment. 

When  war  was  inevitable,  or  at  least  could  be  avoided  but  by  such 
concessions  only  as  they  deemed  it  incompatible  with  honour  and  duty 
to  grant,  its  management  became  the  object  of  consideration.  Here 
the  censure  bestowed  upon  mi«istry  so  lavishly,  after  the  first  cam- 
paign, admits  considerable  modifications.  The  ariiiiies  sent,  and  gen- 
erals employed,  aflbrdecj  a  moral  probability  of  success.  Sir  William 
Howe  was  a  man  of  high  military  character;  nor  was  it  possible  for 
government  to  select  an  officer  from  whom  all  ranks  and  parties  could 
entertain  more  sanguine  expectations.  The  troops  in  number,  kind, 
and  strength,  were  such  as  any  statesman,  reasoning  froni  general  prin- 
ciples and  experience,  compared  with  the  hostile  force,  inight  very 
fairly  infer  to  be  adequate  to  the  purpose.  If  the  event  of  Howe's 
command  proved  very  different,  the  detailed  narrative  must  have  shown 
that  it  arose  from  causes  not  all  cliargeable  on  ministers.  TJie  sub- 
stitution of  Burgoyne  m  the  place  of  Carleton  was  a  preference  which 
had  no  foundation'in  their  respective  military  characters.  Whatever 
Burg'iviie's  talents  might  be,  Carleton's  opportunities  of  exertion,  es- 
pecially in  that  country,  had  been  greater,  and  were  crowned  with  suc- 
cess. The  disasters  of  Burgoyne  may  certailily  be  charged,  in  a  con- 
siderable de^rrec,  to  the  American  minister,  whether  the  failure  was  in 
the  plan  or  the  execution.  Indeed  the  design  of  penetrating  into  Al- 
bany appeared  to  arise  from  a  very  general  source  of  miscarriage  in  all 
the  Brilisli  schemes  respecting  America, — unfounded  hopes  of  loyal  co- 
operation. On  the  return  of  hir  William  Howe,  the  appointment  of  sir 
Henry  Clinton  was  a  measure  that  appeared  fair  and  reasonable  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  course  of  military  promotion.  His  character  as 
an  officer  was  unobjectionable,  and  he  had  been  second  in  command. 


1783.— Chap.  XXIX.  KEIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  539 

[The  great  resources  of  Britain  manifested  by  the  war.] 

He  was  brave,  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  details  of  tactical  evolu- 
tion, and  the  routine  of  military  duty.  How  far  he  had  genius  ade- 
quate to  the  great  and  comprehensive  schemes,  rapid  invention,  and  en- 
ergetic operation,  re([uisite  in  a  commander  in  chief  on  a  momentous 
service,  may  be  fairly  questioned.  He  certainly,  on  a  very  important 
occasion,*  manifested  a  want  of  that  sagacity  which,  penetrating  the 
design  of  an  antagonist,  can  anticipate  and.  disconcert  his  plans,  and 
baffle  his  efforts.  Though  prescription  might  point  to  Clinton  as  a  suc- 
cessor to  Howe,  reason  would  have  conferred  the  command  upon  lord 
Cornwallis.  When  war  commenced  with  the  house  of  Bourbon,  the 
primary  object  of  Britain  was  her  navy.  The  conduct  of  tiiis  depart- 
ment, though  branded  by  opposition  with  every  reproachful  epithet, 
whether  considered  in  particular  detail,  or  general  result,  appears  not 
to  deserve  such  unqualified  censure.  The  great  and  broad  fact  is, 
the  house  of  Bourbon  directed  their  chief  efturts  to  naval  operations, 
and  were  joined  both  by  recent  subjects  and  former  allies  of  Britain; 
yet  all  this  confederated  force  could  obtain/'no  superiority  over  the  na- 
vy of  England.  The  fleet  first  furnished  against  France,  equal  in  num- 
ber, and  consequently,  according  to  the  estimate  of  uniform  experience, 
a  match  for  the  enemy,  and  the  comma^ader  employed  high  in  profes- 
sional reputation,  afforded  well  grounded  expectations  of  success.  The 
disappointment  which  ensued  could  not  be  imputed  to  the  want  of  a  suf- 
ficiently powerful  force.  The  escape  of  the  French  armament  proba- 
ly  brought  on  the  Spanish,  and  afterwards  the  Dutch  war;  and  though 
in  some  particular  instances  trade  might  have  been  better  protected, 
and  certain  warlike  operations  might  have  been  more  seasonably  con- 
ducted, yet  in  general  the  commanders  employed,  and  the  armaments 
equipped,  were  adequate  to  the  purposes  of  defence  and  protection, 
which  against  such  a  host  of  foes,  was  nearly  the  whole  that  could  be 
expected.  ■ 

In  the  conduct  of  the  war,  neither  military  or  naval  plans,  onera- 
tions,  or  results,  were  so  deserving  of  blame  or  regret,  as  the  enormous 
profusion  of  the  public  money.  Tf  indeed  we  compare  the  expense,  not 
with  result  of  operations,  but  with  the  true  measure,  the  means  requir- 
ed and  exerted,  the  end  sought  ar.d  attained,  we  iind  the  excess  of  pub- 
lic money  expended  beyond  public  service  done,  to  have  been  so  enor- 
mous, as  to  afford  probable  grounds  of  suspecting,  that  the  minister 
employed  corrupt  donative  to  purchase  that  parliamentary  influence 
which  he  could  not  command  by  his  abilities.  Great  however  as  were 
the  burthens  entailed  upon  Britain  by  the  American  war,  the  efforts 
which  she  exhibited  when  urged  by  necessity,  manifested  the  extent 
and  depth  of  her  resources,  the  ability,  skill,  and  valour  of  her  national 
defenders,  and  the  force  of  her  national  character.  The  American  war, 
in  its  origin,  was  unwise:  in  its  conduct  of  a  very  mixed  character;  in 
its  progress,  frequently  disastrous;  in  its  result, "^injurious,  but  not  dis- 
honourable. Tlie  struggles  to  ward  off  calamity,  the  exertions  to  de- 
fend independence,  manifested  qualities,  which,  under  wise  direction 
and  more  invigorating  energy,  were  fitted  and  destined  not  only  to  re- 
store the  national  power  and  splendour,  but  to  extend  it  far  beyond  the 
most  glorious  experience. 

•  See  this  volume,  p.  598. 


540  IIISTOUY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXIX.— 1783. 

[Consequences  proximate  and  eventual  to  both  parties.] 

Holland,  misled  bv  a  French  faction  to  provoke  war  with  a  view  of 
increasing  her  commerce,  far  from  succeeding  in  her  object,  was  depriv- 
ed both  of  her  actual  trade,  and  a  great  portion  of  its  former  gains. 
When,  according  to  her  mercantile  character,  she  struck  a  balance,  she 
found  the  whole  war  account  to  be  loss. 

Spain,  in  the  midst  ofsilverand  gold,  poor,  because  void  of  industry, 
with  every  natural  advantage  of  situation,  soil,  and  climate,  and  the 
adventitious  profits  from  her  colonial  possessions,  being  in  that  condi- 
tion of  dependence  on  her  inventive  and  energetic  neighboui-,  which 
indolence,  listlessness,  and  inaction,  in  nations  as  well  as  individuals, 
must  yield  to  ingenuity,  activity,  and  enterprise;  was  by  the  war  loaded 
with  debts,  to  her  overwhelming,  because  she  had  not  in  her  character 
and  spirit  the  means  of  extrication. 

But  the  most  momentous  evils  of  the  American  war  have  been  ex- 
perienced by  France.  That  great  and  powerful  nation  has  ever  been 
a  suftercr  by  wars  with  England:  whatever  special  causes  may  have  at 
different  periods  embroiled  tlie  two  mightiest  states  of  modern  history, 
in  tlie  union  of  resources  and  character^  the  general  principle  on  the 
side  of  the  French  has  been  maritime  and  commercial  competition.  In 
every  one  of  these  wars  she  has  been  disappointed,  her  existing  navy 
and  commerce  impaired,  and  her  naval  and  commercial  resources  di- 
minished; the  exertions  intended^to injure  Britain  failed:  whereas,  equal 
efforts  of  that  ability  and  energy  which  she  possesses  in  so  eminent  a 
degree,  if  employed  in  tlie  peaceable  improvement  of  her  various  resour- 
ces, without  wasteful  expenditure,  would  have  produced  the  commerce 
and  opulence  which  she  in  vain  sought  by  burthensome  and  ruinous  wars. 
"When  at  peace  witli  England,  she  has  flourished;  when  attempting  by 
war  to  achieve  maritime  superiority,  she  was  discomfited,  and  not  only 
expended  the  treasure  of  past  peacef^ul  industry,  but  anticipated  future 
gains.  Experience  miirlit  have  taught  her,  that  the  attempt  to  be  the 
first  in  naval  power  could  never  be  successful.  Reflection  might  have 
convinced  her,  that  without  maritime  supremacy,  she  from  her  situation 
and  character,  might  possess  such  an  extent  of  commerce  as  would 
fully  employ  that  department  of  national  industry,  and  a  sufficient  na- 
val force  to  protect  it  against  the  whole  world,  if  she  did  not  interfere 
with  England.  If  she  were  susceptible  of  instruction  from  the  lessons 
of  experience,  never  could  the  hopelessness  of  seeking  naval  supremacy 
be  more  strongly  impressed  on  her  than  by  the  American  war.  Never 
had  Britain  fought  with  so  many  disadvantages  and  impediments,  yet 
she  had  retained  the  empire  of  the  sea.  The  history,  both  of  Spain  and 
her  own  country,  mi;^ht  have  taught  France  the  certain  loss  accruing  to 
the  maritime  states  from  a  contest  with  Englatid.  Provoking  the  na- 
val efforts  of  this  kinjidom,  Philip  wasted  much  of  that  strength  which 
had  descended  to  his  dominions  from  Charles  V.  and  left  his  success- 
ors an  easy  prey  to  the  efforts  of  France,  who  was  then  at  peace  with 
England,  and  exerted  her  forces  where  she  was  prepollent.  Louis  XIV. 
had  rendered  himself  dictator  of  Europe,  until  he  ventured  a  naval 
contest  with  England.  La  Hogue  avenged  Rocroi  and  the  Downs:  the 
victories  of  Conde  and  Turenne  j)aved  the  way  to  Louis  for  governing 
the  christian  world  by  his  armie:-;,  if  his  fleets  had  avoided  an  encounter 
with  Russel.  As  a  naval  war  had  always  been  injurious  to  France,  her 
extraordinary  efforts  in  that  which  was  just  ended,  exhausted  her  trea- 


1783— Chap.  XXIX.  REIGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  (J4j 

[American  war  accelerates  the  fall  of  the  French  monarchy.] 

sury,  and  deranged  her  finances  much  more  than  was  immediately  aus- 

fiected;  but  fiscal  embarrassments,  great  as  they  were,  proved  eveutual- 
y  only  instrumental  to  much  more  formidable  evils  which  accrued  to 
France  from  the  part  that  she  acted  in  the  American  war.  The  prin- 
ciples which  intercourse  with  American  republicanism  nourished  were 
much  more  mischievous  to  the  French  monarchy,  than  all  the  expenses 
and  losses  which  slie  had  incurred,  and,  co-operating  with  doctrines 
before  industriously  spread,  had  a  powerful  efficacy  in  overturning  the 
established  constitution.  The  fall  of  the  French  monarchy,  aristocra- 
cy, and  hierarchy,  if  not  caused,  was  rapidly  accelerated  by  the  Ame- 
rican war. 


Vol.  Vn.—  81 


4342  U'ldrOUY  Ol    Tlli'.  Lhap.  XXX.— 1783 


CHAP.  XXX. 


Aiiniiiiistraiioti  of  lonl  Slielburne — deficient  in  strength — State  ol  political  pai 
ties.  —  Meeting  of  parliament. — Uniisuul  lenj^th  and  paiticulaiity  of  his  majesty's 
speech. — Mr.  Fox  details  the  reasons  of  his  own  resignation. — His  party  and 
lord  North's  concur  in  censuring  ministers— their  attacks  indicate  a  concert  of 
counsels— both  reprobate  the  peace.--- Ministers  defend  tiie  peace  as  necessary 
in  tile  exhausted  state  of  our  navy,  army,  and  finances-.-and  the  terms  the  best 
that  could  be  attained.— Famous  coalition  of  lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox. —The  coa- 
lition considered  relatively  to  its  leaders.— Vote  of  censure  passed  against  mi- 
nisters.—Great  clamour  against  the  coalition. — Ministers  resign. — Ministerial 
interregnum— -The  coalition  come  into  office.— Duke  of  Portland  first  lord  of 
the  treasury. — Lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox  secretaries  of  state.— Revival  of  com- 
merce with  America.— Mr.  AVilliam  Pitt  proposes  a  specific  plan  of  parliamen- 
tary rcfofm.  — Motion  of  the  duke  of  Richmond  respecting  the  great  seal— com 

ba'ed  by  lord  Loughborough Minute  economical  regulations.— George,  prince 

of  Wales--  abilities  and  opening  character— a  separate  establishment  appointed 
for  his  highness —India  aflairs— committee  continues  its  investigations. --From 
the  mass  of  evidence  Mr,  Dundas  exhibits  a  comprehensive  statement  of  the- 
situation  of  aftairs,  and  of  executorial  conduct— proposes  a  bill  for  the  regula- 
tion of  British  India— for  the  present  po.stpones  his  plan. — Indian  affairs  first 
di.'iplayed  the  force  and  extent  of  Mr.  Dundas's  talents-which  were  before  but 
partially  known  and  comprehended.— Supplies. — New  taxes.-Internal  state  of 
Oritatn  at  the  peace. — Continental  occurrences. 


From  tlie  reslf^hation  of  Mr.  Fox  ami  the  adlierents  of  the  marquis 
of  Rockinjjhain,  the  classes  which,  though  (lifterinjj;  in  certain  opinions, 
hati  coincided  in  opposition  to  lord  North's  ministrj,  were  now  con- 
ceived to  have  become  inimical  parties.  Lord  Slielburne,  the  prime 
minister,  was  a  man  of  considerable  political  knowledge,  and  parti- 
cularly distinguished  for  his  minute  and  detailed  acquaintance  with  fo- 
reign affairs.  He  was, however,  more  noted  for  extent  and  exactness  of 
intelligence,  than  for  the  formation  of  able  and  beneficial  plans  from  the 
result  He  was,  therefore,  perhaps,  less  fitted  for  the  supreme  manage- 
ment in  so  trying  and  critical  a  situation,  than  for  some  secondary 
department,  in  wnich,  from  his  abundant  stores,  he  might  have  supplied 
materials  for  the  operation  of  more  energetic  and  less  experienced  geni- 
us. In  that  view  had  he  continued  a  member  of  the  cabinet  of  which 
Mr.  Fox  was  really  the  head,  there  is  little  doubt  JJritain  would  have 
possesse«l  a  ministry  that,  whatever  its  character  might  have  been  in  oth- 
er respects,  at  least  would  not  have  failed  in  efficacy.  Lord  Shelburne 
had  attached  liimself  to  the  illustrious  Chatham,  and  after  his  decease 
was  considered  as  the  leader  of  his  friends  and  connexions,  but  did 
not  greatly  increase  the  number  by  his  own  personal  influence.  Far 
from  overbearing  party  by  genius  like  Chatham,  he  was  not,  like  many 
other  ministers,  propped  up  by  a  confederacy.  Lord  Camden,  lord 
Temple,  and  Mr.  Dunning  (now  lord  Ashburton,)  Joined  rather  thaa 
folhjwed  Shelburne;  lord  I'liurlow  and  Mr.  Dundas  took  the  same  side, 
but  to  support  government,  more  than  from  any  approbation  of  its  pre- 
sent chief  minister.     Mr.  Dundas  indeed  had  taken  a  grand  and  com- 


rej.—cuAP.  XXX.  ueign  or  gkouge  m.  ^^^^ 

[State  of  political  parlies.     Parliament.] 

prehensive  view  both  of  the  country  and  political  characterBj  reduced 
to  distress  by  the  timidity  and  weakness  of  mature  years,  Britain  he 
conceived  must  seek  restoiatjon  from  youthful  wisdom.     He  very  early 
supposed  Mr.  Pitt  to  be  the  man  who  must  save  his  country  as  prime 
minister:  Mi-.  Pitt  himself  was  officially  joined  witli  lord  Shelburne,  but 
appears  to  have  attended  to  the  duties  of  his  own  department  without 
catering  into  any  party  projects  and  intrigues.     Neither  the  number  of 
those  who  supj)orted  the  minister,  nor  the  motives  by  which  some  of 
them  were  actuated,  alPjrdcd  a  ])robability  of  permanency  to  lord  iShel- 
burne's  administi-ation.     There  were  two  other  parties,*both  powei'ful 
and  well  compacted.     The  benevolent  disposition  and  social  qualities, 
the  brilliant  wit,  pleasing  humour,  and  engaging  manners  of  lord  North, 
had  co-operated  with  political  motives  in  attaching  great  numbers  to  his 
person  and  interests.     No  man  had  exerted  himself  more  uniformly 
and  effectually  to  serve  his  friends,  and  though  not  from  all,  he  from 
many  experienced  that  gratitude  which  was  so  pleasing  to  his  benignant 
and  affectionate  heart.     His  party  no  longer  possessed  the  masculine 
force  of  Thurlow,  tlie  close,  pou'crful,  and  direct  efforts  of  Dundas; 
nevertheless  in  lords  Stormont  and  Carlisle,  lord  Loughborough  and 
lord  Mansfield,  Messrs.  Courtney,  Anstruther,  Adam,  and  Eden,  and 
lord  North  himself,  besides  many  others  of  respectable  talents,  he  re- 
tained a  formidable  host  of  political  stiength.    A  less  numerous,  but  still 
stronger  and  better  compacted  body,   was  that  which  the  philosophic 
genius  of  Burke  guided  and  instructed,  the  rapid  and  powerful  enei-gy 
of  Fox  invigorated  and  led:  here  shone  deliberative  and  judicial  elo- 
quence in  their  most  brilliant  lustre:  here  even  Messrs.   Erskine  and 
Sheridan  acted  only  second  parts.     There  was  besides  this  constella- 
tion of  talent,  the  weight  and  interest  of  the  whig  aristocracy.     Lord 
Shelburne'was  conscious  that, withoutsomeacccssionof  political  strength, 
he  would  be  incapable  of  retaining  his  situation,  and  despaired  of  a  re- 
union with  those  from  whom  he  had  so  lately  separated;  he  therefore 
made  overtures  to  tlie  party  which  he  had  uniformly  opposed.     Mr. 
Pitt  candidly  bestowed  a  just  tribute  of  praise  on  lord  North,  but  de- 
clared his  determination  never  to  be  a  member  of  a  ministry  in  which 
that  statesman  should  bear  a  part.     It  may  indeed  be  fairly  inferred 
from  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Pitt,  that  he  thought  it  wiser  to  stand  upon 
political  talents  and  character,  than  to  seek  the  props  of  coalitions  and 
combinations.     The  intrinsic  strength  of  lord  Shelburne,  however,  was 
not  so  great  as  to  preclude  the  necessity  of  extrinsic  aid  ;  the  application 
therefore  in  him  was  commensurate  in  prudence  with  the  desire  of  con- 
tinuance in  office,  but  it  proved  unavailing.     Various  reports  were  now 
spread  concerning  the  intentions  of  both  the  respective  parties  and  indi- 
vidual members,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  to  the  approaching  meeting  of 
parliament,  wherein  it  was  expected  that  the  several  objects  and  designs 
would  be  unfolded. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1782,  his  majesty  opened  the  session  in  a 
speech  of  very  groat  length,  and  comprehending  an  unusual  extent,  va- 
riety, and  particularity  of  political  disquisition.  The  introduction  stated, 
that  since  the  close  of  the  last  session,  his  majesty  had  been  constantly 
employed  in  the  care  and  attention  which  the  important  and  critical  con- 
juncture of  affairs  required  ;  he  had  put  an  end  to  the  prosecution  of  offen- 
sive war  in  America,  and  had  entered  into  provisional  articles  for  declar- 
ing the  colonies  independent.     "  In  thus  (his  majesty  said)  admitting 


644  HISTOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXX.— 1783. 

[Mr.  Fox  details  the  reasons  of  his  late  resignation.] 

their  separation  from  tlie  crown  of  these  kingdoms,  I  have  sacrificed 
every  consideration  of  my  own  to  the  wishes  and  opinion  of  my  people. 
I  mnke  it  my   humble  and  earnest  prayer  to  Ahnighty  God,  that  Great 
Britain  may  not  feel  the  evils  which  might  result  from  so  great  a  dis- 
memberment of  the  empire,  and  that  America  may  be  free  from  those 
calamities  which  hiavc  formerly  proved,  in  tiic  mother  coimtry,  how  es- 
sential monarcijy  is  to  the  enjoyment  of  constitutional  liberty."    lie  went 
over  the  principal  operations  of  the  campaign,  and  bestowed  the  merited 
praise  on  the  defence  of  Gibraltar,  and  other  glorious  and  beneficial 
efforts.     He  mentioned  the  advanced  state  of  the  negotiations  for  peace, 
at  the  same  time  the  necessity  of  being  prepared,  lest  from  any  unfore- 
seen cause  they  might  be  frustrated.     To  the  house  of  commons  he  par- 
ticularised a  variety  of  economical  regulations  in  the  expenditure  of  the 
army  and  the  civil  list,  and  other  reductions  :  and  recommended  to  par- 
liament an  attention  to  the  price  of  corn,  that  year  unusually  high.     He 
extolled  the  liberality  with  which  the  rights  and  commerce  of  Ireland  had 
been  established,   and  advised  a  revision  of  our  whole  trading  system 
upon  the  same  comprehensive  principles  ;  and,  lastly,  urged  some  fun- 
damental regulations  of  our  Asiatic  territories.     Though  no  opposition 
was  made  to  the  address  in  either  house,  yet  severe  animadversions  were 
passed  upon  the  speech  in  both.     The  recognition  of  American  indepen- 
dence was  censured  upon  two  very  opposite  grounds.     By  the  supporters 
of  lord  North  it  was  severely  condemned  as  having  done  much  more  than 
was  necessary ;  and  by   I\Ir.    Fox's  party,  as  not  having  done  enough. 
Lord  Stormont  reprobated  an  unqualified  surrender  of  the  whole,  without 
obtaining  a  truce,  or  even  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  as  the  price  of  so 
lavish  a  concession.     In  the  most  abject  and  unfortunate  reign  that  Spain 
ever  knew  (that  of  Philip  III.)  the  negotiators  of  that  prince  retained  ten 
out  of  seventeen  of  the  revolted  provinces,  and  detached  the  rest  from 
their  alliance  with  France  ;  yet  by  Britain  the  whole  had  been  ("onceded, 
without  any  attempt  to  procure  more  favourable  terms.     Mr.  Fox  cen- 
sured ministers  for  having  made  the  independence  of  America  condition- 
ally to  depend  on  a  conclusion  of  a  peace  with  France,  instead  of  being 
absolute.     A  dispute  on  this  subject,  he  informed  the  house,  was  one 
of  the  reasons  which  had  compelled  him  to  resign  iiis  late  office.     It  had 
been  uniformly  his  opinion,  that  the  unconditional  recognition  of  inde- 
pendence was  the  interest  of  Britain,  bec^^iuse  such  an  acknowledgment 
would  dispose  America  to  end  the  war  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  would 
tend  essentially  to  accelerate  a  general  peace.    Finding  himself  outvoted 
in  the  cabinet  on  this  question,  he  had  thought  it  his  duty  to  quit  his  si- 
tuation.     Mr.  Fox's  explanation  of  his  reasons   for  retiring  from  office 
were  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  the  ptiblic  ;  it  was  not  considered  as 
the  part  of  a  patriot  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  service  of  his  country, 
merely  because  a  measure  proposed  by  him  was  not  adopted  ;  it  was  con- 
ceived that  his  extraordinary  abilities,  employed   in   the  cabinet,  might 
have  rendered  essential  service  to  his  country,   whelluT  the  recognition 
of  American  independence  were  conditional  or  absolute.     The  real  mo- 
tives of  his  conduct  were  very  generally  con.^trued  to  be  dissatisfaction 
with  the  appointment  of  lord  Shelburne  to  that  office  which  he  wished  to 
be  held  by  a  distinguished  member  of  the  whig  party. 

Until  the  recess,  the  attention  of  both  houses  was  chiefly  employed  in 
motions  for  the  production  of  papers  respecting  the  negotiation,  which 


1783.— Chap. X5fX,  REIGN  OF  GKOUGE  III.  ^',45 

[Concurs  with  lord  North  in  reprobating  the  peace.     Defence  of  ministers.] 

were  negatived  on  the  ground  of  being  premature  until  the  treaty  should 
be  brought  to  a  close. 

Parliament  mot  after  the  Christmas  holidays,  on  the  21st  of  January, 
1783  :  the  preliminary  arliclfs  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  France 
havinjj  been  siiined  at  Versailles,  were  laid  before  legislature  on  the  27th 
of  January,  and  the  17th  of  February  was  appointed  for  taking  tliem 
into  consideration.  Lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox  had  both  very  frequently 
censured  administration:  their  animadversions  had  arisen  from  profess- 
edly different  principles  :  there  had  been  no  appearance  of  concert  eithei 
in  their  attacks  upon  ministers  or  any  otlier  measures.  The  discussion 
of  the  peace  manifested  a  systematic  regularity  of  proce,dure,  a  selection 
of  parts  in  the  debate,  and  a  concurrence  of  principles  of  reasoning  and 
of  particular  arguments,  which  were  too  striking  to  be  the  result  of  acci- 
dent, and  obviously  intimating  a  concert  between  two  parties  so  long  to- 
tally inimical  to  each  other.  Mr.  Thomas  Pitt  moved  an  address  to  his 
majesty,  expressing  a  high  approbation  of  the  peace.  Lord  John  Ca- 
vendish, as  speaker  for  the  whig  party,  proposed  an  amendment,  vvliich 
should  contain  no  opinion  on  the  merit  of  the  peace,  but  declare  their 
resolution  to  bestow  on  it  that  serious  and  full  atti:!nlion  which  the  impor- 
tance of  the  subject  deserved;  but  pledge  themselves,  whatever  conclu- 
sion tlioy  migl)t  draw  from  the  investigation  of  the  terms,  that  they  should 
invariably  adhere  to  the  articles  which  his  majesty  had  stipulated.  Lord 
North  moved  a  second  amendment,  expressive  of  the  regard  due  from 
the  nation  to  the  loyalists  who  had  suffered  so  much  in  supporting  the 
cause  of  Great  Britain.  The  ministerial  speakers  defended  the  peace; 
first,  as  necessary  in  the  circumstances  of  the  country  ;  and,  secondly, 
as  favourable  in  point  of  terms.  Our  finances,  our  navy,  and  our  army, 
they  contended,  were  in  so  deplorable  a  state  as  to  render  the  continu- 
ance of  the  war  ruinous.  To  maintain  this  position  respecting  pecuni- 
ary resources,  they  entered  into  a  detailed  account  of  incumbrances  and 
expenditure.  The  national  debt,  funded  and  unfunded,  amounted  to  up- 
wards of  two  hundred  and  lifty  miliions.  The  annual  interest,  together 
with  the  necessary  expense  of  a  peace  establishment,  was  fully  equal  to 
all  the  revenue  which  the  people,  groaning  already  under  the  load  of 
taxes,  could  afford.  Our  navy,  so  far  from  being  adequate  to  the  pur- 
poses of  offensive  competition  with  the  combined  fleets  of  Europe,  was 
scarcely  sufficient  for  effectual  defence.  Our  fleet  did  not  exceed  a  hun- 
dred  sail  of  the  line,  while  the  armaments  of  France,  Spain,  and  Hol- 
land, amounted  to  a  hundred  and  seventy  sail  of  the  line.  By  continu- 
ing merely  defensive  war  we  could  gain  nothino.  and  consequently  could 
not  expect  by  another  campaign  to  obtain  a  better  peace.  The  army  v/a? 
still  more  inferior  to  the  armies  of  our  enemies,  and  totally  inadequate  ti^ 
farther  contest.  These  general  positions  they  illustrated  by  a  detailed 
account  of  our  force  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  Our  most  Iniiiiant 
successes  had  been  merely  defensive,  and  only  enabled  us  to  retard  the 
progress  of  the  enemy.  Frt'm  this  view  of  total  inability  to  engage  in 
another  campaign  with  a  prospect  of  briniiing  it  to  a  more  favourable  con- 
clusion, it  was  argued,  that  peace,  on  any  terms,  would  break  the  pow- 
erful confederacy,  and  give  us  time  to  recruit  our  wasted  strength;  and 
therefore  was  preferable  to  a  continuance  of  the  war.  But  it  was  further 
contended,  that  the  conditions  of  the  peace  were  advantageous.  One  of 
the  chief  objections  to  the  treaty  was  the  participation  allowed  the  French 


646  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXX— irSo 

[Famous  coalition  of  lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox  ] 

in  the  Newfoundland  fishery ;  but  this,  called  by  opposition  a  cession, 
was  by  ministers  argued  to  be  only  the  definition  and  limitation  of  a  right 
which  always  had  been  exercised  by  France,  and  formerly,  from  being 
mdetinite,  was  the  source  of  perpetual  contention.  The  space  to  which 
France  was  now  limited,  was  very  inconsiderable  both  in  extent  and  pro- 
ductiveness in  comparison  of  the  coast  which  Britain  possessed.  The 
islands  of  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  ceded  to  France,  were  only  a  resti- 
tution of  what  had  belonged  to  her  before  the  preceding  war;  and  so  far 
were  these  places  from  admitting  fortilications  that  could  annoy  our 
fishery  in  a  future  war,  the  most  skilful  en^finecrs  had  certified,  that 
neither  island  would  admit  the  construction  of  a  fortress  which  could  stand 
the  attack  of  the  smallest  of  our  frigates.  Durinir  the  detail  of  the  vari- 
ous cessions  in  the  West,  Africa,  and  the  East  Indies,  they  endeavoured 
to  prove  that  they  were  really  of  little  importance.  The  articles  of  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  respecting  Dunkirk,  had  never  been  enforced,  and 
were  not  now  designed  to  be  executed  :  their  abrogation  therefore  could 
not  be  detrimental  to  England.  France  desired  their  suppression  as  a 
point  of  honour :  and  by  compliance  we  gratified  the  other  party,  with- 
out incurring  any  loss  our.«?elves.  East  and  West  Florida  and  Minorca, 
which  were  now  yielded  to  Spain,  had  already  cost  this  country  much 
more  than  they  brought,  and  were  besides  balanced  by  the  restitution  of 
the  Bahama  islands  and  Providence.  The  article  most  strongly  censured 
was,  the  terms  procured  for  the  loyalists.  In  answer  to  those,  it  was  said, 
that  congress  was  invested  with  no  power  over  the  property  of  the  seve- 
ral states  :  a  recommendation  to  the  provincial  assemblies  was  all  which 
their  constitutional  authority  permitted  them  to  undertake  ;  but  whatever 
weight  could  be  justly  allowed  to  any  of  the  objections  against  the  con- 
cessions, the  supporters  of  the  peace  contended,  that  either  severally  or 
jointly,  they  were  of  no  moment  when  balanced  with  the  evils  of  conti- 
nuing the  war.  Having  endeavoured  to  defend  the  peace,  both  on  the 
grounds  of  general  expediency  and  particular  conditions,  they  next  pro- 
ceeded to  the  motives  of  their  opponents  ;  they  asserted,  that  an  union  of 
professed  tories  and  professed  vvhigs,  who  for  so  many  years  had  been 
abusing  and  reviling  each  other,  must  arise  from  some  different  reason 
I  ban  mutual  agreement  of  political  opinion.  The  following  was  the  ac- 
count which  they  gave  of  this  unexpected  confederation :  lord  North's 
party  had  long  experienced  the  advantages  of  office,  but  at  the  same  time 
jiad  been  exposed  to  the  forcible  attacks  of  Mr.  Fox,  and  the  whig  con- 
federacy of  which  he  had  become  a  member  ;  they  now  sought  to  regain 
the  benefits  without  suffering  the  annoyance  ;  Mr.  Fox  and  his  coadju- 
tors conceived  that  their  favourite  plan  of  governing  by  a  combination  was 
more  certainly  practicable  by  extending  its  objects ;  and  both  parties 
found  it  expedient  to  sacrifice  all  animosity  and  professed  reprobation  to 
reciprocal  interest;  the  peace  was  merely  a  pretext  for  joining  the  par- 
tics,  in  order  to  force  their  way  into  administration.  The  event  so  far 
justified  this  interpretation,  that  the  new  confederacy  outvoted  ministers, 
and  the  amcndtUL-nts  were  carried  in  the  house  of  commons  by  a  consi- 
derable majority. 

When  this  coalition  was  reported  abroad,  it  was  first  received  with  a 
mixture  of  doubt  and  astonishment.  Many  of  the  sanguine  admirers  of 
Mr.  Fox,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  receive  his  orations,  not  merely 
as  effusions  of  genius,  but  as  oracles  of  truth,  conceived  lord  North  to 


1783.— Chap.  XXX.  UEFGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  647 

[Considered  relatively  to  its  leaders  and  objects.] 

be  as  bad,  as  malignant,  and  diabolical,  as  Mr.  Fox,  in  the  rapidity  of 
invention,  prompted  by  passion,  and  borne  away  by  fancy,  chose  to  re- 
present his  antagonist.  These  could  not  at  first  believe  that  iio  associ- 
ated with  a  man  whom  he  taught  them  to  consider  as  a  weak  and  wicked 
minister  ;  but  when  they  found  that  a  coalition  had  taken  place,  they 
turned  against  the  late  object  of  their  idolatry,  a  resentment  proportioned 
to  their  recent  adoration.  Discerning  and  impartial  men,  estimating  the 
merits  of  a  coalition  in  sn<-h  circumstances,  laid  little  stress  on  the  violent 
expressions  which,  in  the  paroxysms  of  impassioned  eloquence,  Mr. 
Fox  had  employed  ;  but  they  examined  the  history  of  his  planned  ant! 
deliberative  proceedings.  The  principal  points  of  ditFerence  between 
lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox  were  not  speculative  opmions,  but  practical  con- 
duct. He  had  for  a  series  of  years  declared  the  measures  and  policy  of 
lord  North  to  be  such  as  to  demonstrate  incapacity,  corruptions  profliga- 
cy, and  every  quality  in  a  njinister  that  was  ruinous  to  the  country  over 
which  he  presided.  He  had  not  confined  himself  to  imputation  of  folly 
and  weakness,  but  had  alleged  the  highest  criminality.  With  lord  North, 
whom  in  1782,  he  had  declared  deserving  of  death  for  the  wickedness 
of  his  administration,  Mr.  Fox,  in  1783,  declared  himself  ready  to  co- 
ftperate  in  administration.  If  Mr.  Fox  represented  lord  North  as  the 
weakest  and  blackest  of  men,  believing  him  to  be  otherwise,  what  con- 
fidence was  to  be  reposed  in  any  of  his  future  declarations?  If  he  be- 
Ibre  believed  him  to  be  so  bad  as  he  represented,  what  had  happened  in 
that  short  time  to  change  his  opinion  1  What  had  lord  North  done  when 
out  of  office  to  approve  himself  to  Mr.  Fox  fit  for  being  minister,  when, 
in  office,  declared  by  him  to  be  fit  only  for  the  block  1  These  were  ques- 
tions which  impartial  men  naturally  asked,  in  order  to  determine  how  far 
it  was  proper  to  receive  the  professions  of  Mr.  Fox.  Equal  blame  wa5 
by  no  means  attached  to  lord  North  ;  he  had  never  declared  any  opinion 
against  the  political  talents  or  character  of  Blr.  Fox.  There  was,  there- 
fore, no  inconsistency  in  coalescing  with  him  as  a  statesman,  provided 
the  objects  to  be  sought,  and  the  means  to  be  employed  by  that  combi- 
nation, were  meritorious  ;  and  these  soon  appeared,  though  not  in  their 
full  extent.  A  very  short  time  manifested  the  intention  of  the  coalition 
to  be,  through  their  paramount  influence  in  the  house  of  commons,  to 
dictate  to  his  majesty  the  choice  of  ministers,  which  is  left  by  the  consti- 
tution of  the  country  to  his  own  discretion.  This  purpose  was  much 
more  incompatible  with  the  long  professed  principles  of  lord  North,  than 
v/ith  the  recent  principles  and  doctrines  of  Mr.  Fox.  Indeed,  lord  North 
and  Mr.  Fox,  able  as  they  vvere  by  nature,  and  conversant  from  expe- 
rience and  situation  in  the  politics  of  the  country,  appeared  to  have  con- 
sidered the  constitution  partially  rather  than  completely.  They  could 
neither  be  said  to  bo  supporters  of  the  whole  system,  nor  of  the  balances 
on  which  its  perfection  depends.  Lord  North  was  a  partisan  of  the  mo- 
narchical, and  Mr.  Fox  of  the  popular,  department.  The  former,  how- 
ever, now  joined  with  the  latter  in  extending  the  power  of  the  commons, 
by  reducing  the  power  of  the  crown.     Thus  a  coalition  with  lord  North, 

FOR  ANY  PURPOSE  TO  BE  EFFECTED  BY  POLITICAL  ABILITIES  AND  IN- 
TEGRITY, was  totally  inconsistent  with  the  very  often  repeated  professions 
of  Mr.  Fox.  This  specific  object  of  the  coalition  was  no  less  incompa- 
tible with  the  uniformly  declared  principles  of  lord  North.  Mr.  Fox 
could  not,  consistently,  coalesce  witb  lord  North  as  a  statesman  ;  lord 


04S  HISTORY  OF  THE  (Juap.  XXX.— 1785 

[(.iraiid  views  of  Mr.  Fox  on  public  credit.    Vote  oF  censure  on  ministers.] 

t 

North  could  not,  consistently,  coalesce  with  any  man  to  reduce  the  kingly 
prero2;ative. 

Having  rejected  the  motion  for  approvinjj  the  peace,  the  coalition  party 
next  proceeded  to  a  positive  censure.  On  tlie  21st  of  February,  it  was 
moved,  that  the  conces.sions  granted  hy  the  peace  to  the  enemies  of  Bri- 
tain, were  greater  than  either  the  actn.il  situation  of  their  respective  pos- 
sessions, or  their  comparative  strength,  entitled  them  to  receive.  In 
support  of  this  proposi'ion  tliey  followed  the  order  of  their  adversaries, 
and  endeavoured  to  prove  by  detailed  accounts,  that  the  finances,  the 
army,  and  navy,  were  not  in  the  reduced  state  alleged  by  ministers  ;  that 
the  cessions  were  much  more  important  than  they  pretended  ;  and  also, 
that  they  might  have  been  prevented.  In  speaking  on  our  financial 
situation,  Mr.  Fox,  with  great  force  and  effect,  exposed  the  absurdity  of 
economi.^ts  supposing  specific  limits  to  our  national  credit.  "  Specula- 
live  politicians  (he  said)  have  in  all  limes  been  fond  of  circumscribing 
the  bounds  of  public  credit,  and  drawing  a  line  beyond  which  they  ima- 
gine it  cannot  be  stretched  ;  but  repeated  experience  has  shown,  that 
such  ideas  are,  for  the  most  part,  imaginary  and  chimerical.  National 
credit  is  relative  to  the  result  of  private  and  public  ability  and  industry. 
It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  fix  tiie  line  beyond  which  it  cannot  extend, 
without, at  the  same  time,  marking  the  bounds  of  that  abilityand  industry." 
The  navy  Mr.  Fox  declared  to  be  in  a  flourishing  state,  and  to  have  been 
competent  in  the  late  campaign  to  every  purpose  of  offence  and  defence. 
It  was,  however,  the  same  that  had  been  ecjuipped  under  lord  Sandwich  : 
and  for  the  ruinous  state  of  which  this  orator  had  attacked  the  first  lord 
of  the  admiralty,  the  year  before,  with  such  bitter  severity.  His  general 
arguments  against  the  present  ministry  proceeded  on  an  assumption,  that 
our  resoMrces  were  in  a  flourishing  state  :  we  certainly  were  neither  richer 
nor  stronger  within  the  last  ten  months  ;  his  reasoning,  therefore,  con- 
tained a  virtual  admission,  that  his  charges  against  the  former  ministry 
of  having  utterly  ruined  the  country,  were  totally  unfounded.  Mr.  Fox 
displayed  skilful  dexterity  in  his  defence  of  the  coalition  :  he  kept  aloof 
I'roni  trie  principles  and  objects  of  the  present  combination,  and  exerted 
his  eloquence  in  impressiuir  a  general  position,  that  union  between  indi- 
viduals and  parties  formerly  inimical,  was  ©ften  meritorious ;  and  that 
such  junctions  frequently  had  been  effected  in  this  country,  to  the  very 
great  advantage  oi'the  nation.  Impartial  observers  saw  that  the  obvious 
truth  of  this  general  assertion  proved  nothing  respecting  the  merit  or  de- 
naerit  of  this  particidar  coalition.  The  question  beinc  called  for,  the  mo- 
tion for  censuring  ministry  was  carried  in  the  aflirmative,  by  a  majority 
of  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  to  two  hundred  and  eight.  In  the  house 
of  lords  a  similar  proposition  was  negatived. 

In  consequence  of  the  censure  of  the  commons,  lord  Shelburne  resign- 
ad  his  office.  The  clianccllor  of  the  exchequer  declared  publicly  in  the 
house  that  he  only  hold  his  place  until  a  successor  should  be  appointed. 
During  the  whole  month  of  March  there  was  a  ministerial  interregnum: 
the  reasons  which  the  one  side  alleged  for  this  delay  were  the  mutual 
jealousy  that  still  subsisted  between  the  coalesced  parties,  and  the  diffi- 
culties which  they  found  in  adjusting  their  several  pretensions ;  others 
asserted  that  the  court  wished  to  retain  the  abilities  of  the  lord-chan- 
cellor, and  that  Mr.  Fox's  party  insisted  on  the  exclusion  of  that  illus- 
trious character.     The  adherents  of  the  coalition  professed  to  think  that 


1783.— Chap.  XXX.  liEIGN  OF  GEOUGE  IIF.  (349 

[Ministerial  interregnum.    The  coalition  come  into  office.] 

the  sovereign  was  endeavouring  to  use  his  own  prerogative,  by  forming 
a  ministry  without  regard  to  the  newly  estabhshed  connexion.  During 
this  time  the  kingdom  was  without  any  responsible  government ;  with 
the  finances  neglected,  the  military  establishments  unreduced,  and  the 
negotiations  with  foreign  powers,  whicli  the  critical  conjuncture  of  affairs 
rendered  peculiaily  important,  entirely  at  a  stand.  During  this  interval, 
various  inquiries  were  made  in  the  liousc  concerning  pensions  which  had 
been  recently  granted.  On  discussing  the  particulars,  however,  the  coa- 
lition members  found  that  no  plausible  objections  could  be  maintained  to 
the  several  grants  of  the  late  lYiinisters,  Mr.  Coke,  member  from  Nor- 
folk, gave  notice  that  he  meant  in  the  course  of  the  following  week  to 
move  an  address  to  his  majesty  to  urge  the  formation  of  a  new  ministry. 
The  king  ordered  the  duke  of  Portland  and  lord  North  to  lay  before  him 
a  sketch  of  their  proposed  arrangements  ;  but  nothing  conclusive  having 
been  determined,  Mr.  Coke,  on  the  24th,  made  the  promised  motion,  in 
the  discussion  of  which  there  was  a  considerable  degree  of  personal  in- 
vective. The  opposite  party,  comprehending  several  independent  coun- 
try gentlemen,  attacked  the  coalition.  One  gentleman  proposed  to  add 
to  the  address,  the  exclusion  of  all  those  who  had  been  comprised  in 
Mr.  Fox's  motion  in  the  former  year,  declaring  the  incapacity  of  his  pre- 
sent associates ;  "  that  his  majesty  should  please  not  to  nominate  or 
appoint  any  person  or  persons  to  fill  up  the  vacant  departments,  who  bij 
their  mismanao^ement  of  public  affmirs,  and  want  of  joresight  and  abilities^ 
ivhen  they  xcere  in  office,  had  lost  (ha  confidence  of  the  people.'"*  The  coa- 
lition retorted  these  sarcastic  attacks,  by  repeating  the  vote  of  censure 
on  the  late  ministry  ;  they  also  revived  the  charges  against  secret  advisers 
of  the  crown.  To  these  Mr.  Fox  imputed  the  delay  in  forming  the  new 
administration  ;  and  became  so  pointedly  personal,  as  to  call  up  Mr.  Jen- 
kinson,  who  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  in  conference  with  the  king 
more  than  once  :  as  a  privy-counsellor,  he  was  bound  to  give  his  advice 
when  asked ;  he  had  done  so  to  the  best  of  liis  judgment,  but  never  had 
obtruded  his  counsel.  The  proposed  address  was  carried  ;  and  his  ma- 
jesty answered,  that  his  earnest  desire  was  to  do  every  thing  in  his  power 
to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  his  faithful  commons.  On  the  31st  of 
March,  Mr.  Pitt  informed  the  house  that  he  had  that  day  resigned  his 
office }  but  no  new  minister  having  been  appointed,  the  coalition  pro- 
posed fresh  motions  in  order  to  hasten  the  completion  of  the  arrange- 
ments. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  a  new  administration  was  announced,  of  which 
the  following  were  the  principal  members  :  the  duke  of  Portland  was  first 
commissioner  of  the  treasury  ;  lord  North,  secretary  of  state  for  the  home 
department ;  Mr.  Fox,  secretary  for  the  foreign ;  lord  John  Cavendish, 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer  ;  lord  viscount  Keppel,  first  commissioner  of 
the  admiralty  ;  lord  viscount  Stormont,  president  of  the  council ;  the  earl 
of  Carlisle,  privy-seal :  the  great  seal  was  put  into  commission,  the  first  in 
the  nomination  being  lord  Loughborough  ;  the  earl  of  Hertford  was  ap- 
pointed chamberlain,  and  the  earl  of  Dartmouth  steward  of  the  household  ; 
lord  viscount  Townshend  was  made  master-general  of  the  ordnance  ;  Mr. 
Burke,  paymaster-general ;  Mr.  Charles  Townshend,  treasurer  of  the 

•  The  words  inserted  in  italics  are  extracted  from  a  motion  of  Mr.  Fox,  in  1782, 
against  lord  North  and  colleagues. 
Vol.  VII.— 82 


650  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXX.— 178:- 

[Revival  of  commeice  with  America.     Mr.  Pill's  plan  of  refqjm.] 

navy  ;  Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  secretary  of  war ;  Mr.  "Wallace  and  Mr.  Lee  had 
the  oflices  of  attorney  and  sohcitor-general ;  and  tlie  earl  of  Northington 
was  appointed  to  the  lord-lieutenancy  of  Ireland. 

The  first  business  that  engaged  the  attention  of  the  new  ministers  was 
to  open  a  commerce  with  North  America.  By  the  prohibitory  acts  which 
had  been  passed  during  the  revolt,  all  communication  with  that  country, 
in  the  way  of  trade,  was  entirely  precluded  ;  it  was  the  prevailing  opinion 
in  parliament,  that  those  acts  were  virtually  repealed  by  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  independence  of  the  United  Stales;  nevertheless  in  their 
new  character  tliey  became  subject  to  other  restrictions  which  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  relax  and  modify.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  had  been  brought 
into  the  house  of  commons  by  the  late  ministry,  but  during  the  great 
variety  of  discussions  which  it  underwent,  difliculties  of  such  a  compli- 
cated and  important  nature  had  arisen,  that  it  never  got  through  the  com- 
mittee. In  the  mean  time,  no  regulations  whatever  having  been  stipu- 
lated by  the  treaty  of  peace,  the  commercial  interests  of  the  country  were 
suffering  very  materially  ;  for  not  only  a  great  number  of  vessels  richly 
freighted  for  America,  were  detained  in  the  harbour,  but  there  was  a 
considerable  danger  of  having  the  market  pre-occupied  by  our  rivals. 
In  this  emergency,  the  new  ministers  thought  it  most  adviseable  to  drop 
the  whole  bill  for  the  present,  and  to  pass  two  short  laws,  one  to  repeal 
all  the  prohibitory  acts,  the  other  to  rernove  the  necessity  of  requiring 
manifests  or  other  documents,  and  to  ^dge  in  the  king  and  council,  for 
a  limited  time,  a  power  to  make  such  regulations  as  might  be  expodionf. 

On  the  7th  of  May,  Mr.  AViiliam  Pitt  made  a  motion  respecting  the 
reform  of  parliamentary  representation  ;  the  mode  intended  last  year  of 
examining  the  subject  by  a  coromittee  was  accounted  too  general,  he 
therefore  designed  to  bring  forward  specific  propositions.  The  object 
of  the  first  was  to  prevent  bribery  at  elections,  the  second  proposed  to 
disfranchise  a  borough  which  sliould  be  convicted  of  gross  corruption  ; 
but  that  the  minority  of  voters  should  be  entitled  to  a  vote  for  the  county 
in  which  such  boroughs  should  be  situated  ;  his  third  proposition  was, 
that  an  augmentation  of  tlie  knights  of  shires,  and  representatives  of  the 
metropolis,  should  be  added  to  the  state  of  the  representation.  He  left 
the  number  for  future  discussion,  but  said  he  should  recommend  one 
hundred.  The  arguments  both  for  and  against  a  parliamentary  reform 
were  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  session,  but  tlie  supporters 
constituted  a  smaller  proportion  :  the  majority  against  the  rcfijrm  were 
two  hundred  and  ninety-three  to  one  hundred  and  forty-nine.  On  the 
eighth  of  June,  the  duke  of  Richmond  introduced  a  motion  respecting 
the  great  seal  being  put  into  commission.  The  ap.pointnient  of  judges 
(he  alleged)  corntnissioncrs,  v.ith  large  salaries  and  perquisites  dependent 
on  the  will  of  the  crown,  tend«?d  to  invalidate  acts  for  securing  the  inde- 
pendency of  the  judicative  officers:  to  ensure  this  great  object  it  was 
necessary,  he  contended,  first,  that  the  tenure  of  their  offices  should  be 
certain  ;  secondly,  that  the  amount  of  their  salaries  should  be  asceAained, 
and  thus  the  temptations  arising  from  fear  of  removal,  or  hopes  of  greater 
gain,  would  be  prevented.  IJis  grace  by  a  metaphysical  disquisition  on 
the  nature  of  the  passions,  showed  that  hope  and  fear  were  such  power- 
ful aflections,  as  often  to  overcome  justice  and  rectitude  :  and  having 
argued  in  support  of  his  motion  concerning  the  great  seal,  he  proceeded 
to  some  general  observations  on  the  incompatibility  of  the  situation  of  a 


1783.— Chap.  XXX.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  (^51 

[Motion  respecting  the  great  seal.     Prince  of  Wales  ] 

judge  and  a  statesman,  and  endeavoured  to  support  liis  reasonings  by 
the  authority  of  writers  on  political  government.  From  his  arguments 
and  authorities  he  inferred,  that  neither  the  lords  chit  f-ju.';tices,  nor  lords- 
chancellors,  ought  to  sit  in  the  house  of  peers.  Lord  Loughborough 
replied  to  his  grace  in  a  speech  which  w.is  esteemed  equal  to  any  that 
ever  was  delivered,  even  by  its  author  himself.  The  motion,  he  argued, 
proceeded  on  a  visionary  speculation,  the  mover  had  stated  no  actual 
gritnance  ;  but  had  proposed  redress.  The  best  and  only  test  of  poli- 
tical truth  was  experience;  the  practice  had  .often  obtained  of  putting 
the  seals  into  commission  ;  the  judges  had  long  sitten  in  parliament,  no 
evil  or  inconvenience  had  been  experienced  in  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice from  their  voice  in  the  legislature,  and  most  important  benefit  had 
accrued  to  parliament  from  their  legal  and  judicial  ability  and  knowledge. 
These  were  strong  and  striking  facts  not  to  be  controverted  by  vague 
observations  on  the  nature  of  hope  and  fear  ;  such  disquisitions  belonged 
to  the  schools  ;  legislatures  rarely  or  never  adopted  them,  but  contented 
themselves  with  th.e  application  of  law  to  any  ill  habit  of  the  mind,  as  it 
became  predominant,  and  inconvenient  to  the  just  and  rational  ends  of 
government.  A  theory,  professing  to  have  for  its  object  a  practical  cor- 
rective and  improvement,  should  show  what  is  amiss,  and  point  out  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  reformed  :  on  these  grounds  the  motion  was 
rejected.  During  this  session  a  bill  passed  both  houses  for  removing 
and  preventing  all  doubts  which  had  arisen  or  might  arise  concerning  the 
exclusive  right  of  the  parliament  and  courts  of  Ireland  in  matters  of  le- 
gislation and  judicature;  and  for  preventing  any  writ  of  error  or  appeal 
from  any  of  his  majesty's  courts  in  the  si.-ter  kingdom  froin  being  re- 
ceived, heard,  and  adjudged,  in  any  of  his  majesty's  tribunals  in  Britain. 
Before  the  judicial  and  legislative  independence  of  Ireland  had  been  re- 
cognised, it  was  usual  to  remove  causes  by  a  writ  of  error  from  the  Irish 
courts  to  the  British.  An  appeal  of  this  sort  was  before  the  court  of 
king's  bench  when  the  last  settleinent  was  made  ;.  the  chief-justice  con- 
sidering it  necessary  to  proceed  with  pending  suits,  had  given  a  judg- 
ment :  this  procedure,  though  unavoidable  on  the  part  of  his  lordship, 
had  excited  violent  clamours  in  Ireland.  To  pacify  these  they  proposed 
the  present  bill,  though  really  implied  in  the  general  arrangement  of  the 
forr.^er  year.  A  variety  of  economical  regulations  took  place,  more  nu- 
merous than  important.  The  objects,  indeed,  were  the  minute  depart- 
ments of  public  ofrices,  such  as  salaries  of  clerks  and  their  deputies,  but 
no  plan  was  proposed  for  diminishing  the  momentous  departments  of 
national  expense. 

George,  prince  of  Wales,  had  now  reached  the  years  of  manhood  ; 
and  his  age  and  dignified  rank  called  for  a  separate  establishment,  as  a 
measure  agreeable  to  the  uniform  practice  respecting  the  heir  of  the 
crown,  while  his  personal  character,  his  talents  and  accomplishments, 
rendered  it  additionally  desirable  that  he  should  be  placed  in  a  situation 
in  which  he  could  more  fully  exhibit  the  elegance  of  his  taste,  the  digni- 
fied and  engaging  gracefulness  of  his  manners,  the  beneficent  generosity 
of  his  disposition,  his  liberal  patronage  of  merit,  and  his  many  other 
princely  virtues.  His  highness  in  his  early  youth  had  attended  little  to 
party  distinction,  but  gay  and  animated,  intelligent,  erudite,  and  refined, 
he  had  sought  pleasure  and  wit,  information,  ability,  and  taste,  wherever 
they  were  to  be  found.     He  was  particularly  captivated  by  the  open, 


052  HIS TOKY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXX.— 1783- 

[Indian  affairs.     Comprehensive  statement  of  Mr.  Dundas.] 

liberal,  and  impressive  maimers,  and  the  socinl  qualities  of  Mr.  Charles 
Fox,  while  he  admired  the  lUKissuming  gretitn^ss  of  his  character.  The 
habits  of  that  gentleman  were  also  peculiarlv  attractive  to  youth  ;  he  was 
no  austere  ascetic^  he  was  pleasurable  and  ^'ay ;  in  point  of  fro)ic  and 
indulgence,  at  thirty,  such  a  companion  as  suited  the  ideas  ■oi'  eighteen. 
Through  Mr.  Fox,  his  highness  came  to  associ;)te  offen  uith  the  wit  of 
a  Hare  and  a  Sheridan,  and  sometimes  with  the  wisdom  of  a  Burke. 
The  party  now  in  power  was  considered  as  most  agreeable  to  his  high- 
ness ;  but  the  proposal  for  the  establishment  was  received  with  unanimity 
by  all.  It  was  I'ound,  on  considering  the  royal  message,  that  his  majesty 
rcquirefl  only  a  temporary  aid  of  sixty  thousand  pounds  for  the  equipment 
of  the  prince,  and  that  he  meant  to  settle  fifty  thousand  a  year  on  his 
liighness  from  the  civil  list.  The  sum  desired  was  immediately  voted, 
and  an  address  of  thanks  presented  to  his  majesty.  ,    / 

Indian  affairs  continued  this  year  to  occupy  the  unremitting  attention 
of  the  two  committees  ;  but  from  the  unsettled  slate  of  government, 
during  a  considerabTc  part  of  the  session,  no  important  measures  were 
adopted  either  for  redressing  the  grievances,  or  investigating  the  delin- 
quency stated  in  the  reports,  or  forming  systems  for  the  future  regulation 
of  Indian  alfairs.  3Ir.  Dundas  having  in  the  secret  conimittee,  investi- 
gated an  immense  mass  of  evidence,  oral  and  written,  in  April  1782,  ex- 
hibited a  clear  and  connected  detail  of  the  state  and  the  history  of  India, 
from  the  establishment  of  the  new  system  of  1773 ;  the  real  interests  of 
the  company,  the  general  laws  and  successive  special  directions  trans- 
mitted to  the  company's  servants  for  the  preservation  and  promotion  of 
those  interests  ;  the  actual  conduct  of  the  principal  servants  and  their  sub- 
ordinate agents,  and  the  existing  situation  of  those  settlements.  From 
these  multiform,  numerous,  and  complicated  materials,  the  energetic  and 
simplifying  mind  of  Mr.  Dundas  educed  the  general  principles  in  two 
great  propositions.  There  was  very  gross  mismanagement,  which  it  be- 
came the  deliberative  wisdom  of  the  legislature  to  correct,  and  also  to  de- 
vise means  of  improving  the  resources  to  the  higliest  advantage.  There 
was  likewise  an  appearance  of  misconduct  and  misdemeanors,  which  it 
behoved  judicial  in(|uiry  to  examine.  For  these  purposes  he  proposed 
that  a  committee  of  the  whole  house  should  sit  upon  the  alTairs  of  India. 
The  two  principal  objects  of  inquisitorial  procedure,  stated  by  Mr.  Dun- 
das, were  sir  Thomas  Rumbold,  governor  Of  Madras,  and  Warren  Hast- 
ings, esq.  governor-general  of  Bengal.  Having  in  a  variety  of  proposi- 
tions drawn  the  outline  of  Mr.  Hastings's  alleged  conduct,  he  moved  a 
severe  censure  on  the  proceedings  of  the  governor-general,  and  his  co- 
adjutor in  council  Mr.  Hornsby ;  and  a  declaration  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  directors  to  recall  them  from  India.*  He  also  moved  a  bill  of 
pains  and  penalties  against  sir  Thomas  Rumbold,  on  varioug  charges  of 
peculation,  corruption,  and  disobedience  of  the  company's  orders  ;  viola- 
tion of  treaties,  as.sutnption  of  undue  powers,  and  deterioration  of  the 
company's  interest  for  his  own  private  emolument,  and  that  of  his  under- 
lings :  he  moreover  charged  that  officer  with  having  bei^towed  iniquitous 
grants  on  the  nabob  of  Arcot;  by  injustice  and  faithlessness  provoked, 
for  his  own  avaricious  purposes,  the  enmity  of  the  Nizam,  and  thereby  en- 

•  The  director!  passed  a  resolution  for  the  recall,  which  was  afterwards  over 
turned  by  the  court  of  proprietors. 


1783— Ciur.  XXX.  ItEIGN  OF  GEOUGK  III.  (353 

[His  bill  for  the  regulation  of  India.     Abilities  of  Mr.  Dumlas.] 

dangered  the  possessions  of  the  company.  As  it  was  just  and  necessary 
that,  before  the  bill  should  be  passed,  the  accused  should  be  heard  in  his 
own  defence,  and  the  subject  was  very  extensive  and  intricate,  by  the 
prorogation  of  parliament,  in  .Tuly,  it  was  necessarily  postponed  to  the 
iollowing  session.  So  much  of  the  session  of  17S3  was  consumed  in 
the  debates  between  the  parties,  that  it  was  late  before  sir  Thomas  Rum- 
bold  occupied  a  great  share  of  their  attention.  Mr.  Dundas  persevered 
in  supporting  the  charges  against  Rumbold,  and  controverting  his  de- 
fence. But  towards  the  close  of  the  session,  the  committee  of  the  house 
was  so  thinly  attended,  and  appeared  so  little  concerned  to  ascertain  the 
merits  of  the  case,  that  the  prosecutor  deemed  farther  procedure  hope- 
less, arid  agreed  to  a  motion  for  postponing  the  consideration  to  a  period 
when  he  knew  parliament  would  not  be  sitting ;  and  thus  virtually  aban- 
doned the  charge.  In  this  session  he  proceeded  to  his  second  great  ob- 
ject of  more  permanent  consequence,  the  formation  of  a  plan  for  the  bet- 
ter management  of  the  government  in  India,  and  brought  in  a  bill  for  the 
purpose.  The  principal  objects  of  this  proposition  were,  to  invest  the 
governor-general  with  a  discretionary  power  to  act  against  the  will  of  the 
council,  whenever  he  should  think  it  necessary  for  the  public  good  ;  to 
allow  the  subordinate  governors  a  negative  on  every  proposition,  till  the 
determination  of  the  supreme  council  should  be  known  ;  to  secure  to  the 
zemindars  or  landholders  of  Ilindostan,  a  permanent  interest  in  their  re- 
spective tenures  ;  to  cause  the  debts  of  the  rajah  of  Tanjore  and  of  the 
nabob  of  Arcot  to  be  carefully  exaijiined  ;  to  put  an  end  to  the  oppres- 
sions of  tl.'c  latter,  and  the  corrupt  practices  of  his  creditors,  by  securing 
to  the  rajah  the  full  and  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  his  kingdom ;  lastly, 
tq  recall  governor  Hastings,  prevent  the  court  of  proprietors  from  acting 
in  opposition  to  the  sense  of  parliament,  and  to  nominate  a  new  governor- 
general.  For  this  important  office  Mr.  Dundas  recommended  the  earl 
Cornwallis.  Ministers  intimated  their  disapprobation  of  some  parts  of 
this  scheme,  and  also  declared  an  intention  of  proposing  a  plan  early  in 
the  following  session  ;  wherefore  3Ir.  Dundas  did  not  urge  his  bill. 

The  consideration  of  Indian  affairs  first  afforded  to  Mr.  Dundas  an 
opportunity  of  completely  exhibiting  the  powers  and  habits  which  com- 
bine to  render  him  at  once  great  and  beneficial.  During  the  adminis- 
tration of  lord  North,  his  abilities  were  but  imperfectly  known,  because 
occasion  had  admitted  of  only  partial  exertion.  He  was  distinguished 
as  a  clear,  direct,  and  forcible  reasoner;  but  he  had  not  yet  shown  his 
abilities  as  a  statesman.  In  the  Indian  inquiry,  he  manifested  the  most 
patient,  constant,  and  active  industry  to  investigate  :  penetrating  acute- 
ness  to  discover  the  nature  and  situation  of  affairs  ;  enlarged  views  to 
comprehend  their  tendency ;  fertile  and  energetic  invention  to  devise  re- 
gulations both  for  correction  and  improvement.  Mr.  Dundas,  indeed,, 
when  in  opposition  to  ministers  whose  means  of  procuring  their  offices 
he  did  not  approve,  was  far  from  considering  invectives  against  adminis- 
tration as  the  chief  business  of  a  member  of  parliament.  He  planned 
and  proposed  himself,  much  oftener  than  he  censured  the  propositions 
and  schemes  of  others. 

The  supplies  of  this  year  having  been  voted  before  the  reduction  of  the 
army,  were  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  former  year  ;  twelve  millions  were 
raised  by  a  loan,  the  terms  of  which  were  severely  censured  by  opposition., 
and  defended  by  ministers  on  the  ground  of  necessity.     The  new  taxes 


654  HISTORY   OF  THE  C«ap.  XXX.— 1783. 

[New  taxes.     Internal  state  of  Britain  fct  the  peace] 

were  additional  duties  on  bills  of  exchange,  probates  of_\vills,  and  Icfta- 
ries  on  bond.-'  and  law  proceedings,  and  on  sta<je  coaches  and  diligences  ; 
also  new  imposts  on  certificates  of  niarriagos,  births,  and  christenings ; 
li<'enses  for  vending  medicines,  waggons  and  other  commercial  and  agri- 
cultural carriages,  on  turnpike  road  and  inclosure  bdls,  on  agreements 
and  awards.  The  most  important  in  its  effects  upon  pubhc  opinion,  and 
the  poindarity  of  ministers,  was  tlie  receipt  tax.  This  duty  was  perfectly 
a^reeaole  to  the  principles  of  revenue,  as  it  levied  money  in  proportions 
founded  on  the  extent  of'pecuniary  transactions,  by  which  it  was  to  be 
pre-sumed,  the  parties,  if  they  acted  judiciously,  were  deriving  a  benefit 
which  could  aflbrd  the  respective  rates.  It  was  approved  by  able  and 
candid  financier?  of  all  parties,  both  in  and  out  of  parliament :  yet  apply- 
ing to  transfers  and  other  mercantile  cqncerris  that  were  recurring  every 
day,  hour  and  minute  contravening  former  luibits  and  constant  practice, 
it  was  infinitely  more  disrelished  by  the  people,  than  a  partial,  oppressive, 
and  exorbitant  impost,  that  would  have  been  raised  at  stated  and  distant 
periods,  and  thus  not  perpetually  press  itiself  on  the  recollection  and 
senses. 

A  sessior>  much  more  remarkable  for  debate  than  enactment,  was  ter- 
minated on  the  16th  of  July,  by  a  speech  shorter  and  more  general  than 
usual.  The  complicated  discussions  between  the  late  belligerent  pow- 
er.s  had  prevented  the  definitive  terms  of  peace  from  being  finally  settled  : 
but  his  majesty  had  no  doubt  of  their  speedy  conclusion.  The  affairs  of 
the  East  Indies  would  require  their  jsarly  meeting  in  the  following  sea- 
son. Meanwhile  the  king  recommended  to  them  to  employ  their  in- 
fluence in  their  respective  districts  in  promoting  a  spirit  of  industry, 
regularity,  and  order,  as  the  true  sources  of  revenu3  and  power  to  the 
nation. 

The  events  of  Britain  cither  foreign  or  domestic,  during  the  recess  of 
1783,  were  of  little  importance  compared  with  those  which  the  history 
has  presented  in  recording  the  struggles  of  an  arduous  contest ;  the  ener- 
gy of  war  had  ceased,  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  peace  were  not  be- 
gun. The  nation  in  the  interval  of  action,  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of 
languor,  from  which  it  could  be  roused  only  by  very  strong  stimulatives. 
Trade  was  stagnant,  taxes  compared  with  the  supposed  resources  of  the 
country,  enormous  ;  the  national  debt  doubled  in  eight  years,  appeared 
overwhelming.  Depression  of  situation  and  spirits,  reciprocally  increas- 
ed each  other,  by  action  and  reaction  ;  distre.ss  encouraged  desponden- 
cy, despondency  precluded  exertion  and  enterprise,  the  only  efTectual 
means  of  alleviating  and  removing  distress.  Occupied  chiefly  by  party 
contention,  the  legislature  had,  in  the  late  session,  devised  no  effectual 
means  for  the  improvement  of  the  peace:  the  present  administration, 
liDWover  able  many  of  its  members  actually  were,  did  not  possess  the 
confidence  of  the  majority  of  the  peo[)le  ;  and  extrication  from  melan- 
choly circtunstances  was  not  expected  from  their  counsels.  To  these 
political  causes  of  gloomy  retrospect  and  forebodings,  the  present,  though 
temporary,  pressure  of  scarcity  added  its  distresses.  The  crops  of  1782 
had  been  extremely  deficient  in  all  parts  of  these  realms,  and  having  been 
also  unproductive  on  the  continent,  had  much  diminished  the  usual 
sources  of  importation.  The  wants  of  the  poor  concurring  with  so  many 
other  incentives  to  discontent  produced  great  disturbances  and  riots  in 
v.arious  parts  of  the  country.     In  several  places,  especially  puritanical 


1783.— Chap.  XXX.  KEIGN  OF  GKOUGE  IH.  655 

[Settlement  of  the  Genevese  emigrants.] 

districts  of  Scotland,  enthusiasm  contributed  its  share  to  the  disorders. 
The  anti-popish  societies  still  continued  to  exist  among  the  very  lowest 
orders;  in  the  abhorrence  of  the  Romish  church  great  numbers  of  me- 
chanics and  manufacturing  journeymen  avowed  their  displeasure  against 
that  government  by  which  they  affirmed  popery  to  be  impiously  protected. 
They  insulted  and  outraged  the  magistracy,  attacked  the  military,  and 
even  killed  several  soldiers.  Their  zeal  becoming  more  eccentric  and  ex- 
travagant, they  branched  out  into  various  sects,  which,  whatever  might 
be  the  peculiar  chimeras  of  their  phrensy,  concurred  in  disavowing  alle- 
giance, every  moral  obligation  and  duty,  if  they  conceived  them  to  inter- 
fere with  their  theological  notions.*  One  sentiment  they  appeared  to 
have  borrowed  from  the  fifth  monarchy  men  of  Cromwellian  celebrity, 
that  all  things  are  lawful  iinlo  the  saints.  A  relaxation  of  order  manifest- 
ed itself  in  a  variety  of  crimes,  especially  around  the  metropolis.  Theft 
and  forgery  were  extremely  frequent,  robbery  became  more  daring  and 
atrocious,  murder  and  barbarity,  formerly  so  rare  among  English  depre- 
dators, now  abounded  ;  the  increase  of  depravity  was  great  and  alarm- 
ing. 

The  national  and  public  acts  of  the  country  at  thisi  season,  were  chiefly 
the  evacuation  of  America  on  the  3d  of  September  ;  and  the  prelimina- 
ries between  Britain  and  the  states-general  were  also  subscribed  the  same 
day.  This  year  a  commotion  in  a  distant  state  produced  a  considerable 
accession  of  arts  and  industry  to  his  majesty's  dominions  ;  certain  altera- 
tions having  been  proposed  in  the  constitution  of  the  illustrious  though 
small  republic  of  Geneva,  a  great  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  were  so 
averse  to  the  changes,  that  they  determined  to  emigrate,  and  appointed 
commissioners  to  collect  information  concerning  asylums  wherein  they 
might  enjoy  the  greatest  security,  and  be  able  to  improve  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage their  resources  of  property  and  character.  In  the  beginning  of 
1783  these  commissioners  arrived  in  DubUn,  snd  were  received  with  af- 
fectionate kindness  by  the  hospitable  and  generous  Irish.  The  delegates 
of  the  volunteer  corps  of  the  province  of  Leinster  unanimously  resolved, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Geneva,  who  sought  refuge  from  oppression  and 
tyranny,  deserved  the  highest  commendation  ;  and  that  such  of  them  as 
established  themselves  in  that  country  should  always  receive  the  warmest 
support.  The  commissioners  apphed  to  government  for  its  sanction  to 
the  desired  settlement ;  and  the  lord-lieutenant  was  empowered  by  his 
majesty  to  signify  not  only  his  royal  approbation  and  assurance  of  pro- 
tection and  regard,  and  the  enjoyment  of  such  privileges  as  would  con- 
tribute to  their  welfare  and  prosperity  ;  but  to  promise  also  pecuniary  as- 
sistance to  enable  them  to  execute  the  projected  emigration  and  estab- 
lishment. Their  commissioners  were  requested  Jo  detail  the  privileges 
and  regulations  which  they  wished  to  be  granted  to  their  intended  place 
of  residence ;  and  were  told,  that  after  being  approved  by  his  majesty's 
law  servants,  they  should  be  extended  into  a  charter.  It  was  reconmiend- 
ed  to  the  commissioners  to  examine,  with  all  expedition,  a  situation  (of 
their  new  town ;  and  further  to  establi^ih  in  it  an  academy  on  the  princi- 

•  The  reader  will  find  in  the  Gentleman's  Maga:rine,'ajKl  otherperiodical  works 
for  the  year  1783,  details  and  documents  which  fully  authenticate  and  support 
this  general  account ;  especially  Gentleman's  Magazine,  p.  249  and  340 ;  London 
Magazine,  p.  88;  and  Morning  Chronicle,  repeatedly,  under  the  signature  of  a 
Scotch  Highlander. 


65G  HISTORY  OF  THE  (Jaxr.  XXX.— 1783. 

[Earthquakes  in  Calabria.] 

pie  of  those  of  Geneva,  tlirougli  which  the  youth  of  all  countries  in  Eu- 
rope had  derived  siuh  important  benefit.  The  commissioners  chose  the 
county  of  Wateiford  as  the  scene  of  the  proposed  colony.  Of  these  gen- 
tlemen, tiie  most  active  was  Mr.  U'lvernois,  since  so  well  known  in  po- 
litical literature,  by  the  title  of  sir  Francis  D'lvernois. 

While  on  the  norlhern  confines  of  the  Alps,  the  dissensions  of  man 
were  producing  political  separation ;  in  that  delightful  county,  which 
stretches  from  their  southern  frontiers,  the  discord  of  the  elements  caus- 
ed a  most  tremendous  natural  convulsion.     The  portion  of  Italy  which, 
from  being  a  principal  scene  of  Grecian  colonies,  was  anciently  known 
by  the  name  of  Grecia  Magna ;  and  in  modern  times  bears  the  ap- 
pellation of  the  Two  Calabrias,  suffered  a  succession  of  earthquakes, 
the  longest,  most  dreadful  and  destructive  to  the  face  of  the  country, 
and  to  mankind,  that  was  ever  experienced  in  those  regions.     The  first 
shock  happened  about  noon  on  the  5th  of  February  17S3,  and  was  of  all 
the  most  fatal ;  it  came  on  suddenly,  without  any  of  the  usual  indications; 
it  was  about  the  Italian  time  of  dinner,  when  the  people  were  in  their 
houses  ;  but  beyond  all,  the  motion  of  the  earth  in  that  shock  was  verti- 
cal, rising  suddenly  upwards  from  its  foundations,  and  as  suddenly  sink- 
ing again.     By  this  fatal  motion  the  greatest  buildings,  villages,  towns, 
and  entire  cities  were  instantaneously  involved  in  one  common  destruc- 
tion ;  nothing  remaining  to  be  seen  but  vast  heaps  of  undistinguishable 
ruins,  witiiout  any  traces  of  streets  or  houses.     One  of  the  towns  and  ci- 
ties where  tlie  greatest  devastation  took  place  was  Casal  Nuova,  in  which 
the  princess  Gerase  Grimaldi,  with  more  than  four  thousand  of  her  sub- 
jects perished  in  the  same  instant.     At  Baguara,  above  three  thousand 
of  the  inhabitants  "were  lost,  Radicina  and  Palma  counted  their  loss  at 
above  three  thousand  each  :  Terra  Nuova  at  about  fourteen  hundred ; 
and  Semina  at  stdl  more.     The  greater  mischief  was  in  Calabria  Ultra, 
the  extreme  province  of  Italy  next  to  Sicily.     The  inhabitants  of  Scylla 
sought  refuge  on  the  celebrated  rock  from  its  vicinity  to  which  the  town 
was  denominated  ;  and  following  the  example  of  their  prince,*  descend- 
ed to  a  little  harbour  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  where  getting  into  boats  or 
stretched  upon  the   shore,  they  thought  themselves  free  from  danger. 
But  in  the  course  of  the  night,  a  stupendous  wave,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  driven  furiously  over  land,  upon  its  return  swept  away  the  unfortu- 
nate prince,   with  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-three  of  his 
subjects.     The  northeast  angle  of  Sicily,  including  the  city  of  Messina, 
were  likewise  in  a  considerable  degree  victims  of  that  shock.     But  the 
greatest  violence  of  its  exertion,  and  its  most  dreadful  efTects,  were  in 
the  plain  on  the  western  side  of  the  Appennines ;  mountains  were  rent, 
valleys  closed  ;  the  hills  that  formed  them  being  thrown  from  their  places, 
and  meeting  their  opposites  in  the  centre,  the  course  of  rivers  was  neces- 
sarily changed,  or  the  waters  being  entirely  dammed  up,  they  were  turn- 
ed into  great  and  increasing  lakes,  f 

•  Many  of  the  barons  of  the  king'donn  of  Naples  have  the  title  of  princes. 

-j-  Tlie  wlinle  of  the  mortality,  according'  to  the  returns  made  to  the  secretary 
of  state's  ofiicf  in  Naples,  amounted  to  33,567.  These  returns,  drawn  up  hi  the 
confusion  and  misery  that  prevailed,  could  not  be  accurate  ;  and  it  was  supposed 
by  the  best  judges,  that  the  real  loss,  including  strangers,  amounted  at  least  to 
40,000.  These  estimates  only  take  in  immediate  victims  to  the  earUiquakes; 
those  who  perished  through  want,  diseases,  anguish,  and  every  species  of  subse- 
quent distress  not  being  included. 


1783.— Chap.  XXX.  UEIGN  OF  GEORGE  lU-  ^357 

[Benevolence  of  the  nrchbishop  of  Keggio.J 

The  earth  in  all  that  part  of  Italy  continued  for  many  weeks  in  a  con- 
stant state  of  tremor ;  and  several  shocks  with  different  degrees  of  vio- 
lence, were  every  day  felt,  so  that  the  unhappy  people,  already  worn 
down  with  calamity  and  grief,  through  the  loss  of  their  property  and  of 
their  dearest  relations,  were  still  kept  in  a  continual  state  of  apprehension 
and  terror.  The  king  and  government  of  Naples  employed  every  pos- 
sible means  for  both  affording  immediate  relief  to  the  sufferers,  and  as- 
sistance towards  their. recovery  from  the  loss  of  their  property.  The 
archbishop  of  Reggio  particularly  distinguished  himself  for  benevolence 
and  charity.  He  disposed  of  his  own  furniture,  equipages,  and  most 
productive  moveables,  and  employed  all  the  money  he  could  raise  to  al- 
leviate the  distresses  of  his  flocks.  Having  exhausted  his  pecuniary 
resources,  he  still,  by  infusing  the  cordial  balm  of  sympathy,  allayed 
those  miseries  which  he  could  not  remove.  This  truly  christian  pastor 
is  not  unworthy  of  being  ranked  with  the  celebrated  bishop  of  Marseilles, 
as  one  of  the  numberless  instances  of  the  beneficent  purposes  to  which 
recently  reproached  hierarchs  applied  their  possessions. 


Vol.  Vn.— ^s 


(558  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXXI.— irB3' 


CHAP.  XXXI. 


Constituents  and  strenptli  of  the  coalition  ministry. — Combines  genius,  political 
experii'iice,  and  anstocratical  influence. —  Meetinjr  of  [larlianient. — His  majeS' 
tj's  spcecli — recommends  to  their  consideration  Brltisli  India — commerce  and 
revenue. — Mr.  Fox's  East  India  bill —object,  to  vest  tlie  wliole  affairs  ot  the 
company  in  certain  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  parliament,  and  admi 
nister  commercial  as  well  as  territorial  concerns. — Arguments  for  the  bdl. — 
The  company  is  in  a  state  of  battkruptcy,  and  unfit  to  maiiaire  its  own  affairs. 
— The  enormous  abuses  of  its  servants,  and  tiie  distr<.sses  of  India — The  bill 
opposed  by  Mr  Pitt. — Arguments  against  tlie  bill,  that  it  is  an  infringement  of 
chartered  rights,  without  the  justification  of  necessity — and  the  formation  of 
an  influence  dependent  on  the  present  ministers — by  Mr.  Hundas — he  charges 
Mr.  Fox  witli  aspiring  at  perpetual  dictatorship. — IJurke's-  celebrated  speech 
on  the  ex'ent  and  bounds  of  chartered  nglils.— Allegations  against  ^Ir.  Has- 
tings.— Petitions  of  the  India  company. — Hill  passes  the  commons  by  a  great 
majority. — Other  corporate  bodies  petition  against  the  violation  of  a  charter. — 
Bill  becomes  obnoxious  to  the  public. — IJill  rejected  by  the  lords  — Causes  as- 
signed by  ministry  for  the  rejection  of  the  bill.—  Alleged  to  be  disagreeable  to 
his  m.ajesty. — Reported  interference  through  earl  Temple  canvassed  in  the 
house  of  commons. —  Ministers  dismissed  their  offio-s. — Character  of  Mr.  Fox's 
liast  India  bill — whether  right  or  wrong,  decisive  and  efficient —thoroughly 
adapted  to  its  end,  whether  good  or  bad-^tended  to  secure  Mr  Fox's  continu- 
ance in  i)ower,  however  that  power  might  be  used. — General  outcry  against 
Mr.  Fo.-?.  — Impartial  esiimate  of  this  political  scheme. — Mr  'NViHiam  Piti  ])rime 
minister,  with  a  minority  in  the  house  of  commons. — Unpojjularity  of  Mr  Fox 
and  the  coalition  parly. — .Mr  Piu's  Kast  India  bill — rejected.— Question  on  dic- 
tation to  the  crown  by  the  commons  in  the  choice  of  a  minister — King,  peers, 
and  the  public  favourable  to  Mr.  Pitt. — Attempt  of  independent  gentlemen  to 
eflTect  an  accommodation)  between  tlie  ministerial  and  opposition  party.— Meeting 
for  that  purpose. — Correspondence  with  the  duke  of  Portland  and  Mr.  Pitt. — 
Design  proves  abortive — IJisplay  of  Mr.  Pitt's  talents  and  character  in  resist- 
ing such  a  confederacy  of  genius  and  power. — Public  estim.ation  of  the  con- 
tending leaders. — The  king  declares  his  intention  of  taking  the  sense  of  his 
people. — Uissolulioii  and  character  of  this  parliament. 

The  season  now  approached  for  tlie  meeting  of  parliament :  in  the 
last  session  mini«!ters  had  done  little  more  than  procure  their  appoint- 
ment.'^. They  had  propo.sf  d  no  important  schemes  of  policy  to  ascertain 
their  collective  character ;  the  public  mipht  conjectttre  what  they  would 
be,  hut  could  not  yet  know  what  they  were.  The  coalition  administra- 
tion, it  was  obvious,  had  many  symptom.s  of  strength  superior  to  that 
which  was  po-esesscd  by  any  ministry  since  the  cornmenccment  of  this 
reign.  I(  com'oiuf.d  the  leading  members  of  both  patties  that  prevailed 
durmg  the  .Vrnerican  war ;  united  philo.-ophy  and  genius  with  official  ex- 
perience :  and  to  consolidate  parts  formerly  heterogeneous  into  one  mas.s, 
a  great  weight  of  aristocratic  Influence  was  superadded.  Lord  North  re- 
tained many  of  his  numerous  supporters  :  Mr.  Fox  had  a  less  numerous, 
but  a  still  more  able  band  of  friinds.  The  result  of  this  union  of  genius, 
experience,  rank,  and  [iroperty,  was  a  majority  seldom  sfcen  in  favour  of 
ministers  from  the  time  of  the  illn.strious  Pitt.  The  friends  of  this  mi- 
nistry conceived  it  to  compri.se  all  that  was  requisite  to  heal  the  wounds 
and  restore  the  prosperity  of  their  country.    Its  opponents,  from  the  cha- 


1783.— Chap.  XXXI.  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  ^559 

[Meeting  of  parliament.     Speech  of  the  king.] 

racter  of  its  principal  members,  and  especially  its  actin<r  head,  equally 
expected  boldnes:?,  decision,  and  efficacy  ;  but  a  mischievous,  not  a  be- 
neficial efficacy.  They  conceived  the  lenders  of  the  two  component 
parties,  by  their  extraordinary  junction,  to  have  sacrificed  all  public  prin- 
ciple at  the  altar  of  ambition.  They  apprehended,  that  by  forcing  them- 
selves into  the  counsels  of  their  soverci^^n,  they  had  therchy  infringed  the 
kingly  prerogative,  and  in  it  the  British  constitution.  Having  so  inter- 
preted the  views  and  conduct  of  administration,  they  inferred,  that  their 
measures  would  be  directed  to  the  preservation  and  extension  of  their  own 
power,  instead  of  the  good  of  the  country. 

Parliament  assembled  on  the  11th  of  November,  and  soon  afforded  an 
opportunity  of  considering  tlu3  schemes  of  administration.  IJis  majesty's 
speech  was  short,  but  extremely  comprehensive  ;  the  definitive  treaties 
of  peace  liad  been  concluded  ;  the  important  and  extensive  inquiries  long 
carried  on  respecting  India  affairs,  were  pursued  with  diligence,  and  the 
fruit  of  them  would  be  expected  in  the  provisions  of  parliamentary  wis- 
dom, to  maintain  and  improve  the  valuable  advantages  which  we  derived 
from  our  oriental  possessions,  and  to  promote  and  secure  the  happiness 
of  the  native  inhabitants  of  those  provinces.  The  season  of  peace  would 
call  for  their  attention  to  every  possible  means  of  recruiting  the  strength 
of  the  nation,  after  such  a  long  and  expensive  war.  One  of  the  first  ob- 
jects of  deliberation  was  the  security  and  increase  of  the  revenue  in  the 
manner  which  should  be  least  burthensorae  to  the  subjects.  Dangerous 
frauds  had  prevailed,  and  daring  outrages  were  committed  respecting  the 
collection  of  the  public  revenue  :  and  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  such 
depredations,  it  would  be  necessary  to  adopt  new  provisions.  The  house 
of  commons  were  informed  of  the  reduction  of  all  the  establishments  as 
far  as  prudence  woidd  admit,  of  the  closing  expenses  requisite  at  such  a 
time,  and  reminded  of  the  necessity  of  supporting  the  national  credit. 

The  primary  importance  of  these  objects  was  undeniable  ;  and  an  ad- 
dress consonant  to  the  speech  was  unanimously  passed  in  both  houses. 
Mr.  Pitt  expressed  his  high  approbation  of  the  ends  proposed  by  govern- 
ment, though  he  made  some  animadversions  on  the  tardiness  of  minis- 
ters, in  not  having  been  farther  advanced  with  measures  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  such  momentous  purposes.  On  all  these  grand  subjects,  he 
counselled  them  to  bring  forward  great,  efficient,  and  permanent  sys- 
tems ;  as  he  highly  applauded  the  ends  which  they  professed  fo  seek,  he 
trusted  the  means  which  they  would  devise  would  be  equally  meritorious  ; 
in  which  case,  they  should  have  his  warmest  support.  Mr.  Fox,  im- 
pressed with  the  very  highest  idea  of  Mr.  Pitt's  talents,  declared,  nothing 
could  afford  him  more  satisfaction  as  a  minister,  or  proud  exultation  as 
a  man,  than  to  be  honoured  with  the  praise  and  support  of  Mr.  Pitt.* 
He  expressed  very  high  approI)ation  of  the  general  principles  which  he 
had  briefly  sketched  concerning  the  objects  of  their  intended  deliberation. 
He  acknowledged  that  India  afiairs  could  ill  brook  delay  :  through  the 
industry  and  ability  of  their  committee,  however,  the  time  which  they 
had  occupied  was  the  means  of  affording  parliament  the  most  accurate 
and  complete  information  ;  so  that  no  assembly  could  be  better  acquaint- 
ed with  the  subject  on  which  they  were  called  to  deliberate  :  he  concluded 
with  announcing,  that,  on  the  18th  of  November,  he  should  propose  a 
plan  for  the  government  of  India. 

•  Parliamentary  debates,  1783-4. 


(i(30  IllSrOUY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXXI.— 178o. 

[East  India  bill  of  Mr.  Fox.] 

On  the  day  appointed,  Mr.  Fox  moved  the  house  for  leave  to  bring  in 
a  bill  for  vestiiiii  the  affairs  of  the  East  India  company  in  the  hands  of 
certain  commissioners,  for  the  benefit  of  the  proprietors  and  the  public  ; 
and  also  a  bill  for  the  better  government  of  the  territorial  possessions  and 
dependencies  in  India.     In  the  former  of  these  propositions,  a  preamble 
stated,  tliat  disorders  existed  and  increased  in  the  management  of  the 
British  territorial  possessions,  revenues,  and  commerce,  in  the  East  In- 
dies ;  which  diminished  the  prosperity  of  the  natives,  impaired  and  threat- 
ened with  utter  ruin  the  valuable  interests  of  this  nation.     The  govern- 
ment of  the  present  directors  and  proprietors  was  to  be  suspended  ;  they 
were  to  be  deprived  of  the  whole  administration  of  their  territorial  and 
commercial  affairs  :  of  their  books,  papers,  documents,  and  their  house 
in  Leadenhall-street.     The  total  direction  of  all  their  concerns,  mercan- 
tile, financial,  and  pohtical,  was  henceforward  to  be  vested  in  seven 
commissioners  ;  namely,  "William  earl  FitzwilUara,  the  right  honourable 
Frederick  Montague,  lord  George  viscount  Lewisham,  the  honourable 
George  Augustus  North,  sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  sir  Henry  Fletcher,  and  Ro- 
bert Gregory,  esq.     These  commissioners  were  to  be  appointed  for  the 
first  time  by  the  whole  legislature  ;  but  afterwards  by  the  crown  :  they 
were  to  hold  their  offices  by  the  same  tenure  as  the  judges  of  England, 
during  their  good  behaviour,  and  to  be  removed  only  by  address  from 
either  house  of  parliament :  they  were  to  be  assisted  by  seven  directors  ; 
who  should  each  possess  at  least  two  thousand  pounds  India  stock,  and 
have  no  mercantile  concern  with  the  company.     The  first  seven  were 
named  in  the  bill :  vacancies   were  to  be  supplied  by  a  majority  of  the 
proprietors,  on  an  open  poll.     Any  or  all  of  the  assisting  directors  might 
be  removed  by  five  of  the  commissioners ;  and  thus  the  commissioners 
were  to  hold  the  supreme  direction  and  exclusive  patronage  of  all  India 
affairs.     In  the  exercise  of  this  immense  power,  they  were  required  to 
come  to  a  decision  upon  every  question  within  a  limited  time,  or  to  as- 
sign a  specific  reason  for  their  delay.     They  must  submit,  once  in  every 
six  months,  an  exact  state  of  their  accounts  and  establishments  to  both 
houses  of  parliament ;  they  were  never  to  vote  by  ballot,  and  must  enter 
upon  their  journals  the  reasons  of  their  vote.     Such  were  the  outlines  of 
this  celebrated  bill.     The  proposed  plan  appeared  to  combine  eflSciency 
in  the  powers  intrusted,  openness  in  the  required  progress  of  its  exercise, 
aud  responsibility  that  it  should  be  employed  for  the  intended  purposes. 
If,  therefore,  the  objects  were  beneficial  to  our  Indian  interests  and  to 
the  whole  British  empire,  and  the  persons  chosen  were  completely  qua- 
lified for  executing  the  trust  reposed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  their 
powers  were  fully  sufficient.     This  bill  for  the  general  management  of 
Indian  concerns,  was  accompanied  by  a  second  bill,  the  professed  object 
of  which  was,  to  prevent  all  kinds  of  arbitrary  and  despotical  proceedings 
from  the  administration  of  the  territorial  possessions  ;  it  defined  the  au- 
thority of  the  governor-general,  suppressed  all  power  of  acting  independ- 
ently of  his  council,  proscribed  the  delegation  of  any  trust,  and  declared 
every  existing  British  servant  in  India  incompetent  to  the  acquisition  or 
exchange  of  any  territory  in  behalf  of  the  company  ;  to  the  conclusion  of 
any  treaty  of  partition  ;  to  appoint  to  office  any  person  removed  for  mis- 
demeanour ;  to  lend  to  native  powers  the  company's  troops  ;  and  to  hire 
out  any  property  to  any  civil  officers  of  the  company  :  it  voided  all  mono- 
polies, and  declared  every  illegal  present  recoverable  by  any  person  for 


irSS.— Chap.  XXXL  KJilGN  OF  GEOUGE  III.  ^{^l 

[Arguments  in  favour  of  the  bill.     Opposed  by  Mr.  Pitt.] 

his  own  sole  benefit.    One  part  of  the  second  bill  particularly  respecter! 
the  zemindars,  or  native  landholders,  secured  to  them  an  estate  of  inhe- 
ritance, without  an  alteration  of  rents;  and  endeavoured  to  preclude  all 
vexatious  and  usurious  claims  ;  to  forbid  mortgages,  and  to  subject  all 
doubtful  demands  to  the  examination  and  censure  of  the  commissioners. 
It  prescribed  a  mode  for  terminating  the  disputes  between  the  nabob  ol 
Arcot  and  the  rajah  of  Tanjore  ;  and  disqualified  every  person  in  the 
service  of  the  company  from  sitting  in  the  house  of  commons  during  thf 
contaiuance  of  his  employment,  and  for  a  certain  specified   term  after 
his  dismission.     As  the  scheme  of  Mr.  Fox  proposed  to  take  away  from 
the  India  company  the  management  of  the  whole  and  every  part  of  their 
own  commercial  affairs,  as  well  as  the  territorial  possessions,  its  author 
drew  his  arguments  to  support  it  from  two  sources  :  the  embarrassed 
state  of  the  company's  finances ;  the  durable  and  comprehensive  abuses 
which  had  prevailed  in  the  government  of  India.     The  distressed  situa- 
tion of  the  company's  affairs  lie  endeavoured  to  prove  from  the  following 
circumstances  :  they  had  applied  the  preceding  year  to  parliament  for 
pecuniary  assistance  ;  they  had  asked  leave  to  borrow  five  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  upon  bonds  ;  they  had  petitioned  for  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds  in  exchequer  bills ;  and  for  the  suspension  of  a  demand  upon 
them,  on  the  part  of  government,  for  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds 
due  for  customs.    By  an  act  of  parliament,  the  directors  were  prohibited 
from  accepting  bills  beyond  three  hundred  thousand  pounds,  drawn  in 
India ;  yet,  at  this  very  time,  bills  to  the  amount  of  more  than  two  mil- 
lions were  on  their  way  from  India  for  acceptance.     Their  actual  debt 
was  eleven  millions  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  ;  and  they  had  stock 
in  hand,  towards  paying  this  immense  incumbrance,  only  to  the  amount 
of  about  three  millions  two  hundred  thousand  pounds.    The  result  of  this 
comparison  was  a  balance  against  them  of  eight  millions  ;  a  deficiency 
which  was  extremely  alarming,  when  compared  with  the  capital  of  the 
proprietors.    He  would  not  hesitate  to  declare  the  company  actually  bank- 
rupt :  if  they  were  not  assisted,  they  must  unavoidably  be  ruined  ;  and 
the  fall  of  a  body  of  merchants  so  extensive  in  their  concerns,  and  so  im- 
portant in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  must  necessarily  give  a  very  alarming 
blow  to  our  national  credit.     Parliament  must  permit  the  acceptance  to 
be  made,  and  interfere  for  their  support ;  but  it  would  be  absurd  in  itself, 
and  unjust  to  the  nation,  for  legislature  to  grant  them  succour,  without 
taking  for  the  public  security  the  total  direction  of  their  pecuniary  affairs. 
This  was  an  interference  not  only  wise  but  absolutely  necessary.     Con- 
cerning the  abuses  that  prevailed  in  the  government  of  India,  he  began 
with  the  conduct  of  the  company  at  home,  the  nature  of  their  connexion 
with  their  officers  abroad,  the  conduct  of  the  servants  in  general,  and  of 
Mr.  Hastings  in  particular,  elucidated  from  the  reports  of  the  committee. 
The  plan  which  he  proposed  would,  he  contended,  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  such  abuses,  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  British  interests,  and  change 
the,  condition  of  the  natives  from  oppression  and  misery  to  security  and 
comfort. 

The  first,  most  strenuous  and  powerful  opposer  of  the  bill  was  Mr. 
Pitt.  The  reasons  which  he  urged  against  it  were  reducible  to  two  ge- 
neral heads.  "  The  proposed  scheme,"  he  said,  "  annihilated  chartered 
rights,  and  created  a  new  and  immense  body  of  influence,  unknown  to 
the  British  constitution."     He  admitted  that  India  wanted  reform :  btit 


062  HISTORY  OF  THE  Ciiap.  XXXI.— 178J. 

[^ricusoning  of  Mr.  Duiidas  in  opposition.] 

not  sucli  a  ictbrm  as  broke  tlirough  every  principle  of  equity  and  justice. 
The  bill  proposed  tu  disfVancbise  tbe  members,  and  confiscate  the  pro- 
perty of  tbe  East  India  company  ;  it  required  directors,  trustees  chosen 
by  proprietors  for  the  behalf  of  those  constituents,  and  under  th-ir  con- 
trol, to  surrender  all  lands,  tenements,  houses,  books,  records,  charters, 
instruments,  vessels,  goods,  money,  and  securities,  to  persons  over  whom 
the  owners  were  to  possess  no  power  of  interference  in  the  disposal  of 
their  own  property  ;  on  what  principle  of  law  or  justice  could  such  a  con- 
Hscation  be  defended  ?  The  rights  of  the  company  were  conveyed  in  a 
ciiarter  expresi;ed  in  tlie  clearest  and  strongest  terms  that  could  be  con- 
ceived. It  was  clearer,  stronger,  and  better  guarded  in  point  of  expres- 
.sion,  than  the  charter  of  the  bank  of  England  :  the  right  by  which  our 
gracious  sovereign  iield  the  sceptre  of  these  kingdoms,  was  not  more 
fully  confirmed,  not  farther  removed  from  the  possibility  of  all  plausible 
question.  The  principle  of  this  bill  once  established,  what  secuiity  bad 
tiic  other  public  companies  of  the  kingdom  1  Vv'hat  security  had  the  bank 
of  England?  What  security  had  the  national  creditors,  or  the  public 
corporations?  or,  indeed,  what  assurance  could  we  have  for  the  great 
charter  itself,  the  foundation  of  all  our  privileges,  and  all  our  liberties? 
The  power  indeed  was  pretend  d  to  be  created  in  trust  for  the  benefit  of 
the  proprietors  ;  but,  in  case  of  the  grossest  abuse  of  trust,  to  whom  was 
the  appeal  ?  To  the  proprietors  ?  No  ;  but  to  a  majority  of  either  hou.se 
of  parliament,  wliich  the  most  drivelling  minister  could  not  fail  to  secure 
with  the  patronage  of  about  two  millinns  sterling  given  by  this  bill.  But 
the  proposition  was  stiil  more  objectionable  m  another  way,  it  was  cal- 
culated to  increase  the  influence  of  the  minister  to  an  enormous  and 
alarming  degree.  Seven  commissioners  chosen  ostensilily  by  parliament, 
but  really  by  administration,  were  to  involve  in  the  vortex  of  their  autho- 
rity, the  whole  treasure  of  India.  These  poured  forth  like  an  irresisti- 
ble torrent  upon  this  country,  would  sweep  away  our  hberties  and  all  we 
could  call  our  own. 

Mr.  Uundas  argued,  that  the  immediate  tendency  of  the  bill  was  so 
far  from  being  to  increase  the  influence  of  the  crown,  that  it  must  inevi- 
tably overbear  its  pov.'er :  it  created  a  fourth  estate,  which  would  over- 
turn the  balance  of  the  three  estal)lished  by  the  constitution.  The  op- 
■{(osers  of  the  bill  proceeded  to  attack  its  author's  motives.  Mr.  Fox 
was  a  man  of  the  most  splendid  ability,  the  most  intrepid  and  daring  spi- 
rit, and  unbounded  ambition.  He  professed  himself  a  party  man,  and 
It  was  a  leading  article  in  his  political  creed,  that  Britain  ought  to  be  go- 
verned by  a  party  :  to  perpetuate  such  a  government  was  the  design  of 
the  present  scheme.  This  bill  exhibited  all  the  most  prominent  features 
of  its  author's  ciiaracter  and  sentiments  :  its  end  was  perpetual  dictator- 
.-'hip  to  himself;  the  projected  means  were  the  whole  influence  of  India, 
possessed  and  exercised  by  the  members  and  agents  of  a  party  which 
were  totally  at  bis  devotion.  The  motives  of  the  coalition  were  before 
easily  divined;  new  success  encouraged  them  to  unfold  their  intentions, 
and  their  designs  became  fully  manifested.  To  force  his  way  to  the  su- 
preme direction  of  his  tnajesty's  government,  Mr.  Fox  had  coalesced 
with  those  statesmen  whom  he  had  uniformly  professed  to  reprobate  ;  he 
headed  them  in  censuring  that  peace,  which,  in  less  trying  circumstances, 
he  uniformly  professed  to  recommend  :  and  thus  found  an  o[)portunity  of 
attaining  the  power  which  he  through  that  coalition  sought.     IJis  views 


1783.— Chap.  XXXI.  KF-IGN  OF  GEORGE  IIF.  663 

[Mr.  Burke's  celebraVed  speech  on  chartered  riglits.] 

c.xtendinof  as  he  advanced,  he  now  proposed  to  make  his  power  perpetual 
and  uncontrollable.  Stich  was  the  opinion  which  Messr.s.  Dundas  and 
Pitt,  and  their  supporters,  delivered  concerning  Mr.  J'ox's  East  India 

bill.  .    . 

The  combined  force  of  philosophy,  eloquence,  and  poetry,  was  em- 
ployed by  Mr.  I.'iirke  in  su[)porting  this  grand  project  of  his  friend.  A 
considerable  portion  of  his  own  reasoning  was  e.verted  to  controvert  the 
aroutnonts  draun  from  the  annihilation  of  tlie  company's  chaner  :  he 
admitted,  to  the  fullest  extent,  that  the  cliarter  of  the  East  India  corpo- 
ration had  been  sanctioned  by  the  king  and  [)arliament ;  that  the  com- 
pany had  bougiit  it,  and  honestly  paid  for  it ;  and  that  they  had  every  right 
to  it  which  such  a  sanction  and  such  a  purchase  could  convey.  Having 
granted  this  position  to  the  opponents  of  the  bill,  he  maintained,  that  not- 
withstan(!ing  that  sanction  and  purchase,  the  proposed  change  ought 
to  take  place.  He  proceeded  on  the  great  and  broad  grounds  of  ethics, 
arguing  that  no  special  covenant,  however  sanctioned,  can. au- 
thorize A  violation  of  the  laws  of  morality  ;  if  a  covenant  ope- 
rate to  the  misery  of  mankind,  to  oppression  and  injustice,  the  general  obli- 
gation to  prevent  wickedness  is  antecedent  and  superior  to  any  special 
obligation  to  perform  a  covenant :  parliament  had  gold  all  they  had  a 
ii"-ht  to  sell — an  ex<  lu.=ive  privilege  to  trade,  but  not  a  privilege  to  rob 
and  oppress  ;  and  if  what  they  disposed  of  for  the  purposes  of  commerce 
was  made  the  instrument  of  oppression  and  pillage,  it  was  their  duty,  as 
the  guardians  of  the  conduct  and  happiness  of  all  within  the  sphere  of 
their  influence  and  control,  to  prevent  so  pernicious  an  operation.  After 
laying  down  this  as  a  t'nndamental  principle,  he  proceeded  to  argue,  that 
there  had  been,  and  were,  the  most  flagrant  acts  of  oppression  in  India, 
by  the  servants  of  the  company  ;  that  the  whole  system  was  oppressive 
from  the  beginning  of  the  acquisition  of  territorial  [>ossessions  :  he  enter- 
ed into  a  detail  of  the  principal  instances  of  rapine,  violence,  and  tyranny, 
which  were  attributed  to  the  English  ;  and  dwelt  with  superior  energy 
and  pathos  on  those  acts  of  which  he  alleged  Mr.  Hastings  to  be  guilty. 
No  one  undertook  to  deny,  as  an  abstract  proposition,  that  charters  or 
any  covenants  contravening  the  principles  of  morality,  and  bringing  mise- 
ry on  mankind,  ought  to  be  annulled  :  but  the  allegation  was  denied  re- 
specting the  charter  of  the  East  India  company.  The  bill,  it  was  af- 
firmed, PROPOSED  confiscation  WITHOUT  PROOF  OF  DELINQUENCY.    The 

proprietors  and  directors  petitioned  the  house  that  their  securities  and 
properties  might  not  be  forfeited  without  evidence  of  criminality.  They 
desired,  that  before  the  house  passed  a  l)ill  which  would  act  as  a  condem- 
nation, they  should  prove  the  guilt.  One  reason  a<lduced  by  Mr.  Fox 
for  the  proscription  of  their  rights  was,  that  they  had  mismanaged  then- 
own  affairs,  and  were  insolvent ;  they  denied  the  alleged  bankruptcy, 
and  offered  to  prove  by  a  statement  of  their  demands  and  efi'ects,  that 
though  somewliat  embarrassed,  their  assets  far  exceeded  their  debts  ; 
and  prayed  their  situation  might  be  fully  inspected  before  a  bill,  proceed- 
ing on  an  assum])tion  of  their  being  bankrupts,  should  be  passed.  Let 
NOT,  they  said,  a  parliamentary  docket  be  struck  without  giving 

us  AN  OPPORTUNITY    OF    CONVINCING    EQUITY    THAT    WE  CAN  PAY  EVERY 

CREDITOR  TWENTY  SHILLINGS  IN  THE  POUND.  The  remonstrating  en- 
treaties of  the  company,  and  all  the  opposition  in  the  house  of  commons, 
were  unavailing  :  on  the  8th  of  December  the  bill  passed  the  house  by 


^354  MISTOUY  of  the  Cuap.  XXXI.— 1783. 

[Bill  passed  by  the  commons.     Rejected  by  the  peers.] 

the  large,  majority  of  two  hundred  and  eight  to  one  hundred  and  two.* 
The  next  day  Mr.  Fox.  attended  by  a  great  number  of  members,  present- 
nd  tho  bill  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of  lord.s.  When  it  came  to  the  peers, 
it  met,  if  not  with  an  abler  opposition,  with  a  much  more  numerous  in 
proporlion  to  the  nunibci^  of  the  assembly.  Great  force  of  eloquence 
and  reasoning  were  exerted  on  both  sides ;  rarely  indeed  was  there  a 
fuller  attendance,  and  perhaps  never  did  a  greater  assemblage  of  ability 
display  itself  in  the  house  of  lords,  than  on  so  momentous  a  question, 
that  engaged,  on  the  one  side,  an  able  body  of  peers  headed  by  lord 
Thurlow  and  lord  Camden  ;  on  the  other  a  no  less  able  body,  headed  by 
lord  Loughborough  and  lord  Mansfield.  In  the  house  of  commons, 
however,  the  arguments  on  both  sides  had  been  so  completely  exhausted, 
that  little  novelty  appropriate  to  the  question,  could  be  brought  forward 
even  by  such  powers  of  genius.  Lord  Tiiurlow  spoke  to  the  attack  on 
Hastings,  which  had  been  repeated  in  the  house  of  peers.  If  (said  he) 
he  be  a  depopulator  of  provinces,  if  he  be  a  plunderer,  and  an  enemy  to 
the  human  race,  let  his  crimes  be  dragged  into  the  light  of  day,  and  let 
liim  be  punished,  but  not  condemned  without  a  trial.!  Meanwhile,  the 
bill  had  begun  to  produce  a  considerable  alarm  in  the  country.  Other 
bodies  now  followed  the  example  of  the  East  India  company,  in  petition- 
ing against  a  measure  v/hich  tliey  considered  as  an  atrocious  violation 
of  private  property.  In  the  house  of  peers  the  opponents  of  the  bill  pro- 
])0sed  to  defer  its  consideration  for  several  days,  until  they  should  have 
time  to  receive  more  adequate  information ;  its  supporters  were  very  ur- 
gent for  the  speedy  completion  of  the  scheme  ;  but,  the  former  prevail- 
ing, it  was  deferred.  The  bill  was  now  become  extremely  obnoxious  to 
tlie  public  ;  the  majority  of  the  house  of  peers  exhibited  the  senti- 
ment of  a  much  greater  proportion  of  a  majority  of  the  nation.     The 

•  In  tlie  closing  cl<bate  on  this  bill  in  the  house  of  commons,  Mr.  Flood,  a  very 
rmiiient  orator  in  the  Irish  parliament,  lately  chosen  a  member  for  Winchester, 
first  spoke  in  the  British  parliament.  Emphatic  in  his  delivery,  both  pompous 
and  vehement  in  his  manner,  he  appeared  ralher  to  demand  than  to  solicit  the 
attention  of  the  house.  Such  a  mode  of  elocution,  however  valuable  the  matter 
mipht  be,  and  cogent  the  arguments,  certainly  exposed  the  speaker  to  ridicule. — 
This  engine  was  very  happily  played  upon  him  in  the  poignant  wit,  keen  and 
strong  satire  of  Mr.  Courtney;  who  without  invalidating  his  opponent's  argu- 
ments, silenced  the  oratory  of  Mr.  Flood  in  the  British  house  of  commons. 

t  Mr  FIasting.<;  (he  said)  was  one  of  the  most  venerable  characters  that  this 
country  had  produced  :  he  had  served  the  Kast  India  company  for  thirty-three 
years,  and  twelve  years  as  president  at  Bengal.  He  possessed  a  most  extensive 
knowledge  of  the  languages,  the  manners,  the  politics,  and  the  revenues  of  Indos- 
tan.  He  was  a  man  who.se  integrity,  honour,  firmness  of  mind,  and  perseverance, 
had  encountered  difficulties  that  would  have  subduedthe  spirit  of  any  other  man, 
and  had  surmounted  every  obstacle  ;  no  impediment,  no  opposition,  could  have 
been  more  formidable  than  that  of  the  commission,  which  seemed  to  have  been 
sent  out  for  the  express  purpose  of  thwarting  and  opposing  all  his  measures. 
When  he  considered  the  scene  of  confusion  that  ensued,  the  factious  and  per- 
f-onal  spirit  by  which  these  men  had  been  animated  from  the  hour  of  their  landing, 
>ie  sincerely  wished  they  had  died  before  they  had  set  foot  in  India.  But  Mr. 
Hastings  had  been  able  to  overcome  so  arduous  a  trial,  and  such  was  the  vigour  of 
our  government  in  Bengal ;  such  were  the  regulations  for  the  administration  of 
justice  in  the  provinces,  and  such  the  economical  arrangements  formed  by  the  ci- 
vil and  military  departments,  that  he  did  not  believe  it  would  be  in  the  power  of 
?he  folly  and  ignorance  of  the  most  favourite  clerks  Mr.  Fox's  directors  could 
send  out,  to  throw  Bengal  into  confusion  in  the  term  that  was  a.ssigncd  for  the  du- 
ration of  his  bill.    See  Pirliamentary  debates,  Dec,  1783. 


l^SS.— Chip.  XXXI.  ItKIGN  OF  (iEOUGE  HI.  (3(^5 

[Ueputed  interference  of  lord  Temple.] 

people  appeared  to  have  ackipled  a  totally  clillcrent  opinion  from  the 
house  of  commons.*     The  motion  for  a  second  reading  took  place  on  the 
15th,  and  the  house  heinw  adjourned  to  the  17th,  the  question  was  put 
for  the  cornmitinerit,  and  carried  aganist  the  minister  by  a  majority  of 
ninety-five  to  seventy-.six  ;  aiid  thus  Mr.  Fox's  celebrated  India  bill,  af- 
ter passing  (he  house  of  commons,  was  rejected  by  the  lords.     The  con- 
duct'of  the  peers,  which  in  voting  contrary  to  the  house  of  commons  con- 
curred with  the  popular  voice,  was  represented  by  the  ministerial  party 
as  ftrising  not  from  conviction,  but  from  an  extvin.«ic  influence...    His  ma- 
jesty, on  investigating  the  nature,  tendency,  and  probable  consequences 
of  the  bill  introduced  by  Mr.  Fox,  was  understood  to  be  inimical  to  its 
adoption.     It  was  conceived,  that  the  more  our  king  reflected  on  the  sub- 
ject, he  was  the  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  mischievous  effects  of 
the  scheme  i.'i  qur-«tion;  that  he  thought  it  would  overturn  the  balance  of 
the  constitution  :  and  that  under  such  an  impression,  he  very  freely  deli- 
vered his  sentiments  to  counsellors  whom  he  did  not  think  members  of 
the  coalition  confederacv.     Among  those  who  enjoyed  the  greatest  de- 
gree of  the  royal  confidence  was  earl  Temple,  a  nobleman  of  considera- 
ble talents,'  high  character,  and  an  ample  fortune ;  totally  unconnected 
with  any  party  junto,  and  thereby  not  only  capable,  but  most  probably 
disposed,  to  give  the  best  advice.     A  report  prevailed,  that  in  a  private 
conference  with  his  majesty,   this  nobleman,  with  the  candour  and  ho- 
nesty of  a  faithful  and  conscientious  counsellor,  had  delivered  his  senti- 
ments to  the  king;  and  that  they  coincided  with  those  which  the  illustri- 
ous personage  himself  entertained.     The  report  farther  added,  that  the 
opinion  of  bis  majesty  having  been  communicated  to  various  peers,  had 
influenced  their  votes.     The  clamom-  against  such  advisers  was  revived 
by  ministry  ;  and  it  was  asserted  that  but  for  these,  a  majority  in  the  lords 
would  have  forwarded  the  bill  proportionate  to  that  which  had  carried  it 
through  the  house  of  commons.  This  rumour  respecting  the  interference 
of  the  sovf^reign,  was  never  authenticated  ;  it  however  was  believed  by 
the  supporters  of  the  hill,  and  deemed  the  means  of  its  rejection.     The 
reports  were  considered  by  the  coalition  party  of  so  great  importance,  as 
to  be  the  foundation  of  several  resolutions.     On  the  17th  of  December, 
the  coalition  speakers  expatiated  on  secret  influence,  which,  according  to 
their  assumption,!  still   existed.     Mr.  William  Baker  made  a  motion, 
seconded  by  lord  Maitland,  importing,  that  it  was  now  necessary  to  de- 
clare, that  to  mention  any  opinion,  or  pretended  opinion  of  the  king,  upon 
any  bill  or  other  proceeding  in  either  house  of  parliament,  with  a  view  to 
influence  the  votes  of  the  members,  was  a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor, 
derogatory  to  the  honour  of  the  crown,  a  breach  of  the  fundamental  privi- 
leges of  parliament,  and  subversive  of  the  constitution  of  the  country. 
Mr.  Pitt  argued  on  the  impropriety  of  a  legislative  assembly  proceeding 
on  unauthenticated  rumours  ;  that  monster,  public  report,  was  daily  fab- 
ricating a  thousand  absurdities  and  improbabilities  ;  and  it  was  the  great- 

•  See  a  periodical  paper  of  tiiose  times,  entitled  the  Political  Herald,  which 
was  edited  by  the  elegant  pen  of  Godwin,  but  supported  by  the  abler  pen  of 
Gilbert  Stewart,  and  frequently  invigorated  by  the  masculine  strength  of  William 
Thomson. 

f  Authentic  and  impartial  history  must  consider  the  assertion  concerning  se« 
cret  influence,  as  an  assumption,  because  the  allegation  was  neither  admitted  nor 
proved. 

Vol.  VII.— 84  . 


OCtS  UISTOHY  OF  THE  Cuap.  XXXL— 1735 

[Reasoning  of  Mr.  Fox.     Dismission  of  ministers.] 

est  sarcasm  upon  every  tiling  serious  and  respectable  to  suffer  her  to  in- 
trude on  the  national  business,  and  lor  the  house  to  follow  her  through 
all  her  shapes  and  extravagancies.  He  was  a.'^ked,  how  ministers  were  to 
act  when  circumvented,  as  they  complained  olliavinii  been,  by  secret  in- 
fluence, and  wlien  t!ie  royal  opinion  was  inimical  to  liieir  nieasures?  In 
his  jud'jment,  thi  ir  duty,  m  a  .situation  thus  dishonourable  ar.d  inefficient, 
was  nbvio  is  and  iuiii<pensable  ?  The  moment  they  could  not  ansv.er  for 
their  measines,  let  them  retire  ;  the  servants  of  the  crown  were  worse 
than  usel<-:s  whenever  th'-y  were  witliout  responsibility,  Mr.  Fox  en- 
deavours d  to  prove),  that  the  present  resolutions  were  iiecessary  to  mark 
the  independence  of  parliament ;  atid  to  decide  whether  it  was  to  be  go- 
verned by  the  wisdom  and  tree  choice  of  its  njemhers,  or  by  ihe  dictates 
of  the  crown.  Taking  for  granted  the  existence  of  secret  itifluen^e,  he 
exercised  bis  eloquence  in  describing  the  evils  which  it, would  produce. 
We  are  (he  said)  robbed  of  our  rights,  with  a  menace  of  immediate  dfe- 
struction  before  our  face  :  from  this  moment  fare>vell  to  every  i^<;epend- 
ent  measure.  Whenever  the  liberties  of  the  people,  tlie  rights  of  private 
property,  or  the  still  more  sacred  privileges  of  personal  safety,  are  vindi- 
cated by  the  house,  the  hopes  of  the  public,  anxious,  eager,  and  panting 
for  the  issue,  are  to  he  whispered  away,  and  dispersed  to  every  wind  of 
heaven,  by  tlie  breath  of  secret  iiiffuence.  .  A  parliament  thus  fettered 
and  controlled,  instead  of  limiting,  extends  beyond  all  limit  and  prece- 
dent the  prerogative  of  the. crown,  and  has  no  longer^ny  use  but  to  regis- 
ter the  decrees  of  despotism,  and  the  arbitrary  niandates  of  a  favouiile. 
Thus,  according  to  Mr.  Vox,  the  con:?titiition  of  Kngland  was  to  become 
despotical,  if  the  house  of  commons  did  wot  i-eprohate  a  scfiet  influence 
which  rumour*  only  alleged  to  exist-  A  majority  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  to  eighty  voted  for  the  resolution. 

The  conduct  of  his  majesty  evidently  demonstrated  that  he  was  not 
only  extremely  averse  to  the  East  India  bill,  but  liighly  displeased  with 
its  author.  On  the  ISlh  of  December,  at  twelve  at  night,  lie  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  the  two  secreta^ries  of  state,  intimating  that  his  majesty  had  no 
farther  occasion  for  their  services,  ar>d  directing  that  the  seals  of  « ffice 
should  be  delivered  lo  him  by  the  imder  secretaries,  as  a  personal  inter- 
view would  be  disagreeable.  Early  the  next  morning  letters  of  dismis- 
sion, signed  Temple,  were  sent  to  the  other  niend)ers  of  the  cabinet. 
Immediately  the  places  of  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  and  chancellor  o(  the  • 
exchequer,  were  conferred  on  Mr.  William  Pitt;  lord  Temple  received 
the  seals  as  secretary  of  state  ;  and  earl  Gower  was  ajipointed  lord-presi- 
dent of  the  council.  On  the  22d  lord  Temple  resigned  tlie  seals  of  his 
oflficc,  and  they  were  deliverl^d  to  lord  Sidney,  a.s  secretary  of  state  for 
the  home  department ;  and  to  the  marquis  of  (jarmarilien  for  tl.e  foreign. 
Lord  Thurlow  was  a[ipointed  higli-chaticcllor  of  liritain  ;  the  duke  of 
Rutland,  lord  privy-seal  ;  lord  viscount  Ilowe,  first  lord  of  the  admiralty; 
and  the  duke  of  Kiclunond,  master-general  of  the  ordnance;  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Grenville  and  lord  Mulgrave  succeeded  Mr.  Buike  in  the  f)ay-office; 
and  Mr.  Henry  Dundas  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  treasurer  of  the 
navy. 

•  The  report  was,  that  .1  circular  card,  supposed  to  liave  been  written  by  lord 
Temple,  had  been  transmitted  to  various  peers,  pui[iorting  liis  majesty's  disap- 
probation of  Mr.  Fox's  bill,  as  subversive  of  the  power  and  dignity  of  the  crown. 


1783.— Chap.  XXXr.-  IIF.IGN  OF  GEOIIGK  IIF.  667 

[Charactei-  of  Mr.  Fox's  East  India  bill.] 

Thus    terminated  the    cofilition    administration,    owing  its  downfall 
to  Mr.  Fox's  East  India  bill.     In  wlialever  liirlit   we   view  this  cele- 
brated measure,  we  must  allow  it  to  be  tlie  effort  of  an  expanded  and  tow- 
ering  oenius.     Whether  the  object  wa'^  beneficial  or  injurious,  the  means 
were  great,  comprehensive,  and  effif-acious.     If,  with  its  framer  and  sup- 
porters, we  consider  the  East  India  company  as  guilty  of  the  grossest 
misconduct  in  the  adniini.>tration  of  tlieir  ailiiir^;  as  having  brought  them- 
selves to  a  state  of  insolvency,  and  thus  rendering  it  necessary  for  their 
principal  creditor  to  intwrfere  for  his  own  security,  and  to  prevent  them 
from  utterly  ruining  themselves,  the  plan  was  f  fficient :  the  company 
could  no  lon<ier  mismanaec  their  alTairs,  for  IMr.  Fox  left  them  none  to 
administer.     What  the  author  said  of  the  wliide  bill,  applies  to  it  with 
great  truth:   it  was   no  half  measure.      If  the  territorial  concerns  of 
the  company  had  been  so  madly,  wickedly?  and  destructively  administer- 
ed,by  the  company's  weakness  and  corruption,  and  the  vices  of  its  ser- 
vants, the  powers  proposed  by'Mr.  Fox  to  be  conferred  upon  his  seven 
friends,  rendering  them  sole,  supreme.,  and  complete  directors  of  British 
India,  were  thorougidy  adequate  to  every  purpose  of  correction  of  mis- 
conduct, prevention  of  abuses,  and  puni.shHient  of  malversation  ;   his  pro- 
visions for  the  zemindars  tended   most  et^e<;tuaily  to  give  to  those  land-' 
holders  the  security  of  Bi  itish  subjects.    The  opponent?  of  the  bdl,  whde 
thev  reprobated  its  tenttency  and  design,  fully  admitted  that  extraordinary 
exertions  of  genius  had  been  employed  in  adapting  it  to  its  end.     Con- 
sidering it  as  intended  to  make  its  seven  executors  lords  of  so  great  a 
part  of  the  British  empire,  and  its  inventor  imperial  master  of  the  whole, 
they  allowed,  that  in  its  general  principle,  and  in  its  particular  provisions, 
relations,  and  dependencies,  it  was  most  skilfully,  ingeniously,  and  com- 
pletely fitted  to  establish  in  these  realms,  the  government  of  an  oligar- 
chical confederacy,  headed  by  Charles  James  Fox.     Impartial  history, 
without  entirely  adopting  the  opinion  of  either  party,  must  see  and  ex- 
hibit in  this  plan  a  most  forcible  efficacy,  that  might  operate  in  two  ways: 
on  the  one  hand,  as  its  supporters  asserted,  it  was  thoroughly  calcidated 
for  preventing  the  recurrence  of  such  evils  as  had  been  recently  preva- 
lent: and  on  the  other,  it  was  no  less  obviously  and  directly  fitted  to  con- 
fer on  Mr.  Fox  and  his  connexions,  a  power  new  in  the  British  constitu- 
tion, far  surpassing  that  which  had  before  belonged  to  any  body  or  estate 
under  our  polity,  and  without  that  control  on  which  has  depended,  and 
depends,  the  integrity  and  efficacy  of  our  several  establishments  and  our 
political  system.     Concerning  Mr.  Fox's  motives,  the  historian,  like  eve- 
ry other  observer  of  human  conduct,  will  infer  intention  according  to  the 
nature  and  tendency  of  the  measure,  compared  with  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  and  character  of  the  agent.     Examining  the  scheme,  knowing 
that  the  ambition  most  frequently  prevalent  in  great  minds  occupied  no 
inconsiderable  share  of  Mr.  Fox's  heart,  and  perceiving  the  bdl  so  well 
framed  to  gratify  that  passion,  he  will  not  hesitate  to  assign  the  love  ot 
power  as  one  of  the  motives.     Aware,  however,  that  an  inventor,  ardent 
in  the  promotion  of  a  scheme,  which  has  occupied  his  aflcctions  and  fa- 
culties, and  engaged  in  contemplating  its  direct  and  immediate  adaptation 
to  proposed  ends,  may  overlook  more  indirect  operations,  or  more  dis- 
tant consequences  :   he  may  conclude  that  Mr.  Fox  did  not  view,  in  their 
whole  extent  and  force,  the  effects  which,  unless  arrested  in  its  course, 
the  project  might  have  produced.     The  most  probable  account  which  im- 


(^(3S  lilSTOUY  OF  THE  •  Chap.  XXXI.— 1783. 

[Imparlhil  estimate  of  this  political  scheme.] 

partial  candour  can  present  concerning  this  important  subject  of  his- 
tory, apjtcars  to  be  the  tuUowinfj:  Mr.  Fox  had  acceded  to  Ihe  whig 
doctrine  ot'  governing  this  country  by  an  aristocratical  conledcracy. 
Conscious  of  his  own  extraordinary  talents,  and  desirous  of  that  power 
which  would  have  employed  and  displayed  them,  he  expected  and 
sought  to  be  header  of  an  administration  which  should  be  supported 
hy  such  a  combination.  The  sovereign  ho  well  knew  v/as  averse  to 
a  party  government.  Tlie  misfortunes  of  the  war  having  rendered 
the  ministry  of  lord  North  very  U'lpopular,  the  whig  combination 
came  into  power.  Finding,  in  the  promotion  of  lord  Shelburne,  a  devia- 
tion from  the  plans  whicii  the  wliigs  had  delineated,  Mr.  Fox  and  his  par- 
ty resigned.  Their  own  combination  not  being  sufficient  to  secure  them 
the  direction  of  nuhlic  atTairs,  the  whig  party  joined  another,  before  hos- 
tile ;  and  from  their  combined  powers,  forced  the  practical  adoption  of 
their  maxim  ot'  ruling  by  a  confederacy.  Aware  of  the  disagreeableness 
of  such  a  ministry  to  him  in  whom  the  constitution  vested  the  choiceof 
executive  servants,  and  naturally  apprehending  that  he  would  avail  him- 
self of  an  opportunity  to  exert  hisoVvn  free  choice,  Mr.  Fox,  in  framing 
his  bill,  appears  to  have  endeavoured  to  guard  against  the  probability  of 
'  such  an  event.  The  permanence  of  Mr.  Fox's  connexion  in  adminis- 
tration, would  evidently  be  a  morally  certain  effect  of  his  bill ;  ai7d,  there- 
fore, may  fairly  be  assigned, as  one  of  its  principal  objects.  Mr.  Fox's 
opponents  illustrated  .their  conceptions  of  his  scheme,  by  comparing  hiin 
to  Oliver  Cromwell,  Julius  Ctesar,  Catiline,  and  other  celebrated  pro- 
jectors of  usurpation.  But  an  attentive  consideration  of  his  cha- 
racter, dispositions  and  habits,  and,  above  all,  his  uniform  conduct,  by  no 
means  ja«?tifies  the  charge  of  solilary  ambition.  Social  in  private  life, 
Mr.  Fox  has  always  courted  association  in  politics  ;  apibitious  of  sway, 
he  has  sought  not  only  to  acquire  it  by,  but  to  enjoy  it  with,  a  party.  Be- 
sides, had  he  been  ever  so  desirous  of  the  solitary  dominion  of  protector' 
or  dictator,  he  must  have  known,  that  in  Britain  he  never  could  have  at- 
tained so  uncontrolled  a  power.  ,His  sagacity  would  not  have  suffered 
his  designs  so  very  far  to  outgo  every  probability  of  success.  Confining 
the  proposed  schemes  of  this  great  man  somewhat  near  the,  bounds  of 
probable  execution,  the  historian  may  fairly  venture  to  aflirm,  that  he  in- 
tended, by  his  India  l)ill  to  secure  the  continuance  of  power  to  himself, 
his  whig  confederacy,  and  their  lew  allies  :  and  that  the  whole  series  of 
his  conduct  was  a  practical  adopiion  of  the  doctrines  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Burke,  in  his  "  Thoughts  on  the  Discontents,"  exhibiting  all  the  beau- 
ties of  poetry  and  depth  of  philosophy,  to  minister  to  party  politics,  and 
applying  the  energies  of  his  genius,  the  stores  of  his  wisdom,  and  the 
fascination  of  his  fancy,  to  show  that  Britain,  disregarding  the  choice  of 
the  king,  or  the  tahiits  of  the  subject,  ought  to  be  governed  by  a  whig 
association.  On  the  whole  it  is  evident,  that  one  of  the  chief  objects  of 
the  coalition  was,  to  establish  the  united  parties  in  the  management  of 
government.  It  is  no  less  minifcst,  that  the  East  India  bill  both  tended, 
and  was  designed  to  se<;ure  to  the  confederacy  the  continuance  of  power. 
So  far  impartial  history  must  concur  with  the  opponents  of  (he  illustrious 
Fox.  But  the  reasonableness  of  the  censure,  and  even  obloquy  which 
he  thereby  incurred,  is  much  more  questionable.  That  Mr.  Fox  loved 
power  is  very  obvious,  and  abstractly  neither  deserving  of  praise  nor  cen- 
sure.    There  is  little  doubt  that  ho  was  not  the  minister  of  the  king's 


1783-Chap.  XXXr.  UEIGN  OF  GEOItGE  IIT.  fiGO 

[GraiMl,  comprcliensive  and  efficient.] 

predilection  and  personal  choioB.  Tlie  appointment  of  his  executive 
servants  is  certainly  by  the  constitution  vested  in  his  majesty  ;  but  va- 
rious oaAes  have>30cutred  in  the  history  of  Knc;land,in  wliich  it  was  not 
only  requisite,  but  nefossary,  for  the  ki'jg,  in  the  exercise  of  his  prero- 
gative, to  sacrifice  private  prepossessions  to  general  good  :  such  an  event 
lias  happened  and  always  may  happen  under  a  free  constitution,  of  which 
the  object  is  the  weifar-  of  the  community.  The  court  doctrine  at  ihis 
time,  that  Mr.  Fox  and  his  adherents  merited  the  severest  reprobation, 
because  they  wished  to  administer  the  government  contrary  to  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  kmg,  is  bv  no  means  obviously  true.  The  unbiassed  historian 
must  considef-  the  question  on  the  broa'd  grounds  of  expediency.  Had  or 
had  not  Chirles  James  Fox,  in  his  parliamentary  and  executorial  con- 
duct, shown  such  intellectual  talents,  such  force,  energy,  and  decision  of 
mind,  as  would  have  rendered  him  a  momentous  accession  to  the  coun- 
sels (Jf  the  nation,  when  the  r.tate  of  a/fairs  required  the  exertion  of  the 
greatest  abilities  which  it  containedl  Those  who  thought  that  he  had 
manifested  such  talents  and  qualities,  were  by  patriotic  duty  bound  to 
support  the  continuance,  or  attempt  the  restora.tion  of  his  power.  Mr. 
Fox,  though  not  thirty-five  years  of  dge,  was  an  old  senator:  for  ten 
years  his  wisdom,  viewing  situation  and  conduct,  had  predicted  events 
and  results  with  an  accuracy  almost  prophetic.  His  lessons  as  a  states- 
man, he  had  received  from  moral  and  political  science,  thorough  conver- 
sancy  with  the  British  constitution,  government,  and  interests,  impress- 
ed more  forcibly  on  his  mind  by  practical  contemplation  of  the  errors  of 
systems,  the  insufficiency  of  plans,  and  the  imbecility  of  execution  fol- 
lowed, to  their  fatal  effects.  For  only  eleven  months  and  a  quarter,  in  two 
'cabinets,  had  he  been  minister.  With  the  marquis  of  Rockingham,  he, 
in  four  months,  had  pacified  and  enfranchised  the  discontented  and  op- 
pressed Irish  ;  he  had  prepared  for  terminating  a  ruinous  war ;  and 
had  promoted  retrenchment  of  the  expenditure,  Which  was  so  burthen- 
some  to  the  nation.  In  the  coalition  ministry  he  had  persevered  in 
promoting  economical  regulations,  which  were  so  much  wanted  ;  and 
had  begun  successfidly  to  move  stagnant  commerce.  The  India  bill, 
even  if  admitted  to  be  wrong  in  its  object  and  principle,  yet  wa!s 
certainly  grand,  comprehensive,  and  efficient.  If  there  was  error,  it 
arose,  not  from  the  defect  of  weakness,  but  the  excess  of  strength.  It 
displayed  a  range  of  survey,  a  fertihty  and  force  of  invention,  a  boldness 
and  decision  of  plan,  an  openness  and  directness  of  execution,  that 
stamped  its  author  as  a  man  of  sublime  genius,  who  fearlessly  unfolded 
and  published  his  conceptions.  The  impartial  narrator,  using  the  best  of 
his  judgment,  must  disapprove  of  the  infringement  of  charters,*  at  least 
till  proof  was  established  that  their  objects  had  been  violated,  or  deem 
the  new  power  created  greater  than  was  either  necessary  for  its  purpose, 
or  consistent  with  the  balance  of  the  constitution  :  but  must  acknowledge, 
that  its  territorial  operation  would  have  been  thoroughly  and  immediately 
efficacious.     The  perspicuity  of  the  whole,  and  every  clause,  manifested 

•  I  have  been  informed  by  a  member  of  the  party,  tliat  some  very  eminent 
senators  belonging-  to  it,  especially  a  gentleman  who  has  since  risen  to  be  one  of 
its  heads,  privately  advised  Mr.  Fox  to  leave  the  commercial  management  to  the 
company.  If  that  advice  had  been  followed,  tbcjcbief  ground  of  popular  re- 
proach would  have  been  prevented,  and  Mr.  Fox  might  have  continued  to  be  mi- 
nister. 


670  lUSTOKY  OF  THK  Chap.  XXXf.-irS"- 

[Mr.  Pitt  prime  minister.     Tenure  of  his  office.] 

the  extent  and  bounds  of  the  delegated  power,  defined  the  mode  of  its  ex- 
erci.^e,  and  the  open  responsibihiy  under  which  the  trust  vvas  to  be  dis- 
charged  ;  and  in  niurking  the  hue  of  dnty,  showed  ther  unavoidable  con- 
sequences of  trarisgression  ;  by  prechuliug  the  piohahihty  of  unpunished 
gudt,  it  tended  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  oppres^^ion  ;  ascertaining  the 
tenure,  and  securing  the  rights  of  property,  it  would  stimulate  industry, 
and  render  British  India  intinitely  more  productive  to  the  proprietors  and 
nation,  besides  ditTusing  comfort  and  happiness  to  the  natives,  so  long 
tiie  objects  of  an  iniquity  which  was  disgraceful  to  the  British  name. 
These  were  the  benefits  which  must  have  ohviouslv  resulted  from  the 
plan  of  Mr.  Fox.  The  confiscation  of  charters  could  onlv  be  defended 
on  the  ground  of  necessity,  and  Mr.  Fox  had  not  evinced  that  necessity, 
and  was  therefi.'re  precipitate  and  blamable  in  proposing  to  proceed  upon 
an  assumption,  in  a  case  of  so  hij^h  an  itnportance  both  as  to  policy  and 
justice.  But  his  propositions  on  this  part  of  the  subjct  did  not  necessa- 
rily imply  unfair  intentions.  The  influence  which  must  have  accrued  to 
the  confederacy  might  have  been  formidable  to  tlie  constitution,  but  if  it 
proved  so,  its  dangers  must  have  arisen  from  the  legislators,  the  guardians 
of  our  polity,  and  to  these  the  proposed  commissioners  were  to  be  amena- 
ble. Th?  new  influence  might  increase  ministerial  majorities  in  parlia- 
ment, but  great  means  of  such  an  augmentation  must  have  arisen  from 
a?iy  plan  for  taking  the  territorial  possessions  under  the  direction  of  the 
British  government.  His  East  India  scheme,  both  in  itself  and  in  com- 
bination with  his  other  acts,  and  the  series  of  hi<  conduct,  displayed  those 
talents  and  qualities,  which,  when  joined,  place  the  possessor  in  the  high- 
est rank  of  statesmen,  and  show  him  fully  competent  to  render  to  his 
coimtry  the  most  momentous  services.  The  plan  itself  is  of  a  mixed* 
character,  and  liable  to  many  strong  objections,  yet  the  impartial  exami- 
ner will  not  easily  discover,  in  the  whole  of  this  scheme,  reasons  to  con- 
vince him  that  because  JMr.  Fox  proposed  this  plan  for  fyoverning  Inddttj 
It  teas  beneficial  to  the  country  to  be  deprived  of  the  executorial  efforts  nf  his 
transcendent  abilities.  The  historian,  unconnected  with  party  and  con- 
sidering merely  the  will  and  power  of  individuals  or  bodies  to  promote  the 
public  good,  must  lament  what  truth  compels  him  to  record,  that -a  per- 
sonage equalled  by  so  few  in  extent  of  capacity  and  force  of  character, 
in  fitness  for  benefiting  the  nation,  during  a  political  life  of  thirty-five 
years,  should  have  been  enjoyed  as  a  minister  by  his  country  only  once 
for  three  months  and  a  half,  and  again  for  seven  months  and  three  quarters. 
The  situation  of  the  empire  required  the  united  efforts  of  the  greatest  po- 
litical abilities,  but  Britain  was  not  destined  to  possess  the  exepulorial 
exertions  of  both  her  most  consummate  statesmen. 

By  the  dismissal  of  ministers  the  country  found  itself  in  a  new  situa- 
tion, about  to  be  governed  by  an  administration,  which  a  very  powerful 
majority  in  the  house  of  commons  thwarted.  The  new  prime  minister 
was  a  young  man  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  sunported  by  no 
family  influence,  or  political  confederacy  ;  having  no  adventitious  props; 
rc--tirig  solely  on  his  own  a!)ility ;  aided  by  those  whose  admiraMon  and 
Confidence  his  intellectual  and  moral  character  had  secured  ;  without  any 
means  of  extending  liis  influence  and  increasing  the  number  of  his  friends, 
but  those  to  bo  found  in  his  own  head  and  heart.  If  talents,  integrity, 
and  conduct,  could  not  create  a  general  confidence  and  support,  which 
might  overbear  a  particular  combination,  he  must  fall.     The  splendid 


1?'83.— Chap.  XXXr.  IIEIGN  OF  GEORGE  HI.  (37£ 

[Unpopularity  of  Mr.  Fox  and  the  coalition.] 

fame  of  the  father,  it  is  true,  had  spread  an  early  lustre  round  the  son  ; 
but  hereditary  glory  would  have  little  availed  against  such  a  host,  without 
similar  virtues.  Able  individuals  supported  him,  but  against  so  compact 
and  strong  a  phalanx,  little  would  have  been  their  weight,  unless  invi- 
gorated, directed,  and  led  by  extraordinary  talents.  The  majority  in  the 
ho-jse  of  commons  was  very  great,  and  there  was  little  prospect  of  its 
being  materially  reduced.  It  was  obvious  that  no  ministry  could  be  of 
long  duration  without  the  support  of  a  house  of  commons  :  it  was  readily 
perceived,  that  either  ministry  or  parliament  must  be  dissolved.  The 
consequences  of  a  dissolution  depended  simply  upon  the  prevailing  sen- 
timent throughout  the  nation.  Mr.  Burke  has  remarked  that  the  house 
of  commons  ought  to  be  an  express  image  of  the  opinions  and  feelings  of 
the  people.  If  in  the  present  case  such  a  sympathy  existed  between  re- 
presentatives and  constituents,  dissolution  could  answer  no  purpose,  as 
a  majority  friendly  to,  the  coalitifln  must  be  returned;  hut  Mr.  Fox's 
party  appeared  not  to  entertain  sanguine  hopes  from  such  an  appeal. 

Having  endeavoured  to  the  best  of  my  judgment  to  exhibit  the  conduct 
of  Mr.  Fox  and  his  supporters  as  it  really  was,   it  is  necessary,  in  order 
to  show  the  connexion  of  events,  to  exhibit  the  impression  which  it  had 
made  on  the  majority  of  the  people  ;  as  that  impression,  much  more  than 
the  real  merits  of  their  policy,  produced  their  permanent  exchnion  from 
the  councils  of  their  sovereign.    A  comprehensive  biographer,  who  should 
view  the  whole  conduct  and  character  of  Mr.  Fox,  estimate  excellence 
and  defect,  and  strike  an  impartial  balance,  after  allowing  grounds  of 
censure,  must  unquestionably  perceive  that  there  remained  an  immense 
surplus  of  subject  for  transcendent  admiration.    But  perhaps  there  never 
•was  an  eminent  man  whose  actions  and  character,  viewed  in  partial  and 
detached  lights,  could  lead  an  observer  to  grosser  misconception  of  the 
whole.      !»oth  his  private  and  public  life  were  of  a  mixed  nature.     The 
most  sublime  genius,  the  most  simplifying  and  profound  wisdom,  did  not 
preclude  the  indulgence  of  propensities,  and  the  recurrence  of  acts,  dia- 
metrically opposite  to  reason  and  sound  judgment.     Ardent  benevolence 
and  patriotism  did  not  prevent  the  encouragement,  by  both  precept  and 
example,  of  practices  and  habits  injurious  to  the  individual,  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  extent  of  their  influence,   prejudicial  to  the  public  welfare. 
Just  and  honourable  lum^elf,   his  amusements  and  relaxations  promoted 
vices  tending  to  render  their  votaries  unjust  and  dishonourable.    In  every 
part  of  his  conduct,  Mr,  Fox  was  extremely  open  ;  if  there  was  ground 
of  blame,  it  must  be  known,  as  no  endeavours  were  used  for  conceal- 
ment.    His  supereminent  excellencies  could  be  apprehended  but  very 
vaguely  and  indistinctly,  unless  by  comparatively  few  ;  but  his  faults  were 
obvious  to  the  most  vulgar  examiners.     As  the  multitude  of  all  ranks 
and  denominations  werejncompetent  to  form  a  judgment  of  such  a  man 
themselves,  they  took  up  th^ir  opinions  upon  the  report  iand  authority  of 
others ;  these  were  favoural)le  or  unfavourable  according  to  the  senti- 
ments and  wishes  of  their  authors.     Where  his  enemies  were  the  teach- 
ers of  the  opinions,  in  partial  views  of  his  conduct,  they  found  plausible 
grounds  of  censure  and  obloquy.     Besides  the  foibles  of  his  private  life, 
his  public  conduct  afforded  ample  materials  to  advocates,  who  chose  to 
assail   his  reputation.     From  the  time  that  the  American  war,  by  the 
losses  which  it  produced,  and  the  burthens  which  it  imposed,  brought 


G72  HISTORY  OF  TlIK  Chap.  XXXI.~178o. 

[East  India  bill  imperfectly  understood  by  tlie  people.] 

home  to  the  experience  and  feelings  of  the  peopio,  became  unpopular, 
the  most  ardent  and  powerful  promoter  of  peace  was  regarded  as  the 
patriot  who  was  to  pxfrirate  his  counlry  from  impending  rtiin.  His  po- 
pularity bccauio  still  i.igher,  as  ho  pioriircd  a  voir  for  the  discontinuance 
of  the  war,  and  cxpcllt-d  the  obnoxious  ministers  from  the  councils  of  (he 
king.  Under  the  government  of  tlie  whigs,  tlie  people  expected  the 
empire  to  recover  its  ancient  splendour,  and  themselves  their  former 
comforts  and  prosperity.  The  reforming  and  improving  acts  of  the 
Rockingham  administration  confirmed  this  opinion.  When  on  the  ap- 
pointment of  lord  Shelburiie,  Mr.  Fox  m  itli4rew  his  abilities  from  the 
councils  of  his  country,  many  began  to  be  .staggered  in  their  conviction 
of  his  patriotism  ;  but  when  the  coalition  took  place,  the  grobs  and  un- 
distinguishing  multitude  was  satisfied,  that  a  junction  between  two  par- 
ties and  two  men  formerly  so  hostile,  mui^t  be  b.uJ  and  mischievous  in 
itself.  Its  able  opponents  saw,  that  the  mere  junction  was  neither  good 
nor  ill,  but  that  the  justness  of  censure  must  depend  on  the  objects  and 
subsequent  conduct  of  the  confederacy ;  yet  aware,  that  this  reasoning 
was  too  refined  for  the  comprehension  of  the  multitude,  with  great  skill, 
dexterity,  and  effect,  they  re-echoed  "  the  monstrovs  inconsistency  of  the 
coalition;''^  and  when  its  members  came  into  administration,  impressed 
great  numbers  of  t!ie  people  with  a  belief,  that  a  ministry  so  formed,  must 
be  unprincipled  and  worthless,  however  able  and  powerful.  T)ie  receipt 
tax  drawing  hourly  on  their  pockets,  though  in  so  petty  sums,  teased  and 
fretted  their  mindt-  already  sore.  The  East  India  bill,  in  its  objectionable 
parts,  the  infringement  of  charters,  and  the  forcible  interference  in  the 
administration  of  a  mcrcant'le  company's  affairs,  was  perfectly  intelligible 
to  the  most  common  apprehensions  ;  shocked  the  ideas  of  a  trading  peo- 
ple, and  suggested  probable  cases,  which  by  obvious  analogies  could  be 
brought  home  to  their  own  feelings  ;  whereas  the  benefit  that  might  ac- 
crue to  British  India  and  its  native  iniiabitants,  much  less  attracted  their 
attention,  affected  their  imaginations,  or  interested  their  passions.  A 
plain  farmer,  manufacturer,  or  tradesman,  could  easily  conceive  the  hard- 
ship of  having  his  affairs  subjected  to  trustees  not  chosen  by  hinf\self, 
when  he  knew  or  believed  himself  to  be  solvent,  and  competent  to  the 
administration  of  his  own  concerns  ;  while  (he  benefit  that  might  accrue 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Ilindostan  were  not  likely  to  make  a  very  deep  im- 
pression on  his  mind.  In  Mr.  Fox's  East  India  bill,  the  real  or  probable 
evil.s,  like  the  defects  of  his  general  character,  were  manifest, to  a  com- 
mon understanding  ;  but  its  real  or  probable  benefit."?,  like  the  excellencies 
of  his  general  character,  required  comprehensive  views,  penetrating  sa- 
gacity, and  great  abilities,  to  estimate  and  appreciate.  Mr.  Fox  himself, 
and  lii.s  -supporters,  ardent  in  pursuing  their  great  scheme,  though  they 
anticipated,  and,  at  least,  with  uncommon  ingenuity  controverted  in  par- 
liament,* the  principal  objections  that  were  urged  ;  yet  they  did  not  suf- 
ficiently regard  the  impression  made  out  of  parliament  by  these  objec- 
tions, until  it  was  too  late.  Mr.  Fox  in  this  as  in  many  other  measures, 
attending  to  what  was  great  and  momentous,  overlooked  various  particu- 
lars which,  (hough  apparently  little,  were  really  important.  His  enlight- 
ened mind  valuing  the  literature  for  which  he  himself  and  many  of  hif 

•  See  Burke's  speech  on  chartered  rights. 


1783 —Chap.  XXXI.  JtKlGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  CyT^ 

[Classes  hostile  to  Mr.  Fox.     Comparison  with  Mr.  Pitt.] 

supporters  and  coadjutors  were  so  eminently  distinguished,  and  aware 
of  the  importance  of  the  press  as  a  political  engine,  had  secured  the 
ablest  contributors  to  periodical  publications.* 

But  these  efforts  of  genius  were  not  directed  to  the  objects  wherein 
assistance  was  chiefly  wanted  :  they  were  addressed  to  scholars,  states- 
men, and  philosopliers,  instead  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  among 
whom  an  alarm  a;i;ainst  the  coalition  was  spreading  itself  so  widely. 
The  opposite  party,  with  more  dexterous  skill,  disseminated  writings 
which  simplified  arguments  or  allegations  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
multitude,  and  impressed  their  feelings:.  In  running  the  race  of  popu- 
larity, the  anti-coalitionists,  by  skilful  direction  to  the  goal,  surpassed 
the  forcible  and  energetic  movements  of  the  coalitionists  deviating  from 
the  course.  Many  of  the  independent  landholders,!  merchants,  and 
manufacturers,  partook  of  the  alarm,  and  tended  to  increase  it  through 
the  nation;  that  great  and  opulent  body,  the  dissenters,  were,  with  few 
exceptions,  mimi'^al  to  the  coalition,  and  (his  their  principal  scheme.  All 
those  who  were  privately  or  domestically  dependent  on  the  king,  attached 
to  his  person,  and  desirous  of  gratifying  his  wishes ;  all  who  by  habit, 
predilection,  or  office,  were  more  connected  with  the  splendour  of  the 
court  than  the  politics  of  the  cabinet,  were  inimical  to  a  party  which  they 
conceived  or  knew  to  be  disagreeable  to  the  sovereign.  But  the  prin- 
cipal source  of  popularity  to  the  anti-coalition  party,  was  the  character 
of  its  juvenile  leader,  who  was  conceived  equal  to  Mr.  Fox  himself 
in  talents  ;  known  to  be  much  superior  in  moral  habits  ;  free  from  the 
imputation  of  vice  or  of  political  inconsistency  ;  and  presumed,  from  his 
character  and  conduct,  more  likely  to  apply  with  undeviating  constancy 
to  public  business,  and  with  more  steady  patriotism  to  seek  the  national 
o-ood,  than  a  personage  whose  extraordinary  abilities  might  be  interrupted 
or  perverted  by  his  foibles  and  propensities,  the  connexions  and  associates 
which  these  generated.  The  character  and  habits  of  Mr.  Pitt  were  much 
more  favourable  to  the  promotion  of  confidence  among  the  monied  men 
than  those  of  his  opponent,  and  in  his  late  defence  of  chartered  rights  he 
was  regarded  as  the  champion  of  mercantile  corporations,  which  enhanced 
his  popularity  among  individual  capitalists.  There  was  a  class  of  men 
distinguished  by  the  title  of  the  king's  friends,  emanating,  according  to 
the  whig  hypothesis,  from  the  secret  influence  junto,  which  during  so 
great  a  part  of  the  reign  had  been  conceived  to  exist,  and  to  direct  public 
and  more  ostensible  politicians.  To  these  the  Rockingham  party,  which 
they  considered  as  a  hostile  phalanx,  was  much  more  disagreeable  than 
the  band  which,  after  the  death  of  Chatham,  was  headed  by  earls  Tem- 
ple and  Shelburne.  Mr.  Pitt,  as  a  member  of  the  Temple  party,  was 
much  more  agreeable  to  these  courtiers  than  Mr.  Fox,  member  of  the 
whig  party.  He  had  not  joined  the  whig  administration  in  1782,  and  in 
1783  had  spoken  and  voted  with  those  that  were  understood  to  occupy 
the  greatest  share  of  royal  favour.  Pleasing  and  engaging  as  Mr.  Fox's 
manners  are,  yet  his  character  is  too  open,  and  perhaps  too  unguarded, 
for  the  reserve  and  caution  indispensable  at  courts,  where  a  Mrs.  Masham 
may  overturn  a  Marlborough.     Mr.  Pitt  resembling  Fox  in  the  highest 

*  See  the  magazines  and  newspapers  of  the  time,  and  also  the  Political  Herald. 

f  A  treatise  by  sir  William  Pulteney,  very  vigorously  written,  was  powerfully 
efficacious  in  impressing  on  the  public  a  detestation  of  the  plan,  and  a  dread  of 
i*s  author. 

Vol.  VIT— S5 


674  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chap.  XXXI.-.1784. 

[Ministerial  popularit)-.     Proceedings  of  parliament.] 

talents  for  tlie  groat  politics  of  the  cabinet,  somewhat  surpassed  hiin  in 
the  secondary  politics  of  the  court.  Though  too  indcpendt^nt  and  digni- 
fied for  the  habitual  suppleness  of  a  mere  instrument  of  splendour,  yet 
prudent  as  well  as  able,  he  had  the  address  and  concealment  of  a  skilful 
courtier.  To  this  statement  of  comparative  persona!  virtues,  a  retrospect 
of  their  fathers,  allowing  the  just  merit  to  the  one,  but  attributing  un- 
proved demerit  to  the  other,  produced,  with  the  multitude,  a  groat  addi- 
tional influence  in  favour  of  Mr.  Pitt.*  From  all  the^e  causes,  the  tide 
of  popularity  ran  so  high  in  favour  of  the  new  n)inisters,  as  to  render  an 
appeal  to  the  nation  desirable  to  them  and  hurtful  to  their  adversaries. 
But  such  a  measure  was  not  immediately  practicable  with  safety  to  the 
country  ;  supplies  were  urgently  wanted  for  the  public  service,  and  could 
not  be  deferred  till  the  meeting  of  a  new  parliament.  The  majority  iu 
opposition  could  refuse  the  su])plies  in  order  to  retard  dissolution.  The 
land  tax  hill  was  then  pending ;  the  20th  of  December,  the  day  after  the 
change  of  ministry,  had  been  appointed  for  the  third  reading ;  the  ma- 
jority, however,  agreed  to  put  off  its  consideration.  On  the  22d,  the 
house  sat  as  a  committee  on  the  state  of  the  nation  :  a  resolution  was  moved 
by  Mr.  Erskine  for  an  address  to  his  majesty,  to  state  the  alarming  re- 
ports of  a  speedy  dissolution ;  mentioning  the  territorial  and  commercial 
affairs  of  the  India  company  as  requiring  their  immediate  attention ;  and 
praying  his  majesty  to  suffer  them  to  proceed  on  the  important  business 
recommended  to  them  in  his  speech  from  the  throne  ;  to  hearken  to  the 
voice  of  his  faithful  commons,  and  not  to  the  secret  advices  of  persons 
who  might  have  private  interests  of  their  own,  separate  from  the  true 
advantage  of  the  king  and  liis  people.  His  majesty's  answer,  delivered 
on  the  24th  of  December,  admitted  the  urgency  of  the  subje(;t  stated  in 
their  address,  and  pledged  the  royal  promise,  not  to  interrupt  the  house, 
either  by  prorogation  or  dissolution.  The  majority  was  not  satisfied  with 
this  answer  of  the  king,  which  appeared  to  them  to  afford  no  certain 
prospect  that  his  majesty  would  long  abstain  from  exerting  the  preroga- 
tive vested  in  him  by  the  constitution.  They  therefore  proceeded  with 
precautions  against  this  event :  by  an  act  or  parliament,  the  lords  of 
the  treasury  were  empowered  to  permit,  at  discretion,  the  directors  to 
accept  bills  from  India:  the  house  of  commons  passed  a  resolution  to 
prohibit  the  lords  of  the  treasury  from  accepting  any  more  bills  from  In- 
dia, till  the  company  should  prove  to  that  house  that  they  had  sufficient 
means  for  their  payments,  after  having  discharged  their  current  demands, 
and  tlie  cebt  «iuc  to  the  public.  The  amount  of  this  prohibition  was, 
that  the  house  of  commons  assumed  to  itself  the  power  of  suspending  an 
act  of  parliament.  On  the  2f^th,  the  house  adjourned  to  the  12th  of 
January :  during  the  recess,  each  party  was  emplfjyea  in  strengthening 
itself,  and  in  forming  its  |)olitical  measures.  When  parliament  was  as- 
sembled, Mr.  Fox  moved,  that  the  committee  on  the  state  of  the  nation 
should  be  rc«^u^lr(l.  After  several  subordinate  motions,  a  resolution  was 
proposed,  that,  in  the  present  situation  of  his  majesty's  dominions,  it  was 
peculiarly  necessary  there  should  be  an  administration  which  had  the 

•  Tlie  (wo  pair  of  fiortraita,  by  Mr.  Home  Tooke,  with  the  prcalcst  pinij,'ency 
and  force  converpr  tliis  kind  of  arf.'iiment ;  but  in  point  of  justness,  resemble-  t.l)e 
labours  of  an  arbitrator,  who  rlebitinp  one  side  witlioiit  allowing,'  any  credit,  and 
crediting  the  other  without  ciiarging  any  debit,  sliould  publish  the  result  as  an 
award  exhibiting  a  fair  balance  of  accounts. 


ir84.-CiiAr.  XXXr.  REIGN  OF  GEOltGE  III.  675 

[Mr.  Pin's  East  India  bill] 

confidence  of  that  house  and  the  pubHc.  In  this  motion  his  majesty's 
name  had  been  omilted.  Mr.  Dundas,  in  order  to  point  out  the  real 
spirit  of  the  resohition,  as  well  as  tiie  actual  state  of  the  state  ;  and,  that 
not  tlie  confidence  of  one  branch,  but  the  whole  legislature  was  requisite 
to  ministers  ;  proposed  an  amendment,  substituting,  instead  of  the  words 
confidence  of  thu  house  and  the  public,  "  confidence  of  the  crown,  the 
parliament,  and  the  people :"  the  amendment  was  rejected,  and  the 
original  resolution  was  passed.  Another  proposition  was  immediately 
adoptod,  to  tl\e  following  purport :  "  that  the  late  changes  in  his  majesty's 
coimcils  had  been  preceded  by  dangerous  and  universal  reports  ;  that  the 
sacred  name  of  the  king  had  been  unconstitutionally  used  to  atTect  the 
deli!)erations  of  parliament ;  and  that  the  appointments  made  were  ac- 
companied by  circumstances  new  and  extraordinary,  and  such  as  did  not 
engage  the  confidence  of  that  house."  This  resolution  manifestly  re- 
ferred to  the  report  concerning  earl  Temple  :  it  occasioned  a  very  warm 
debate,  which  contained  much  personal  invective,  and  repeated  all  the 
arguments  for  and  against  both  parties  :  the  resolution  was  carried  in  the 
afiirmative. 

On  the  14th  of  January,  Mr.  Pitt,  notwithstanding  the  majority  in  fa- 
vour of  opposition,  introduced  a  bill  for  the  better  government  and  ma- 
nagement of  the  affairs  for  the  East  India  company.  His  scheme  pro- 
posed the  appointment  of  commissioners  by  his  majesty,  from  the  mem- 
bers of  l)i-i  privy-council,  who  should  be  authorized  and  empowered  from 
time  to  time  to  check,  superintend,  and  control,  all  acts,  operations,  and 
concerns,  which  related  to  the  civil  or  military  gnveinment,  or  revenues, 
of  the  territorial  possessions.  Two  members  of  the  said  board  should 
be  the,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  and  the  secretary  for  the  home  de- 
partment ;  the  board  should  have  access  to  all  the  papers  of  the  com- 
pany ;  and  the  court  of  directors  should  deliver  to  the  board  copies  of  all 
the  proceedings  of  both  courts  of  directors  and  proprietors  :  copies  of  all 
despatches  received  from  the  company's  servants  in  India,  and  the  in- 
structions seut  and  proposed  to  be  sent  to  India,  relating  to  the  civil  or 
military  government,  or  revenues  of  the  British  territorial  possessions. 
The  court  of  directors  should  pay  due  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the 
board,  respecting  civil  and  military  government  and  revenue ;  the  board, 
in  a  limited  time,  were  to  return  the  copies  which  were  received,  with 
their  approbation,  or  disapprobation,  of  the  proceedings  communicated  : 
or  proposing  amendments  if  they  found  them  unsatisfactory.  The  board 
was  fully  to  state  their  reasons,  and  also  their  farther  instructions,  to  be 
sent  to  India  without  delay.  Should  the  directors  conceive  any  of  the 
orders  of  the  board  to  be  extra-official,  in  not  relating  to  the  civil,  mili- 
tary, and  financial  government  of  ludia,  to  which  the  bill  was  limited, 
they  should  apply,  by  petition,  to  his  majesty  in  council,  concerning  such 
injunction  ;  and  the  decision  of  the  council  thereon  should  be  final  and 
conclusive.  The  nomination  of  the  commander  in  chief  should  be  vested 
in  his  majesty,  and  that  officer  should  always  be  second  in  council.  The 
king  should  also  have  the  power  of  removing  any  governor-general,  pre- 
sident, and  members  ofth«  councils  of  any  British  settlements  in  India; 
all  vacancies  in  their  offices  should  be  supplied,  subject  to  his  majesty's 
disapprobation,  that  might  be  repeated  until  one  was  chosen  whom  he 
should  approve.  No  order  or  resolution  of  any  general  court  of  proprie- 
<ors  should  have  power  to  revoke  or  rescind,  or  affect  any  proceeding  of 


676  HISTORY  OF  THE  Chip.  XXXI^1784 

[Reasoning  of  Mr.  Fox.    Bill  rejected  by  the  commons.] 

the  court  of  directors,  after  his  majestj^'s  pleasure  should  have  been  sig- 
nified upon  the  same.  Such  are  the  outlines  of  Mr.  Pitt's  scheme  for 
the  government  of  India.  A  great  and  leading  difference  between  this 
project  and  the  plan  recently  rejected  by  the  lords  is,  that  the  former  left 
the  charter  untouched,  ;md  the  commercial  concerns  of  this  corporation 
of  merchants  under  the  sole  management  of  the  proprietors  themselves 
and  tiie  directors  of  their  choice.  The  company  itself  was  so  thoroughly 
convinced  of  their  charter  not  being  wantordy  infringed,  that  they  ap- 
proved,* as  proprietors  and  directors,  both  of  its  principle' and  regula- 
tions. By  the  former  bill,  the  entire  transfer  of  the  company's  affairs  to 
commissioners  nominated  in  parliament,  and  the  permanent  dination  of 
their  authority  for  a  term  of  four  years,  had  occasioned  great  alarm,  as 
creating  a  new  power  dangerous  to  the  constitution.  I'he  object  of  the 
present  bill  was  merely  control.  In  supporting  his  own  proposition, 
Mr.  Pitt  expressed  his  high  admiration  of  that  part  of  ?Jr.  Fox's  scheme 
which  respected  the  zemindars,  but  he  disapproved  general  indiscriminate 
confiscation.  He  proposed,  therefore,  that  an  inquiry  should  be  insti- 
tuted for  the  purpose  of  restoring  such  as  had  been  irregularly  and  un- 
justly deprived,  and  that  they  should  be  secured  against  violence  in  fu- 
ture. These  last  provisions  were  not  included  in  the  bill  which  he  had 
prepared  for  the  consideration  of  the  house,  but  they  formed  a  part  of  his 
general  ideas  tor  the  reformation  of  India.  Mr.  Fox  argued  against  thi.? 
bill,  as  inadequate  to  the  correction  of  the  enormous  abuses  which  per- 
vaded the  administration  of  British  Indostan.  The  bill,  by  continuing 
the  powers  of  the  court  of  directors,  and  rendering  them  dependent  for 
Uieu-  existence  upon  the  proprietors,  had  no  tendency  to  eradicate  any 
mischief,  or  to  obtain  any  valuable  improvement;  the  connexion  between 
both  and  their  servants  abroad,  that  had  been  tho  source  of  so  many 
evils,  would  still  continue.  The  governor-general  was  to  have  the  same 
powers  of  internal  regulation  as  before,  and  which  had  produced  so  great 
and  manifold  abuses.  But  this  bill  provided  the  remedy  of  recall :  and 
of  what  value  was  this  remedy  ?  Did  not  all  the  officers  of  state,  whether 
political  or  military,  depend  upon  the  governor-general  ?  Would  they 
not  regard  him  therefore  as  one  in  whose  official  existence  they  were 
peculiarly  interested  ?  Would  they  not,  if  he  should  choose  to  be  re- 
fractory, strengthen  his  principles  of  disobedience  ?  The  governor-ge- 
neral must  be  more  than  man  to  withstand  so  potent  a  temptation,  sur- 
rounded and  fortified  by  a  variety  of  individuals  in  every  department  of 
life,  who  owed  their  existence  to  him  ;  it  was  not  the  orders  of  a  body  of 
men,  however  respectable,  that  were  in  a  great  measure  unconnected 
with  the  country  wherein  he  resided,  that  could  control  his  conduct. 
Mr.  Pitt's  scheme  would  throw  a  great  mass  of  patronage  into  the  hands 
of  the  crown.  It  tended  (Mr.  Fox  said)  not  to  remedy  any  of  the  evils 
which  had  subsisted  for  so  long  a  time,  or  to  put  a  period  to  those  bar- 
barities which  had  stigmatized  and  reridsred  infamous  the  character  of 
Britain  in  the  annals  of  India.  If  adopted,  the  company  might,  as  in 
former  instances,  replenish  their  letters  with  moral  precepts,  but  our 
eastern  possessions  would  be  irrecoverably  lost  to  this  country.  To 
these  objections  it  was  replied,  that  Mr.  Pitt's  bill  had  all  the  efficiency 
necessary  to  correct  abuses,  prevent  their  recurrence,  and  improve  our 

•  See  proceedings  of  the  courti  of  directors  and  proprietors,  in  January,  1784. 


1784.— Chap.  XXXI,  REIGN  OF  GEORGE  IH,  577 

[Addresses  against  the  coalition  party.] 

interest  in  India,  witiiout  infringing  the  rights  of  private  property,  or 
crcatinij  a  new  power  in  tlie  empire  inconsistent  with  the  cstabH-shed 
eonstitiition.  Acknowledging  the  defects  of  the  present  government  of 
India,  it  wa.s  intended  to  lodge  a  principal  share  of  the  executive  power 
where  it  ought  to  be  vested.  It  showed  the  utmost  tenderness  to  the 
privileges  of  tiie  company,  and  would  produce  that  happy  and  desirable 
mixed  government,  which  every  friend  to  the  imn)unities  of  a  great  com- 
mercial association,  and  every  supporter  of  our  free  constitution,  would 
cheerfully  welcome.  Though  it  attributed  new  powers  to  the  monarchi- 
cal branch  of  our  polity,  yet  were  they  so  circumscribed,  that  they  could 
not,  in  the  hands  of  the  most  abaridoncd  prince,  be  converted  into  instru- 
ments of  mischief  and  oppressiori";  these  arguments  did  not  avail,  and 
Mr.  Pitt's  bill  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  to  two  hundred  and  fourteen. 

Meanwhile  addresses  were  pouring  in  from  all  quarters  to  the  sove- 
reign, to  testify  the  highest  satisfaction  at  the  dismission  of  the  coali- 
tion ministry,  and  tlie  appointment  of  the  administration  headed  by  Mr. 
Pitt.  The  coalition  party,  the  more  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  public, 
the  more  they  laboured  to  retard  an  event  which  Avould  be  an  a])peal 
to  the  opinion  and  sentiments  of  their  constituents.  While  Mr.  Pitt's 
India  bill  was  pending,  Mr.  Fox  proposed  to  defer  tlie  second  reading 
of  the  mutiny  bill  until  the  23d  of  February,  and  thus  procure  a  respite 
for  a  month;  and  the  motion  was  adopted.  It  was  immediately  follow- 
ed by  another,  wliich  asserted,  that  tlie  continuance  of  the  present  mi- 
nisters in  trusts  of  the  highest  importance  and  responsibility,  was  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  the  constitution,  and  injurious  to  the  interests  ot 
the  king  and  his  people.  In  support  of  this  motion,  the  coalition  lea- 
ders did  not  attempt  to  establish  delinquency:  the  arguments  proceed- 
ed from  an  assumed  principle,  that  a  minister  ov.ght  not  to  continue  in 
office  without  the  support  of  the  house  of  commons:  this  v.as  the  basis 
of  their  reasoning,  and  unless  it  was  firmly  founded,  all  the  superstruc- 
ture must  fall  to  the  ground.  If  the  position  was  true,  its  truth  was  to 
be  ascertained  either  by  positive  law,  or  by  general  and  admitted  prac- 
tice. By  the  constitution,  the  king  has  the  power,  as  chief  executive 
magistrate,  of  choosing  his  own  officers  (unless  under  specific  disquali- 
fications, not  imputed  in  the  case  in  question)  for  performing  the  several 
branches  of  the  executive  duties.  The  house  of  commons  has  a  right 
to  impeach,  on  the  ground  of  malversation  in  office,  any  of  the  minis- 
ters; but  not  to  prescribe  to  the  king  in  his  choice  of  a  minister.  As 
the  majority  of  the  commons  did  not  attempt  to ^roye  that  they  possess- 
ed a  constitutional  right  of  dictation  to  the  crown  respecting  the  choice 
of  its  officers,  the  weight  of  their  arguments  rested  entirely  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  superior  numbers  of  commoners. 

It  may  be  proper  to  estimate  the  exact  amount  of  this  authority,  in 
order  to  ascertain  how  far  it  was  riglit  or  wrong,  wise  or  unwise  in  go- 
vernment, to  admit  or  reject  it  as  a  rule  of  conduct,  when  unsupported 
by  law  and  precedent.  Of  the  commons,  two  hundred  and  five  against 
a  hundred  and  eighty-four,  voted  that  the  minister  ought  not  to  conti- 
nue in  office,  because  he  was  not  trusted  by  the  house  of  commons.  The 
house  of  lords,  on  the  4th  of  February,  took  this  business  into  considera- 
tion; and  the  earl  of  Effingham  moved  two  resolutions;  the  first  refer- 
ring to  the  proposition  of  the  house  of  commons,  prescribing  the  restric- 
tion of  the  lords  of  the  treasury  from  consenting  to  the  acceptance  of 
hills  from  India:  secondly,  to  the  vote  of  Januarv  tlie  16th.  against  the- 


l57S  HISTOUV  OF  TllK  CuAP.  XXXI.— 1784. 

[The  king,  lords,  and  public,  (avonrable  to  Mr.  Pitt.] 

continuance  of  the  present  ministers  in  office.  H^  lordship  proposed, 
that  tlie  house  should  resolve,  lirst.  that  an  attempt  in  anj  one  branch 
of  the  legislature  to  suspend  the  exerunon  of  law,  by  separately  assum- 
ing to  itself  the  direction  of  a  discretionary  power,  was  unconstitutional: 
secondly,  that  bv  the  known  principles  of  this  constitution,  the  undoubt- 
ed authority  of  appointing  to  the  jiteat  olUces  of  executive  government 
was  solely  vested  in  the  king;  and  that  that  liouse  had  every  reason  to 
place  the  firmest  reliance  in  his  majesty's  wisdom  in  the  exercise  of  this 
prerogative.  The  lords  in  opposition  endeavoured  to  justify  the  inter- 
ference of  the  house  of  commons,  on  the  ground  of  expediency,  founded 
on  particular  circumstances  of  the  case  which  the  act  of  parliament 
could  not  foresee.  It  was,  they  said,  intended  to  prevent  the  India 
company  from  contracting  engagements  for  two  millions  sterling,  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  public,  their  principal  creditors.  Lord  Thurlow  insist- 
ed th.it  this  was  a  peremptory  onk-r,  wliicli  the  house  of  commons  had 
no  right  to  issue  in  contravention  of  the  law  of  the  land.  If  he  ha»l 
been  a  lord  of  the  treasury  he  would  not  have  obeyed  the  resolution  of 
the  house  of  commons;  and  would  have  refused  compliance  on  this  plain 
principle,  that  notliing  short  of  an  act  of  parliament,  formally  passed 
by  the  three  states  of  the  realm,  liad  the  power  of  suspending  any  part 
of  the  statute  or  the  common  law  of  England.  The  chief  subject  of 
controversy  was  the  second  resolution.  I'he  supporters  of  Mr.  Fox 
deprecated  the  dissension  which  the  proposed  interference  must  excite 
between  tlie  peers  and  commons:  justified  the  commons  on  the  ground 
of  general  expediency:  and  insisted  that  the  house  of  commons,  by  the 
spirit  of  llie  constitution,  had  a  liglit  to  control  the  choice  of  a  minister. 
The  ministerial  lords,  especially  the  chancellor,  denied  the  existence 
of  any  such  right,  and  challenged  its  asserters  to  establish  it  by  proof. 
In  this  attempt  their  arguments  not  being  satisfactory,  a  majority  of  a 
hundred  to  fifty-tlirec  of  the  peers  voted  for  lord  Etiingham's  resolu- 
tions and  consequent  address.  'J'he  majority  of  the  peers  consisted  of 
almost  two  to  one  in  favour  of  the  kingly  prerogative  or  choosing  his  own 
servants.  The  majoiiiy  of  the  commons,  for  rendering  the  exercise  ot 
that  executive  power  <le]jendent  on  the  arbitrary  will  of  one  branch  of 
the  legislature,  was  only  about  ten  to  nine.  The  nation  in  general 
manifested  its  wishes  in  favour  of  the  minister  chosen  by  the  crown. 
Thus,  if  the  authority  of  opinion  was  to  determine  whether  the  present 
minister  should  or  should  not  continue  in  office,  (and  the  house  of  coni- 
mons  adduced  no  other  aigument,)  there  was  on  the  one  hand  the  opi- 
ni<mof  a  small  m:i;oi-i(y  of  the  house  of  commons,  on  the  other  the  opi- 
nion of  a  great  nnijority  of  the  house  of  peers,  and  evidently  of  by  far  the 
larger  portion  of  liie  nation,  and  the  choice  of  the  king.  While,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  majority  of  the  house  of  commons,  that  majority, 
be  it  ever  so  small,  was"  the  house,  and  no  minister  could  retain 
hi?  situation  thwaited  by  the  house.  1  he  king,  ministry,  and  public, 
saw  that  the  present  majority  in  the  house  of  commons  did  not  represent 
the  opinion,  sentiments,  and  wislies  of  their  constituents.  It  was  re- 
solved not  to  succumb  to  dictatorial  mandates  that  could  not  be  en- 
forced: Mr.  Pitt,  on  tlie  18th  of  February,  informed  the  house  that  the 
king  Iiad  not,  in  compliance  with  the  resolution  of  the  commons,  dis- 
missed his  ministers,  and  that  the  ministers  had  not  resigned.  Mr. 
Fox,  persisting  in  his  assumed  principle,  contended  that  by  retaining 
the  ministers  after  the  disapprobation  of  the  house  had  been  signified, 
the  crow  n  had  degiaded  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  the  lowest 


1784.— Chap.  XXXI.  RKIGN  OF  GEOItGE  llf.  (J7y 

[Attempt  at  accommodation  between  tlie  two  parties.] 

insigiii'-cance.  Mr.  Pitt  insisted  that  there  was  uo  attempt  to  degrade 
the  house  of  commons,  or  to  infringe  any  of  its  rights,  but  merely  an 
endeavour  to  prevent  it  from  usurping  the  right  of  anctlher  l^ranch  (jt  the 
legislature.  It  was  apprehended  that  opposition,  finding  no  other 
hopes  of  success,  would  refuse  the  supplie.s;  but  Mr.  Fox,  bold  and 
adventurous  as  he  was,  appears  to  have  been  averse  to  a  measure  which 
would  tlirow  tlie. country  into  .such  disorder. 

While  tlie  opposite  parties  were  engaged  in  contentions  so  detrimen- 
tal to  public  business,  impartial  men  desired  a  coalition  which  sliould 
comprehend  the  chief  talents  of  both  sides,  and  produce  a  sacrifice  of 
private  competition  to  the  public  welfare;  retain  the  abilities  of  Mr. 
Pitt  and  lord  Thurlow  n  the  councils  of  their  country,  and  join  with 
them  the  abilities  of  Mr.  Fox  and  lord  Loughborougli;  and  disregarding 
either  court  predilections  or  whig  confe<leracies,  sh<mld  choose  for  the 
various  ofnccs  men  most  qualified  and  disposed  fur  discharging  their 
respective  duties.  With  this  view  a  considerable  number  of  independ- 
ent gentlemen  met  at  the  St.  Alban's  tavern  on  the  26th  of  January, 
and  drew  up  an  address  recommending  an  union  of  parties.  This  being 
signed  b}'  liity-threc  members  of  the  house  of  commons,  was  presented 
by  a  committee  to  the  duke  of  Portland  and  to  Mr.  Pitt.  The  duke  of 
Portland  answered  he  should  be  happy  in  obeying  the  commands  of  so 
respectable  a  meeting,  but  that  the  greatest  dilficulty  to  him  was  Mr. 
Pitt's  continuance  in  office.  Mr.  Pitt  expressed  his  readiness  to  pay  at- 
tention to  the  commands  of  so  respectable  a  meeting,  and  co-operate  with 
-  their  wishes  to  form  a  stronger  and  more  extended  administration,  ii'  the 
same  could  be  done  consistently  with  principle  and  honour.  In  tljc  far- 
ther progress  of  the  discussion,  the  duke  of  Portland  proposed  as  a  pre- 
liminary step,  that  Mr.  Pitt  should  resign  in  compliance  with  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  house  of  commons.  Mr.  Pitt  declared  that  it  was  inconsist- 
ent with  his  principles  and  sentiments  to  resign  his  miinstcrial  capacity  in 
the  present  circumstances.  The  duke  of  Portland  proposed  the  same 
preliminary  repeatedly  in  different  forms,  but  Mr.  Pitt  still  declared  it  in- 
admissible, and  the  duke  of  Portland  insisted  on  it  as  an  indispensable 
step  ;  the  negotiation,  therefore,  was  suspended.  Mr.  Fox  and  Mr.  Pitt 
expressed  their  sentiments  to  the  house  :  both  appeared  impressed  with 
a  sense  of  the  benefits  that  might  accrue  from  a  united  administration, 
but  neither  would  relinquish  their  respective  principles.  Mr.  Fox  in^ist- 
cd  that  it  was  unconstitutional  in  Mr.  Pitt  to  hold  his  place  after  such  a 
vote  of  the  house  of  commons  ;  that  therefore  he  must  resign.  Mr.  Pitt 
insisted  that  it  was  not  unconstitutional,  and  woidd  not  consent  to  resiirn  : 
resignation  would  be  the  virtual  admission  of  a  control  in  the  house  of 
commons  which  he  denied  them  to  possess.  The  reciprocal  comniuiii- 
cations  between  the  duke  of  Portland  and  Mr.  Pitt  had  been  hitherto 
carried  on  through  the  committee  at  the  St.  Alban's  tavern.  Still  anx- 
iously earnest  to  compass  the  desired  union,  these  patiiotic  members  pro- 
posed that  his  grace  and  the  minister  should  liave  a  conference  ;  and  that 
his  majesty  should  send  a  message  to  the  duke  desiring  that  he  and  Mr. 
Pitt  should  have  an  interview  for  the  sake  of  forming  a  naw  admini.^tra- 
tion.  A  message  was  accordingly  sent  to  the  duke  of  Portland,  intiuiat- 
ing  his  majesty's  earnest  desire  that  his  grace  should  have  a  personal 
conference  with  Mr.  Pitt  for  the  purpose  of  tbrming  anew  administration 
on  a  wide  basis,  and  on  fair  and  equal  terms.  Before  his  grac,e  would 
agree  to  the  proposed  meeting,  he  required  an  explanation  of  the  term 


080  HISTOllY  OF  THE!  Chap.  XXXI.— 178i. 

[King's  reply  to  tlie  address  for  the  remoral  of  ministry.] 

equal.  ]\Ir.  Pitt  rcplictl  that  a  personal  conference  would  best  explain 
specific  objects ;  but  the  duke  of  Portland  not  beini?  satisfied  with  this 
answer,  refused  to  confer,  and  his  refusal  put  an  end  to  the  negotiation. 

The  address  for  the  removal  of  ministry  was  presented  to  the  king  on 
the  iZoth  of  February.     His  majesty  in  reply  declared  it  to  be  the  ob- 
ject nearest  his  heart,  that  the  public  alVai/s  should  be  conducted  by 
a  firm,  efficient,  united  and  extended  administration,  entitled  to  the 
confidence  of  his  ])oople.  and  such  as  might  have  a  tendency  to  put 
an  end  to  the  unhappy  divisions  and  distractions  of  this  country.     He 
had  employed  very  recent  endeavours  to  unite  in  the  public  service, 
on  a  fair  and  e(|ual  footing,  those  whose  joint  efforts  he  thought  the 
most  fitted  for  producing  so  happy  an  effect :  his  endeavours  had  failed: 
he  should  be  happy  to  embrace  every  measure  most  conducive  to  such 
an  object,  but  could  not  perceive  it  would  be  forwarded  by  the  dismis- 
sion of  his  present  ministers.     His  majesty  observed,  that  no  charge  or 
complaint  was  suggested  by  the  house  against  tho^e  otiiccrs  of  the  crown, 
whose  removal  they  solicited;  that  no  specific  objection  was  made  to 
any  one  or  more  of  his  servants;  that  great  numbers  of  his  subjects  had 
expressed  their  warmest  satisfaction  with  the  late  changes  made  in  his 
councils;  in  these  circumstances,  he  trusted,  his  faithful  commons  would 
not  wish  the  essential  offices  of  the  executive  government  to  be  vacated, 
until  there  was  a  prospect  that  the  desired  plan  of  union  could  be  carri- 
ed into  effect.     The  commons  repeated  their  address  in  a  more  detailed 
form,  and  with  still  more  urgent  solicitation  for  the  removal  of  minis- 
ters.    His  majesty's  reply  contained  opinions  and  sentiments  of  the 
same  impoitant  tendency  as  his  former;  and  in  the  same  temperate, 
firm,  and  dignified  spirit,  repeated  the  cogent  and  unanswerable  argu- 
ment; "You  require  the  removal  of  my  ministers,  without  alleging  any 
charge  of  delinquency^"     Finding  every  attempt  unavailing  to  induce 
the  sovereign  to  sacrifice  his  choice  of  servants  highly  approved  of  by 
his  people,  to  the  mere  will  of  the  coalition  party,  unsupported  by  any 
constitutional  rcas(ming,  Mr.  Fox  proposed  what  he  termed  a  represen- 
tation, but  really  was  a  remonstrance  to  the  sovereign;  stating  the  privi- 
leges and  power  of  the  house,  and  the  ancient  practice  of  withholding 
supplies  until  grievances  were  redressed;  and  explaining  the  evils  that 
would  accrue  to  the  country,  if  they  exercised  this  right;  that  necessity 
only  could  justify  its  exertion;  that  such  a  necessity,  arising  from  his 
majesty's  advisers,  did  exist;  and  that  the  measures  originating  with 
tliese  advisers,  were  altogether  contrary  to  the  principles  and  maxims 
by  which  the  illustrious  house  of  Hanover  had  reigned  over  this  free 
country,  in  such  harmony  with  tlie  people,  such  prosperity  and  glory; 
for  whatever  conse(|uenccs  miglit  result  from  the  necessity  imposed  on 
the  house  of  commons  to  assert  its  own  rights,  the  advisers  of  the  crown 
were  responsible.     The  combination  intimated  in  this  statement  being 
carried  only  by  a  majority  of  one,  o|)position  did  not  think  it  advisable 
to  contend  "for  the  refusal"  of  the  suimlies.     Their  superiority  had  been 
gradually  decreasing  and  they  saw  that  if  they  attempted  so  strong  a 
measure,  they  would  be  outvoted,  and  that  the  house  of  commons  would 
at  last  concur  with  the  majority  of  the  nation.     They  became  more  and 
more  sensible  of  their  great  and  increasing  unpopularity;  and  from  this 
time,  on  the  9th  of  March,  they  appeared  to  have  considered  themselves 
as  conquered.     The  oppositioii  leaders  had  proposed,  as  a  preventive  of 
a  dissolution,  to  move  a  short  mutiny  bill;  but  this  design  they  now 
relinquished,  and  sufi'ered  the  act  to  pass  for  the  usual  term;  and  all 
parties  prepared  for  a  speedy  dissolution  of  parliament* 


1784  -  Chap.  XXXI.  UKIGN  OF  GEORGE  111.  (331 

[Public  estimation  of  the  contending  leaders.] 


I, 


Thus  terminated  a  contest  between  a  powerful  confederary  in  tlie 
house  of  commons,  and  the  executive  government,  supported  by  tlie 
c(mfidence  which  tlie  nation  reposed  in  tlie  talents  and  character  of  the 
)rincipal  minister.  The  coalition  party  defended  the  pound  which  it 
lad  assumed,  and  attacked  administration  with  a  force,  impetuosity, 
concert,  and  perseverance,  which  must  have  overborne  any  minister, 
who  did  not  unite  abilities  to  see  the  means  of  defending  a  constitu- 
tional tenure,  skill  to  apply  them,  and  firmness  to  jiersist  in  maintain- 
ing what  he  conceived  to  be  right  against  any  combination  of  adversa- 
ries. A  minister  less  powerful  in  reasoning,  would  have  yielded  to  alle- 
gations so  confidently  urged,  to  sophistry  so  jtlausibly  supported,  or 
even  to  the  very  authority  of  such  illustrious  names.  A  minister,  how- 
ever endowed  with  intellectual  superiority,  unless  also  resolutely  firm, 
would  have  rather  conceded  what  lie  knew  to  be  right,  than  maintained 
a  contest  with  so  numerous,  forcible,  and  well  disciplined  a  host,  though 
he  knew  them  to  be  wrong.  AVithout  a  third  advantage,  a  high  degree 
of  estimation  with  the  public,  success  miglit  have  been  uncertain.  On 
the  side  of  Mr.  Fox  there  were  consummate  ability,  intrepid  boldness, 
fortified  by  a  special  confederacy.  On  the  side  of  Mr.  Pitt  there  were 
consummate  ability,  and  firmness,  and  unquestioned  character,  which 
was  fortified  by  no  special  combination,  but  increased,  extended,  and 
enlarged  that  general  connexion  which  wisdom,  virtue,  and  appropriate 
fame  rarely  fail  to  attach  to  a  senator  or  statesman  among  an  informed, 
distinguishing,  and  free  people.  Mr.  Fox,  though  transcendent  in  ge- 
nius, sought  power  by  means  which,  during  the  two  preceding  reigns, 
had  exalted  several  ministers  of  no  genius.  Mr.  Pitt  secured  public 
confidence,  and  acquired  power  by  personal  qualities.  But  every  im- 
partial well-wisher  to  his  country,  while  he  rejoices  that  Britain  acquir- 
ed the  executorial  services  of  a  Pitt,  must  no  less  regret  that  she  lost  the 
executorial  services  of  a  Fox. 

While  the  chief  attention  of  parliament  had  been  occupied  by  these 
momentous  subjects,  several  matters  of  subordinate  importance  were 
transacted.  The  receipt  tax,  meritorious  as  a  financial  measure,  and 
productive  without  being  burthensome,  was,  notwithstanding,  very  un- 
popular; and  a  motion  was  made  f<  r  its  repeal.  Several  substitutes 
were  proposed;  and  among  the  rest,  sir  Cecil  Wray  moved  a  tax  on 
maid  servants,  which  produced  laughable  strictures  rather  than  any  se- 
rious consideration.  'Ihe  receipt  tax  was  continued,  and  new  penal- 
ties were  annexed  to  enlbrce  the  imposts.  A  committee  was  appointed 
for  inquiring  into  illicit  practices  to  defraud  the  revenue;  and  Christo- 
pher Atkinson,  esq.  having  been  convicted  of  perjury,  was  expelled  the 
house  of  commons.  Previous  to  the  dissolution  of  parliament,  his  ma- 
jesty judged  it  expedient,  in  the  paiticular  circumstances  of  the  case,  to 
announce  his  intention  of  recurring  to  the  sense  of  tlie  people,  and  the 
reasons  in  which  that  intention  was  founded.  His  speech,  as  compress- 
ing the  sentiments,  opinions,  objects,  and  motives  of  our  sovereign,  re- 
specting the  momentous  subjects  of  the  narrative  just  finished,  is  highly 
deserving  of  full  citation:  it  was  to  the  following  efiect:  "  My  lords  and 
gentlemen,  on  a  full  conside.ation  of  the  present  situation  of  allairs,  and 
of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  which  have  produced  it,  I  am  in- 
duced to  put  an  end  to  this  session  of  parliament.  I  feel  it  a  duty  which 
I  owe  to  the  constitution  an  1  to  the  country,  in  such  a  situation,  to  recur 
as  speedily  as  possible  to  the  sense  of  my  people,  by  calling  a  new  parlia- 
ment.    I  trust  that  this  means  will  tend  to  obviate  the  mischiefs  arising 

Vol.  VII.— 86 


582  I^EIGN  OF  GEORGE  III.  (JHAr.  XXXE.— 1784. 

[Dissolulion  of  the  parliament.     Its  character.] 

from  the  uuluippy  divisions  and  distractions  which  have  lately  subsisted; 
and  that  the  various  important  objects  which  will  require  considera- 
tion, may  bo  allerwards  proceeded  upon  witli  less  interruption,  and  with 
happier  ott'ect.  1  can  have  no  other  object,  but  to  preserve  tiie  true  prin- 
ciples of  our  iVco  ami  happy  constitution,  and  to  employ  the  powers  in- 
trusted to  me  by  law  lor  tlie  only  end  tor  which  tliey  were  given,  to  the 
<;ood  of  my  people.''  On  the  i24th  of  March,  parliament  was  prorogued, 
and  the  next  evening  it  was  dissolved  by  proclamation. 

Tims  ended  in  its  fourth  year,  a  parliament,  than  which  few  assem- 
blies eitlier  witnessed  more  changes  in  the  executive  administration,  or 
exhibited  a  greater  clvange  of  political  character.  The  members  had  been 
elected  at  a  session  when  the  recent  disturbances  of  1780  repressed  the 
spirit  of  opposition  to  government,  from  the  apprehension,  that  if  suffer- 
ed to  prevail,  it  might  generate  a  discontent,  eventually  productive  of 
similar  outrages:  and  at  a  time  when  the  sanguine  hopes  from  unusual 
success  obliterated  former  miscarriages.  Disappointed  expectations 
soon  revived  dissatisfaction,  and  the  parliament  which  had  been  most 
devoted  to  lord  North,  became  eager  and  active  to  drive  him  from  his 
ministerial  situation.  The  administration  of  lord  North  had  been  follow- 
ed by  the  appointment  of  a  set  of  men,  from  whom  many  of  their  coun- 
trymen expected  the  nation  would  derive  signal  benefit;  but  these  hopes 
were  overturned  almost  as  soon  as  thev  were  raised:  the  untimely  death 
of  lord  ilocUinghum,  and  the  unhappy  misunderstandings  that  succeeded, 
speedily  demali.shed  the  fabric.  The  administration  of  lord  Shelburne 
passed  almost  entirely  during  the  recess  of  parliament.  It  fell  unfortu- 
nately to  his  lot  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  the  general  peace,  which  was 
signed  at  Versailles  on  the  20th  of  January  1783.  Upon  the  assembling 
oi  parliament,  this  measure  was  the  first  object  of  their  deliberations,  and 
was  judged  to  deserve  a  strong  and  severe  censure.  Those  who  had 
been  most  hostile  at  the  commencement  of  parliament,  now  became  most 
closely  united.  The  professed  friends  of  prerogative,  and  professed 
champions  of  the  [)eople,  formed  a  coalition,  which,  in  the  third  session 
of  parliament  establislied  the  fourth  ministry.  An  imputed  pursuit  of  per- 
petual dominion,  in  eight  months,  drove  this  party  from  power  ;  and  an 
early  period  of  the  fourth  session  saw  a  fifth  ministry.  Half  of  the  fourth 
year  was  not  passed  when  this  body  was  dissolved.  Having  begun  with 
the  most  obsequious  assent  to  every  requisition  of  ministers,  it  ended 
with  questioning  the  most  necessary  prerogatives  of  the  crown.  Its 
character  being  stamped  by  its  successive  leaders,  for  two  sessions  it  ex- 
liibited  the  dexterous  but  temporary  expedients,  the  indecisive  policy  and 
indulgent  profusion  of  lord  North.  In  its  third  year,  before  the  two  par- 
ties were  fully  cemented  and  ability  assumed  its  native  superiority,  it  dis- 
played a  mixture  of  temporizing  aid  decisive  politics.  In  its  fourth  year, 
the  supremacy  of  Mr.  Fox  being  now  established,  its  measures  bore  the 
.stamp  of  the  energy,  promptness,  decision,  and  adrenturous  boldness  of 
that  eminent  statesman. 


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